Just Add Water: 2010 Trip to Europe (France)

So we took a ferry, which was more like a cruise ship, across the english channel to Cherbourg where Doug and Nicole live. It took about 5 hours, but it is was very enjoyable, we got to watch the sun set into the ocean.

In the couple weeks that followed we visited a ton of things in northern France...in the Normandy region.

Of course we also ate our body weight in croissants and baguettes! Doug and Nicole live in a furnished home that sits on beautiful wooded property and overlooks the channel, I spent a great amount of time at their dining room table enjoying the view.

The whole town looks like it is from a WWII video game, (I guess b/c it is used for them as Cherbourg was close to ground zero during the Normandy invasion) It is all stone buildings..in fact there is village after village of stone homes and buildings. (pix below)I just want to drive around and take pictures of them. One of Nicole's friends who has lived there her whole life once remarked to Nicole that she heard in America that homes are built out of "sticks"...she told Nicole she would never want to live in one of those!! How funny!!

We visited:

The American beaches, Omaha and Utah...Omaha has the famous cemetery and memorial. It is actually American soil. We learned all about the invasion and the involvement of England, and the French resistance...it was really cool.

Pont du Hoc...this was a beach that was invaded by army rangers, and they have left it as it was, including the huge artillery holes and barbed wire. Amazing!! (pix below)

Etretas...huge white cliffs.

Rouen...city of spires and double timbered buildings (think tudor) This is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and where Monet painted his cathedrals (pix below)

St. Michel...a huge fortified city/island with an abbey on the top. Looks like something out of a movie. You actually climb the winding cobblestone roads to the top. There are shops all the way up...loved it because you feel like you are stepping back in time to the medieval period. (2 pix below)

Loire Valley...Nicole and I took a girls trip to the Loire valley which is south west of Paris to visit the chateaus (2 pix below)...these are where the kings and queens of france lived during the Renaissance. They are over the top gorgeous...there are probably about 20 of them along the river valley, but we only visited 3. We stayed at an authentic french bed and breakfast out in the middle of the country. We actually were given old fashioned keys that got us into the home and our room. Beyond quaint!!

At the end of our time all of us, minus David, went and spent the last weekend in Paris. We were concerned about the greves (strikes) going on, but in France they are very orderly. In Paris we did all the usual stuff...I think the girls liked the Eiffel Tower the best...they went all the way to the top. I finally got to go to the Rodin museum (it was closed last time when David and I went).

The girls and I took a train back to London and then flew home from there...fortunately it all was very easy.