Normandy

After we left Brittany, we drove slowly back toward Paris, with a few stops along the way.  On our way out to the coast, we had noticed that we could see Mont-Saint-Michel, which is pretty amazing.  You’re just driving along, and then you glance over and see what looks like a medieval fortress that looks like it’s floating.  Well, it’s not floating, and it doesn’t look that way when you are close, but from the freeway it appeared that way to me.  So we decided to stop and at least look at it on our way to Normandy.  Mont-Saint-Michel is an island right off the coast of Normandy (where Normandy and Brittany meet), and has a town consisting of a church, Abbey and monastery, great halls for noblemen, stores and housing, walls fortifying the village, and houses for fishermen and farmers.  It is quite impressive.  You can climb up into the town, which is apparently lovely though quite touristy, but we did not do this.  The Stupid Dog tripped me back in April, and I had injured my knee, which was not up to the climb.  So we stopped and looked, took a couple of pictures, and enjoyed lunch in an overpriced but tasty restaurant nearby, before getting back on the road.

Our next stop was Omaha Beach, the landing area used by the Allied forces in WWII in the D-Day invasion of France.  There are museums and a large sculpture, and there were kids there on a field trip, as well as a lot of preparation being made for the upcoming anniversary (we were there in early June).

Along the way, there were fields of poppies, which of course reminded me of the famous poem, In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae, which was written about WWI. It felt so timely to see those fields of poppies while visiting a memorial to yet another ugly war.

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up your quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

From Omaha Beach, we drove to Rouen, where we spent two nights and one day. Rouen is the capital of Normandy, and is a pretty big city. The city itself having a population of about 115,000, and the metropolitan area a population of about 660,000. We were there to see a few sights, specifically where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, a famous restaurant that inspired Julia Child to learn to cook French food, and a china shop. The historic street where all of these things are centered is thriving with shops both local and international, and I pictured Emma Bovary getting herself into quite a bit of trouble there.

This is the square in front of the Joan of Arc church.  To the left of the church (in the center of the photo) are restaurants and shops, and we had a lovely lunch there.  To the right is the fancy dinner, the colorful building with the blue and the flags.  If you walk down the path to the right of the church, you will find yourself in a trendy shopping area, and also the Cathedral.

We started out slowly, as we were sadly want to do, and ended up getting to the Joan of Arc church (modern, built in the 1970s, it looks like an upturned Viking boat) just as they were getting ready to close for lunch. They said they would be back in 2 hours, so we decided to look around. First was to find the spot where she was burned, right there on the main square.

From there we walked toward the Cathedral, Notre Dame de Rouen, which is the subject of quite a few famous paintings by Monet.  It is a beautiful church, but not my favorite that we saw on this trip.  And of course there is a statue to Joan of Arc inside. Also inside was a tomb to Richard the Lionhearted.

From there, we went in search of the China shop I had read about in my Rick Steve’s guidebook, the Fayencerie Augy. I wanted a plate for my MIL, and a keepsake for myself as well. We brought my MIL a lovely plate from Amsterdam when we were on our honeymoon 25 years ago, so it seemed fitting to bring her one from this shop as well. It was a tiny shop with an artisan workman creating lovely items right in front of us. It also had the benefit of a shop dog, that Maya got to pet when she was bored watching me pick out a porcelain plate for her grandmother.

We then strolled back to the Joan of Arc church, hoping to see some of the lovely stained glass inside. Alas, still closed. No worries, we decided to find lunch, which was a lovely meal accompanied by my favorite French wine, Sancerre. Truthfully, we drank a lot of Sancerre on our trip. Wine is so much more affordable there, and you can get a lovely bottle for much less than here. Tried one more time with the church, but apparently closing for 2 hours for lunch actually means you are not returning that day. There were tour guides leading their groups, and they all shrugged their shoulders in a way that showed they were not surprised to find it closed. Oh well.

That evening, we stopped at La Couronne, said to be the oldest restaurant still open in France. It opened in 1345 as an Inn, with meals being served to hotel guests on the first floor, which is the location of the restaurant today. This is the restaurant that opened Julia Child’s eyes to how delicious simple food COULD be, and inspired her to go to cooking school in Paris. It is a lovely restaurant, very old and quaint. Maya won the prize for best meal of the evening, as she ordered the Dover Sole, figuring that if that was good enough for Julia, it was good enough for her. I love duck, so I ordered that. It was fine, but not wonderful. Ted ordered a steak, which he felt was over seasoned, but he did not send it back. I am glad we went, but I think we enjoyed our lunch more, as far as our meals were concerned. The walls at La Couronne are covered with pictures of famous people who have visited. It was a lovely experience, and strange to think that it was there in that same spot, perhaps serving dinner the evening after Joan of Arc was burned at the stake mere steps away. I spent a bit of time on the web yesterday, and found a couple of articles that I found fascinating.

From Normandy Then and Now:
A Morsel of Perfection, for Julia Child in Rouen

Recreating Jeanne D’Arc, In Rouen

Our last stop in Normandy was Monet’s Garden, in Giverny, where he created a lovely garden, which he painted again and again.  If you ever find yourself in Paris or Normandy, it is well worth the stop…it’s only a couple of hours outside of Paris.  It was stunning.   I will leave you with some lovely photos, which do not do it justice.