Normandy: Étretat and Honfleur

Mother's Day is later in the month of May compared to the United States. Since my husband had school stuff going on during United States Mother's Day weekend and since we currently live in France, we decided to wait and celebrate Fetes des Meres during the weekend of the 29th.

Check out that fog! 

Our original plan was to drive 5 hours to Île de Ré and spend a long weekend on the beach there, but due to strikes and gasoline shortages, we decided to change our plans a bit and headed north to Normandy, a quick 2 hour drive from Paris.

We spent one day in Étretat and one day in Honfleur. We booked at what we thought was a great Bed and Breakfast (it said right on their site that children of all ages were welcome), only to have them cancel on us as we were driving to Normandy on Saturday due to us having young children and them not wanting us to bother the other guests. Thanks a lot, Apihome.

Luckily, Hotel Des Falaises in Étretat still had openings and was very welcoming to our small family. It was a great little hotel right in the center of the village and walking distance to the beach, cliffs, shops, and restaurants.

We ended up having a great weekend and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Pebble hunting

Étretat
Étretat is a small village in northern Normandy that is best known for it's breathtaking cliffs. Claude Monet actually painted several beautiful paintings here.

We spent our day mostly walking along the beach. Our girls loved playing with the pebbles and seeing what interesting looking rocks they could find. It was awesome seeing the ocean again and we were all pretty happy.

I love this picture of the three of them. 

What a view!

Our day started off foggy, but cleared up in the late afternoon. There were several great little playgrounds sprinkled throughout the town that the girls enjoyed playing on. A little bit later, we walked up the cliff that has a church on top (we took our stroller up the main road but there are also stairs one can climb as well) and then after dinner, we headed over to the other cliff (this time without the stroller which ended up being a good call) and hiked that one as well.

The views were spectacular and well worth carrying two small children most of the way. Both our little ones loved picking flowers along the way and pointing out all the seagulls.

Honfleur

Honfleur is south of Etretat and is known for it's historic port. It's another place where Monet would paint along with other artists as well. It also has France's largest church built out of wood.

This port was so picturesque! I loved all the buildings!

After a nice breakfast at our hotel, we checked out and then drove less than an hour to Honfleur. We started our day off by going straight to the beautiful carousel. The girls enjoyed riding it and we made plans to come back again before leaving.

Best dad ever.

We got lunch in the port and it was so good! There were many places to choose from, but we ended up getting seafood (shrimp, mussels with fries, and a cheese plate for Aaron and oysters, salmon with rice, and strawberries with whipped cream for me). London of course ate a little of everything and loved it and Adeline ate mostly bread and a banana (and rice and strawberries too!). 

It was a great Mother's Day lunch and not at all expensive. We ate outside where there was room for our stroller and the waiters were all very nice and attentive.

After lunch, we checked out St. Catherine's Church. Honfleur was a community of sailors and while the people knew how to build boats, they were unsure how to build a church. So they fashioned the church after a boat and ended up with a uniquely beautiful chapel.

The inside of the church.

We explored the town a bit next, but there wasn't too much more to see. Once we went past the port, it was more residential. We did find a nice a chocolate shop though and the girls got me a few chocolates for Mother's Day.

We ended our day with another ride on the carousel and then hopped in the car and headed home.

Etretat and Honfleur were a great quick weekend getaway for us. We loved that it wasn't too long of a drive either way and that there were fun things for the girls in both towns. It was a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day and I'm so happy to be a mother to these two little girls. 

Bayeux Tapestry and the American Cemetery

Looking over Omaha Beach

Our last day in Normandy was spent at a couple different sites (Read more about our Normandy trip here, here, and here).

First, we headed out to Bayeux to see the famous tapestry depicting how William the Conqueror became King of England. Unfortunately, the museum does not allow photos of any kind taken during your visit so I don't have any to share. Please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry to see a photo of the entire tapestry. The tapestry is 229 feet long and is beautifully embroidered. Head sets are given out with your ticket (9 euros for adults, free for children under 10) and the story of the tapestry is told as you walk along it.

After learning about the tapestry, we headed over to the American Cemetery.

I attended college in Hawaii and had the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor on numerous occasions. I had seen the different ships and read about those who had lost their lives that day. It's such as special place to visit. The American Cemetery had that same feeling. I am so grateful to all of those who fought in WWII. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to visit such an important site.

There is a Visitor's Center located on site with information about D-Day and photos and stories of the young men who fought in the war. Outside, you can walk among the 9,387 graves that are on site.

There's a path that heads down to Omaha Beach and another path that leads to a monument, "The Walls of the Missing".

Words cannot express how it felt to walk along the cemetery. It is definitely an important place to visit while in Normandy.

For more information on the tapestry or cemetery, please visit:
http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/accueil_en.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/frances-dday-beaches-a-powerful-memorial
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery#.Vi_jL7erShc

Mont St-Michel

The day after going to Giverny and Rouen, we headed down to Mont St-Michel. As we drove closer to the island, it was amazing to see the abbey rise up on the horizon.

Once, we parked, we got on a free shuttle that took us across the bridge to the actual island.

