I'm going too fast and seeing too many beautiful things! I take about 150 pictures everyday and I get to wherever I'm staying and I'm too tired to go through them, write a story and decide which pictures to post... but now here is a recap of my time in Normandie...
September 29: Went to Vernon along the Seine with its famous mill and chateau des Tourelles. Both painted by Monet. Then on to Giverny to visit the Musee des Impressionistes and of course, les jardins de Giverny, house of the famous painter.
Septembre 30: Visited le Chateau de Richard Coeur de Lion ou Chateau Gaillard in the Andelys. Great visit and history and beautiful view of La Seine and the town of Andelys.
Headed to Rouen. Gorgeous Cathedrale, beautiful clock and architecture. Had an amazing lunch at the one Michelin star restaurant, L'Odas.
And finally, on to the falaises d'Etretat! I walked up and down to discover this beautiful coastal part of France. Didn't know there are holes at the bottom of these giant rocks. You can walk through several bays and beaches.
October 1: Another beautiful day, even got a little bit of sunshine and rain..., visiting Honfleur and Trouville, next to Deauville. Beautiful normande coastal towns. Had a great lunch with oysters from Isigny, famous for its butter as well. Bought some cider and calvados! Land of the apple here...
On to Caen, with Guillaume le Conquerant (William the Conqueror) and its abbaye, l'Abbaye-aux-Hommes. Didn't get a chance to visit his wife abbaye though or much of everything else. A town rich in history to come back to.
October 2: There was a terrible storm all night long. Lots of rain and wind. Many branches on the ground this morning when I left at 7:30am trying to catch the 1st hightide at the Mont Saint Michel. Mission accomplished! Beautiful abbaye, conception of the whole mount and history. It's a big tourist trap place though. Don't do the 4 museums packages. Actually one of the building was closed because of the storm, still 18 euros. And not much more you learn from the pamphlet of the abbaye. Maybe yes if you like old boat "maquettes" in the Marine "museum". The Abbaye is 11 euros and worth it. There's also a residence to visit which I didn't do but I did eat the 38 euros omelet from La Mere Poulard! A couple of the locals told me not to do it but I had to! The omelet was good, different, cooked in the hearth with butter. You can watch the guy beat the crap out of the eggs while making music and cook it in the fire. You actually don't have to pay for that if you just want to watch. The service sucked though. I think they bought their Michelin dots. Well for the price of the omelet, they can.
I roamed around for about 6 hours, did 10 kms and watched the high and low tides. It was kind of magic. It was a dream come through.
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