Le décalage horaire…jet lag sounds so much nicer en français. Oh yes, mes amis, my Franglish is in full force this trip and you know what, it’s working well enough. I can get by in situations where the other person doesn’t want to speak English or I can end up in situations like the rental car counter where the very nice Maureen said, “Maybe it is better if we speak in English?” Which was absolutely correct.
The day prior, SMS had the excellent idea of changing our TGV reservation to the early afternoon. During trip planning, I had been so focused on getting to Normandy that I hadn’t thought about enjoying Paris! Since we were in a great location, it made sense to enjoy it.
Paris morning
After a delicious European hotel breakfast with crusty bread and delicious cheese, we went out for a walk. This time, we meandered to the right towards the Eiffel tower. We crossed the Seine and had a really nice walk to the Rue Cler. By the time we got there, SMS was wondering just how far I was planning on walking and we were starting to get close to our train reservation. So, we didn’t walk the whole street but there are a lot of lovely food shops so maybe we’ll make our way back later in the trip.
On to Bayeux
We took the metro to Concorde, picked up our bags, and went to Saint-Lazare. We bought sandwiches and made it to our train with 15 minutes to spare. We had a nice train ride to Caen, where we picked up our Citroen rental car from Maureen at Sixt.
Then, we drove to Bayeux. We are staying at the most incredible chateau just outside the town. It is absolutely gorgeous. We are living our best Downton Abbey lifestyle à français. We walked through the grounds and marveled at how pretty everything was.
We had dinner at the restaurant, which was packed with a large group of “Backroad Bikers,” which seems like a delightful way to tour.
I tried the cider and the calvados. Yes to more cider, meh on more calvados but I would if offered!
Oh how beautiful! I love the French countryside. Thank you for the video, I am dreaming of France and enjoying seeing your trip!
Thanks J! I am going to try and keep up on the posts and videos. The videos aren’t too hard; they’re actually quicker to make than the posts. A few clips throughout the day and then stitch them together on iMovie on my phone.
These pictures bring back so many fond memories of our travels in France! It is so beautiful traveling the back roads💖
It is gorgeous! This first part of the vacation is backroads and country hotels. In Bordeaux, more city and taking the train to different wineries and towns.