"Don't anger the dolls"-A France and DLP Trip, June '18-COMPLETED (4/22-ride comparisons)

Ugh, driving through pouring rain in France sounds terrible - it's already hard enough to drive safely there!

Love those gardens! I swear my TR is going to have minimal actual information (you know, when I get to it in like 6 years), but if someone asks anything about details or history, I'm just sending them here. :rotfl2:
 
I love the gardens here. It seemed very organized and structured. Everything separated by a theme or a purpose. I like that it had a vegetable garden, making it functional as well as beautiful.

Sounds like you guys didn't have much luck with dinner that night. I guess not every restaurant can be spectacular, but that is disappointing.
 
I am loving this TR and all the historical info. You pictures are amazing too.
Thanks so much!

Ugh, driving through pouring rain in France sounds terrible - it's already hard enough to drive safely there!
Oh I know, pouring rain was not fun! I'm glad Lauren got stuck doing that driving!
Love those gardens! I swear my TR is going to have minimal actual information (you know, when I get to it in like 6 years), but if someone asks anything about details or history, I'm just sending them here. :rotfl2:
:rotfl:


I love the gardens here. It seemed very organized and structured. Everything separated by a theme or a purpose. I like that it had a vegetable garden, making it functional as well as beautiful.

Sounds like you guys didn't have much luck with dinner that night. I guess not every restaurant can be spectacular, but that is disappointing.
It was a very nice garden to visit, definitely worth the drive down there!

I think my entree was good, but yeah, the service just left a bad taste in our mouths!

Those gardens look amazing! And what a pretty sunset!
Yeah, the sunsets were great there!
 


Day 11, Part 1 – Travel to Bayeux, (alternate title: Yup, I'm a Bigot)

Today was another partial travel-partial sightseeing day, as we were headed from the Loire Valley to Normandy.

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Breakfast was at Bigot again, where I proceeded to spill on myself (like normal – I’m a klutz in every part of my life), so my mom had me put the napkin on, which proclaimed me as a Bigot… (You don’t actually pronounce the ‘t’ in France.)

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Anyways, for breakfast I got the strawberry tart (delicious), as well as a palmier and croissant (those were meant to be to-go; I think I ate the palmier at the café though). Mom had me take a photo of her napoleon, which she also thought was delicious. And I had to throw in a Mickey reference, just because!

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Croissants: 11, Crepes: 7

We then crowded back into the car, including Anthony who had to pretzel himself into the backseat (though I think this was taken at a rest stop along the way)

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On the way I finally ate one of my adorable chocolates from Chocolate Chapon in Paris.

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On the way to our actual destination, we stopped in Bayeux, which I had fond memories of from my high school trip, even though I had only spent an hour or so there! The weather also was a sharp turn from the Loire Valley, where it had been pretty warm, as the second we opened the door in Normandy, it was chilly!

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Also, it happened to be June 6, the 74th anniversary of the D-Day landings. This wasn’t actually intentional, and I don’t think mom and I realized we would be arriving in Normandy on the anniversary until well after we booked things. They may have had some events earlier that day but I think most things (a parade, parachute re-enactment, etc) was the previous weekend.

Bayeux was the first major town secured by the Allies during the Battle of Normandy. It is actually a wonderful place to visit since it was mostly untouched by bombings, with the Germans focused on defending Caen from the Allies. The Battle of Normandy Museum is located in the town, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit.

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And, this is a zoom-in from the previous photo, but we ran into re-enactors everywhere! Lots of people dressed up as the Allied soldiers and many who rented cars and motorcycles who would drive around. They were from all over (many Americans, but also other Europeans and I think even some Australians). I don’t know if that was just because of the anniversary (we saw them the next day too) or just normal in Normandy. I unfortunately never took a “posed” photo of any of them, but I’ll have to see if my parents took any other shots.

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We grabbed a quick lunch at a café, which was fine, nothing special.

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And then headed to the Bayeux Cathedral.

