Two days in Paris

Wednesday was a day of many stairs:  up the Arc de Triomphe, down into the Catacombes, lots of metro stairs. 

We also had a guided tour of the Louvre...the guide had a beautiful way of explaining art.  He said that you often listen to a piece of music over and over because you like the way it makes you feel.  Art is the same way:  go back to the same painting over and over because you like the feelings it evokes. 

We had free time for dinner in the Latin Quarter.  Some people sat down for a traditional 2-3 hour meal, others ate more quickly and went shopping or even bowling. 

Thursday, we started at the Musée d'Orsay, but there were a few strikes going on that day, and the Musée was one of them.  We went to Notre-Dame instead and then up to Montmartre.  We went through Sacré-Coeur and then gave them some time to explore the shops around the Place du Tertre.  We then walked down to the metro, seeing the Moulin de la Galette and the Moulin Rouge on the way.  Lunch and shopping on the Rue de Rivoli after a quick stop to see the Opéra Garnier.  We then made our way back to the Musée d'Orsay and got in this time.  Dinner at Café de Commerce:  potato salad, duck and mashed potatoes, and apple tart.  Then, the grand finale...Up the Eiffel Tower for a nighttime view of Paris.

Versailles and Paris

Sooo tired.  We saw Versailles and got to Paris... Nice little tour of city as we drove to hotel.  Time on the Champs-Elysées before dinner at Chez Clement on the Champs-Elysées!  We had cucumber salad, pork with green beans, and crème brûlée.  Then to the bateaux-mouches for a river cruise down the Seine!  It's midnight.  Out!

Mont St-Michel, St-Malo and Fougères

We started off at Mont St Michel. A good hike up many steps woke us up, and we toured the abbey up top...stunning!  We had a little time to explore the town/shops before heading to Saint-Malo for lunch.  Saint-Malo is a walled town, very picturesque.  We had two hours to eat lunch and shop, then we were off to the medieval castle of Fougères.  It's one of the most intact castles of its age in Europe.  We had a little time afterwards to grab a coffee at the local café, where there was an impromptu street performance of Scottish songs by a group of young men who turned out to be from Pennsylvania.  Small world!

Back to the hotel, we ate dinner:  salad, followed by duck confit, mashed potatoes and zucchini.  Dessert was a lemon tart. 

Early to bed as we have an early start Tuesday.

World War II

We saw Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach, where the Allied Forces came ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944.  The craters from the bombs are still visible at Pointe du Hoc...you can walk in them, on fact.  On Omaha Beach, there is an older stone memorial and a relatively new metal memorial.  We also saw two cemetaries:  one German, one American.  Such beautiful places, yet so somber...thousands of mostly young men gone.

We ate lunch in Port-en-Bessin, another smallish fishing village. 

A few hours drive to Pontorson, the location of our next hotel.  We saw Mont St Michel in the distance as we drove...we go there on Monday.

Dinner at the hotel:  cheese in a puff pastry shell to start, chicken with mushrooms and rice, then a cream puff for dessert.

Honfleur and Bayeux

We met up with our tour guide and drove to Honfleur for lunch, a cute fishing village.  Then we drove the rest of the way to our town for the night, Bayeux.  We saw THE Bayeux tapestry, then the Bayeux Cathedral.  Checked in to the hotel and had time to freshen up before dinner:  salade normande, pork roast and potatoes, tart normande for dessert.  Back to the hotel and crashing!

We made it!

Long layovers and flights, but we're here and off to Bayeux!