The abbey was originally built in the 8th century when St. Aubert was visited by the angel Michael who instructed him to build a church on the island.

During the Hundred Years' War, the English repeatedly tried to take hold of the island with no luck. Mont St. Michel's resistance inspired many, including Joan of Arc.

Today, the island is home to about 40 residents.

Once we got to the island, we were able to see the abbey's beauty up close. And oh my goodness, was it beautiful! London kept saying that we were at Rapunzel's castle. In fact, according to several articles (including http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/10-real-life-locations-that-inspired-disney-films#.jspdK1zEQ5 ), the castle in Tangled was in fact based off of Mont St-Michel.

Her "Princess" outfit for visiting the castle

When we went inside the walls of the town, it started to rain (and was lunch time), so we quickly ducked into the nearby restaurant, La Mere Poulard. We actually saw this restaurant on a Rick Steves episode so we were interested in trying it out anyway. The kitchen was fun to see as we walked in and I loved all the copper pots and pans hanging up. The menu itself was a bit expensive in my opinion and the food was a bit bland (but again, just my opinion. I'm used to some pretty flavorful Southern Californian food), but it was still a nice experience and at the very least got us out of the rain.

You can watch the chefs prepare the omelettes as you wait for your table.

The town itself is pretty commercial but in it's defense, it's been that way for hundreds of years. Back when the town was first established, pilgrims would travel from far away to see the abbey and would stop to get a quick bite to eat as they waited for the tide to go out to get back to the mainland.

Lots of fun stores to check out as you walk up to the abbey.

It unfortunately started to rain quite a bit as we were walking through the shops, so we mostly just tried to hurry up to the abbey itself. Once we reached the abbey, we were able to get a little break from the weather.

Tickets were 9 euros per adult (children under 18 are free). We got an audio tour with headsets and were free to walk around the abbey.

Our London checking out a corner of the chapel with her Grandpa.

The abbey was built in the old Romanesque architect. The windows are smaller, but still let in a good amount of light. The arches are rounded rather than pointed, as in the Gothic style.

A garden in the middle of the abbey.

Looking out over high tide

Coming out of the abbey, we were able to stop in a little place (unfortunately I can't remember the name) that was very family friendly and had excellent crepes and hot chocolate. It was the perfect treat to go along with our rainy weather.

Even with the rain, we still had a wonderful time exploring Mont St-Michel. I highly recommend visiting it during any visit to France!

For more information, check out the sites below:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/mont-st-michel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel
http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/index.htm?lang=en
http://en.merepoulard.com/255-restaurant/357-l-auberge-de-la-mere-poulard-br-restaurant-gastronomique.html 

City of Rouen

Rouen is known for its half-timbered buildings

The same day that we went to Monet's Gardens in Giverny (read more about that here), we also drove up to Rouen to see a few of the sights.

One of the many beautiful stained glass windows in the cathedral

The first place we stopped at was Rouen's Notre Dame Cathedral. The cathedral was first built in the 1200's. It was built in the Gothic style and later a spire was added to it in the Neo-Gothic style. This spire made the church the tallest building in the world from 1876-1880.

We were able to take a tour of the church (which I believe is only offered at 2:30pm on certain days) but it was all in French. We actually had a really tough time finding parking so Aaron rushed in there to start the tour and the rest of us caught up with him later, I'm not sure if all the tours are offered in French or if there are other languages offered. We were lucky enough to have another guest who spoke English and translated a bit for us.

You can see the Gothic architecture here with all the arches that support the church. 

While we were here, we saw a dedication to Joan of Arc (she was burned here in Rouen) and we also got to visit the crypt below the church. In the crypt lies a chest with Richard the Lionheart's actual heart in it. I wasn't able to get any good photos of it, but it was pretty neat.

The front entrance

After we visited the cathedral, we went for a walk around the town to find the half timbered buildings that Rouen is known for.

In medieval times, Rouen was France's second largest city. William the Conqueror lived here for a time and, like mentioned earlier, Joan of Arc was burned here in 1431.

I just love this photo of London

One of the only unfortunate parts of our tip was when we were looking for a snack. We decided we would get a couple of crepes and stopped at a stand only to have to wait around for at least 30 minutes for our order to be made. It wouldn't have been too bad, except that by then we had at least 1 grumpy child (maybe 2) and all we wanted was something quick to tide us over until dinner. But, oh well. C'est la vie!

Gros Horloge

Luckily, we had Aaron's wonderful parents with us who took Adeline for a walk to try and get her to sleep while I took London for a walk to give her something to do and poor Aaron waited for crepes.

On our walk, London and I found the Gros Horloge (Big Clock). The mechanism for this clock was first built in the 1300's and the facade was added in 1529. It was electrified in 1920 and restored in 1997. Not only does it tell time, but it also shows the phases of the moon and the days of the week.

We walked underneath the arch that had the clock and found these intricate sculptures.

We had a wonderful afternoon and evening in Rouen. It seemed like a great city and was full of history.

For more information, check out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouen_Cathedral
http://www.cathedrale-rouen.net/patrimoine/visites.htm (French)
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/normandy (Great information about all of Normandy. We watched a bunch of his episodes before we moved and it really helped us plan out some of our trips.)