Bayeux Cathedral

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This is a working Roman Catholic church, consecrated in 1077 by William the Conqueror (who had already become King of England). The actual site is the home of ancient Roman sanctuaries. The interior is gorgeous and light, much different than the other Catholic cathedrals we had visited (Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur). They also had the flags of all the Allied countries displayed around the nave.

I actually hadn’t been able to visit on my previous trip because it was under renovation.

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They had a portion underneath the nave which had old drawings and relics.

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(The end of the visit was hampered a bit by some annoying French high school groups whose kids were just running around and shouting despite being told off by the people working the cathedral. If only I had realized this would carry over to Disney…)

But overall, we really liked the cathedral.


We wandered through the streets a bit to get to our next tourist stop and came across some lovely architecture.

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Day 11, Part 2: Bayeux Tapestry

We then went to see..


The Bayeux Tapestry

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This tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 230 ft long which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror. It dates from the 11th century, within a few years of the battle, and was approved by William himself (it was likely at the Bayeux Cathedral when he consecrated it). Originally people thought Queen Matilda (William’s wife) created it, but now it’s believed his half-brother commissioned it.

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It used to be kept at the Cathedral and displayed once a year before moving to a dedicated facility. They actually will be loaning it to the British Museum in London in 2022, which will be the first time it left France in 950 years.

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The embroidery itself is so detailed and it is amazing that it has survived nearly intact for so long! (Also, because it’s embroidered, not woven, its not technically a tapestry, but you get the idea.)

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The museum it’s housed in was specially designed for the tapestry. You get an audio guide that is programmed with RFID that starts once you enter the darkened room where the tapestry is displayed (it’s hung vertically in a long loop – like a cul-de-sac). The scenes are numbered and the audio guide is designed to encourage people to keep moving along, not stopping in one spot (you actually can’t pause or stop the recording). Also, no photos are allowed, which most people followed, though I noticed a few people taking pictures at the very end.

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This is the basic story: William was the
illegitimate son of Robert, Duke of Normandy. He died and when William was 7 yrs old, he became Duke and was in control of Normandy. The King of England, Edward, didn’t have any children or successor. At that time the succession to the English throne wasn’t necessarily the family line, but wad decided by the King and other nobility. Edward ended up deciding William would be his successor (he was some great-half-nephew or something). But after Edward died, his brother-in-law, Harold, decided he would take the throne instead (he claimed Edward changed his mind on his deathbed). Of course, William wasn’t happy about that, so he came with his army to England. In the Battle of Hastings, William was victorious and Harold was killed, which led to William becoming King of England. His descendants still rule over England (despite the various revolts/executions/etc). It's always been said in my family that one of our ancestors (on my mom's mom's side) came over with William the Conqueror, but unlike the royal family, we don't exactly have family trees back that far.

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Photos I got of recreations you can buy in the gift shop:

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After viewing the tapestry, we headed to the rest of the museum which talks more about that time in history.

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Overall, it was an interesting stop and I would recommend it if you have time!

 
Day 11, Part 3: “Don’t Anger the Dolls”

We then left Bayeux and headed to our final Airbnb in Courseulles-sur-Mer. This town is right on the water, and the location of Juno Beach, where the Canadian forces came ashore on D-Day. Mom and I had originally hoped to find a place in Arromanches, but we couldn’t get one that was big enough for everyone.

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And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason for the TR title: Don’t Anger the Dolls.

See, our hosts liked to collect antiques. Including antique dolls…

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Joey and Anthony were not amused and honestly a bit creeped out, so they would continually say: Don’t Anger the Dolls! And everytime one of them started to say how freaky the dolls were, the other would jump in praising them, just in case the dolls were listening!


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Mom and I had known about it beforehand from the photos on Airbnb but I guess neither of us really cared enough… We all tried to find new and better ways to spook each other. Though Anthony got stuck in the room with the puppets and I guess he really did not like it (if he had mentioned that I would have switched with him, but I just couldn’t get my larger suitcase up the steep 3rd floor stairs so I was on the 2nd floor in a room without dolls).

But overall, it was a nice place. It had 4 bedrooms, plus a kitchen and living room. And it was definitely historic, as you could see the worn down steps.

