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all packed and ready to leave our Montmartre flat |
Sadly we had to say goodbye to our friends, our amazing flat, and the convenience of pain au chocolate a 3 minute walk away. But we've traded that in for the beauty of Normandy and a flat right on the ocean.
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Evreux Cathedral |
We rented a car near Gare du Nord and Doug bravely drove through Paris traffic. We drove for about an hour and a half until we got to a town called Evreux where my mom lived as a child when her dad was in the military. When she was there, lots of the town had been bombed out. She had such fond memories of Evreux even still. The town has a massive and gorgeous cathedral. There is also a bustling, and very cute, main street through town will all kinds of shops (including H&M!) and restaurants. Unfortunately we were there on a Monday when 80% of all businesses are closed, but we managed to find a cute little quick service restaurant that was open for lunch.
We drove to where we think the military base housing used to be and it appears they've turned it into a complex of medical facilities such as a mental hospital, a retirement home, etc. There are still barracks-looking buildings, a giant water tower, and some industrial military base looking buildings. The actual base is on the other side of town and is now a French air base.
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Hotel de Ville (Evreux) |
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French public toilets - clean!! |
In Evreux we also successfully used a French public toilet. These toilets are automatic and after each person who uses them, they "disinfect" which we think just means they spray water on everything inside. So when someone comes out, you have to let the door close and wait the ~20 seconds or so while it disinfects. If you were to go in when someone holds the door open for you, you might end up soaked. It isn't my story to tell, but if you know our travel buddies from Paris, be sure to ask how we know this.
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lunch in Evreux |
After Evreux we drove another 45 minutes or so to Les Andyles to see Chateau Gaillard, where King Richard the Lionhearted lived. Built in the 12th century, it is certainly one of the oldest structures I've ever been that close to. We couldn't go inside because we hadn't yet gotten any Euros (everything in Paris takes "bank cards!"), but we climbed all around the exterior. You can see why someone would want a castle there, the view is gorgeous!!
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Chateau Gaillard, ~1200AD |
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Girls with the Seine River in the background |
The area of Normandy that we had been driving through had poppies growing wild. I love wildflowers and wish we had fields of poppies anywhere near my usual driving routes! I had to get out and take a picture of this massive poppy field.
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poppy fields |
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Gas station "coffee." |
From Chateau Gaillard, we had about an hour and a half drive to our flat in Villers-sur-Mer. I really needed afternoon coffee by that point, and we really needed to get some Euros as I had to pay for renting our linens in the flat. They have rest stops along the A13 every 15 mins or so, and I think every other rest stop has a gas station with food. I love Wawa and Sheetz coffee back in the states, so I'm not above gas station coffee. They had little machines in this station and I was expecting the same cafe au lait I'd been getting at our bakery that also came from a machine. I was very wrong and what I got came in what I would leave out for guests to use as a cup in the bathroom. It didn't taste too bad, though, and it kept me awake.
Villers-sur-Mer is a really cute little town. I think the biggest town hear here in Deauville which isn't very large. There is a somewhat large city called Le Havre about 30 minutes away, which is where we'll catch our next World Cup match on Thursday. But Villers-sur-Mer has a town center that is about 2 blocks wide and deep. We walked around it twice trying to figure out what we wanted for dinner. Unfortunately for my 3 family members, this town is heavily seafood slanted, so finding a suitable restaurant was a bit difficult. But we found some steak frites for E and everything was good in the world.
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Dinner in Villers sur Mer |
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Just outside town centre - this town is famous for finding dinosaur fossils on the beach, which we will try and do tonight! |
After dinner we walked back to our flat along the beach and then watched both the sunset and the France/Nigeria match. The sun sets here just after 10pm.... so it has been late late nights for the girls! But getting rewarded with this sunset was very worth it.
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Taken from our flat window. |
Today we're off to tour some WW2 landing beaches and memorials. The forecast yesterday said today was good, but now it appears some bad thunderstorms might interrupt us. We're going to get started and see how it goes.
Here's some additional pictures from the day:
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atop the hillside where Chateau Gaillard sits. |
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in a window of Chateau Gaillard |
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daytime view out of our flat's window |
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rare moment of sisterly love. the beach is healing. |
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girls outside of Evreux Cathedral |
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Evreux |
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beautiful section of road heading to Chateau Gaillard |
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Girls at Chateau Gaillard |
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Chateau Gaillard |
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Evreux |
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THIS IS A MINIVAN?!? |
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