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For dinner, we headed to La Maison Bleu, which was right on the waterfront. We walked it, though it was much longer than the previous Amboise walk we had.

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Anthony and Dad each got mussles, and seriously those pots were huge!

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I considered seafood, but I decided to stick to something a bit better on my stomach, the ribsteak with camembert sauce (I had gotten physically carsick on the trip up to Normandy).

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Joey got a seafood platter and he got the small version – we don’t even want to think about how big the large was, because his was huge! Full of all types of seafood! Lauren wasn’t amused when he decided to have the shrimp thing stare at her…

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To finish I got the ice cream, which was good, but the chocolate was very rich!

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Afterwards, we all decided to walk over the dunes and out to the beaches since it was the D-Day anniversary. It was definitely eerie but strangely peaceful and beautiful, as we were all alone. Definitely difficult to imagine all the men dying here 74 years earlier…

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Coming up: Visiting the Normandy beaches.

 


I love the look on your face!!! LOL

Hi, Mickey!!!! :) You look delicious today!

Absolutely stunning!!

Joey and Anthony were not amused and honestly a bit creeped out, so they would continually say: Don’t Anger the Dolls! And everytime one of them started to say how freaky the dolls were, the other would jump in praising them, just in case the dolls were listening!
This is actually SO hilarious to me!!! I love their sense of humor!

Aside from the dolls--what a cool looking house!! I love the way all the furniture is just tucked here and there. These steps are really cool.

Definitely difficult to imagine all the men dying here 74 years earlier…

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Wow. Just wow.
 
The gardens are beautiful even on a cloudy day and despite not in bloom yet.

(And I tried to get a shot of that saxophone statue with the sunset, but this older local guy decided to jump out and yell surprise as I took the photo! It was pretty adorable!)
funny

Those puppets in Anthony's room are seriously creepy.
 
Ohhh I love the architecture of the home with the dolls. The dolls are a little creepy for sure, haha. Such interesting history and all the food looks so yummy! The pastries look to die for!
 
I wondered if you planned your Normandy visit specifically around the anniversary. Kind of makes it cooler that you hadn't and it was just a great coincidence!

Those dolls....:eek: :rotfl: Not going to lie, the puppets looked kind of creepy!

The portions at dinner look massive. Seems like the restaurant was a good pick for the evening. Sorry to hear all the driving made you carsick, though. European roads are unforgiving!
 
But, more importantly was this location – basically against the Amboise Chateau! This was the view out my window!

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Stunning!

We stopped at a patisserie along the way, Bigot Patisserie, for breakfast so we weren’t shopping on empty tummy.

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It's like having a Les Halles on every corner :worship:

We headed across the street to the focal point of Amboise:

Chateau d’Amboise

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This chateau actually used to be a royal residence and home of the royal court. It was built on the top of a hill, giving it a very strategic location. It was originally a home of some nobility, but was later seized by the monarchy and expanded upon.

Chateau de Chenonceau

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Each one is more beautiful than the last :love:

We also had to deal with Lauren being hangry, but also not willing to eat anything… so that was fun.

:rotfl2:

I got some gelato, which they scoop out in flower shapes! I got a small one since we were going to have dinner soon, but you can get as many flavors as you want and they make the petals different colors! It was delicious too!

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The French do everything better, I guess!

Joey and Anthony were not amused and honestly a bit creeped out, so they would continually say: Don’t Anger the Dolls! And everytime one of them started to say how freaky the dolls were, the other would jump in praising them, just in case the dolls were listening!

Yikes! The are creepy! :scared1:
 
Joey said it looked it was something out of a Disney movie!

I agree. It reminds me of Gaston's Tavern or maybe 7DMT.

But no-one was there, so I decided to sit on one of the toys… um that was a mistake…

:rotfl2:Sorry not sorry but I laughed out loud at this one. Mainly because I could see myself doing something similar, I'm quite the klutz. I still have a bruise on my arm from running into a post in the SDD queue last week.

The Ornamental Garden – Second Salon. This one was designed around music, with symbols to represent lyres and harps.

Um, the tall bushes there made me think of something not appropriate for the DIS. :blush:

I discovered I liked duck on this trip (well at least when the French prepare it).

I like duck if it's done right. If it's too rubbery or chewy, blah. I did take the risk last week and ordered the duck at Yak & Yeti. It was delicious!

If only I had realized this would carry over to Disney…)

I've heard the tourists at Disneyland Paris are very rude!

Joey and Anthony were not amused and honestly a bit creeped out, so they would continually say: Don’t Anger the Dolls! And everytime one of them started to say how freaky the dolls were, the other would jump in praising them, just in case the dolls were listening!

I have to agree with them on this one! Very creepy. If there had been a clown doll, I probably would have slept outside. Childhood trauma left over from the Poltergeist movie. :rotfl:
 
Again, sorry for the big delay in posting again! (I feel like a broken record in that respect!)

Day 12, Part 1: Canadian D-Day morning

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Today we were going to visit several of the D-Day sites, starting at Juno Beach. While others walked down to the museum (which was next to the restaurant from the previous night), I went ahead and drove the car down – didn’t make sense having to walk back to the car afterwards!

But mom took some photos along the way

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While I was waiting for everyone else, I walked around the little park in front of Juno Beach Centre, where they have some older military vehicles and information signs.

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They stopped and got some pastries along the way, I think I ended up having 2 croissants, since I was hungry! I think the patisserie they went to ended up having my favorite croissants of the trip – very soft and buttery

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Croissants: 13, Crepes: 7

Juno Beach

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Juno Beach was one of the five D-Day beaches and it was the one assigned to the Canadian forces. I don’t know if I mentioned it earlier, but my family entire family (besides Joey) are dual American-Canadian citizens. Both my parents were born there, and while my dad’s family moved down to San Diego as a child, my mom stayed there. I even went to McGill University in Montreal for my undergrad. So, stopping at Juno Beach was very important to us, and just so happened we were able to stay in the town itself.

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The invasion of the beach involved many causalities; of the 10,000 casualties on D-Day, over 1,000 were Canadian, with 359 deaths. Juno ended up having the second most resistance from the Germans (only behind Omaha Beach).

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Despite the heavy losses earlier in the day, the Canadian forces were able to get further inland that afternoon than any other of the Allied forces. The assault on Juno is considered one of the most strategically successful of the D-Day landings (along with the Americans on Utah Beach).

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Some interesting information we learned on our visit:
  • The beach was originally codenamed Jelly. The beaches which were to be taken by the British and Commonwealth were named after types of fish: Goldfish, Sword, and Jellyfish. Those were all abbreviated to Gold, Sword, and Jelly. Winston Churchill did not like that because it sounded inappropriate, so he insisted it was changed to something more dignified.
  • The various Canadian brigades were distributed down the beach in a way that resembled the way Provinces are laid out in Canada. That way it created a commonality between soldiers fighting side by side. (So the Prince Edward Island division was on the far east side of the beach, while the British Columbia division was on the west end).
  • The Canadians were involved in an initial test-run of the D-Day landings, attempting to take the French harbor of Dieppe in 1942. Unfortunately this was unsuccessful, leading to 3,369 Canadians killed, wounded, or captured. But many lessons were learned which were used in the plan for the actual D-Day invasion.
  • Canada joined in the war effort almost immediately – though they did wait a few days to declare war so as to show Canada was joining out of her own choice, not obligation. Though most of them didn’t end up arriving in Europe until after the Allies were evacuated from the continent via Dunkirk. It took several years before they were able to engage in battle, so used that time for training. Britain basically ended up in charge of the Canadian forces during the war.
  • The Canadian Army was not very large or well trained, as they had reduced defense spending over the previous decade, as well as was still recovering from the Great Depression. The army was primarily a defensive army, not offensive. By the end of the war, around 10% of the Canadian population had joined the army.

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Our visit started in the Juno Beach Centre.

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It was created in the 1990s by a group of Canadian veterans. The museum talks about all of Canada’s involvement in the war, not just D-Day and was very interesting.

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After the museum, we took a tour of some of the German bunkers located next to the museum (it’s an extra cost, but mom wanted to do it). There were 2 bunkers – the command bunker and the gunnery bunker. Most of the time the bunkers are blocked off with locked gates (though you can walk through the very top area of the gunner bunker).

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The command bunker actually wasn’t discovered until after the centre was built! It was found when a man was walking his dog through the little park in front of the Juno Beach Centre and the dog suddenly fell into a hole in the sand! He was very upset and went into the centre to complain, and they were just as surprised! So they were able to dig it out and include it in the tour. Our guide explained there are bunkers all along the coast which have been buried by sand.

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We walked down part of the tunnel that originally connected the two bunkers, and our guide explained how it was made with forced labor by French prisoners. While the prisoners had to work the construction, they tried to sabotage wherever possible, including installing the bricks in a way that would make them easier to collapse. Most of the tunnel has since been collapsed. We also saw how the command bunker wasn’t as secure, with larger lightwells and openings, but it was designed to be used by the officers in charge of that area of the Atlantic Wall.

The gunnery bunker was more secure, with more measures to defeat people attacking. There was a ventilation hole in the top of a wall which our guide had me throw a little pebble into, but the pebble came back out on my foot! The hole was looped so that if someone tried to throw a grenade in, it would blow up in their face – literally. There was a separate hole designed so that air could get into the bunker, but grenades could not.

I found the bunkers to be very interesting, and I think you can take tours of other ones too. So even if you don’t visit Juno Beach, I would definitely recommend checking out other ones if you visit Normandy.

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Part 2: American D-Day Afternoon

After spending some time walking along the beach, we all headed out – I think I was doing the driving today, and it was a bit different than in the Loire valley, as the roads were so narrow I don’t even think they’d be considered one-way roads in the US, let alone 2-ways like they were (you basically had to drive partially off the road whenever another car was coming towards you)! Though it was a bit cool seeing the re-enactors driving around in their trucks and motorcycles down these little roads.

I made sure to drive along the cliff road so we would have some good scenery. As we approached Arromanches, we were able to see the remains of the Allied temporary harbor. We were able to find a turn-off spot and a parking lot (which charged $$) and gave a great view of everything, despite there being a pretty heavy marine layer. As we walked around I realized it was actually where they have the Arromanche 360 degree video of the D-Day landings. I had hoped to do it if we had time, but that wasn’t the case, so we just admired the view. There was also another old bunker up there.

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And onto our next stop:


Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial


This was definitely another important place we wanted to visit and pay our respects. It houses over 9,000 American soldiers who died in the Battle of Normandy. The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking part of Omaha Beach and covers 172 acres.

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In the center of the cemetery is a multi-faith chapel. Behind it are two statues, one representing the US and one representing France.

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At one end of the cemetery is a memorial. It has a semicircular colonnade with a statue in the middle. The sides have maps and descriptions of the military operations. On the backside is a garden where the names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives but their remains could not be located or identified are inscribed on the walls.

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When I visited in high school you could walk down a path to the beach, but they since closed it off for security measures. More recently they built a visitor center/museum, but since we arrived pretty late in the day, it was getting ready to close. We did happen to see the flag retreat ceremony.

You really cannot imagine the enormity of this place and just thinking of how many people died is just… (honestly I can’t come up with a word that fits).

I think I knew that Joey had wanted to actually visit Omaha Beach and was a bit disappointed that we weren’t allowed to walk down to it. So, I looked it up and realized we could drive a little further and get to another part of the beach. Of course, I forgot to take into account that due to the anniversary of D-Day, there was plenty of activities in that area and a full stage was set up, with equipment taking up the parking lot. I found a spot along the road, that I wasn’t sure was completely legal, so I stayed with the car while everyone else went to the beach.

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This was another statue further along the beach that I did stop and get out for.

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Part 3: Normandy dinner

It was getting pretty late and we really hadn’t had any food besides those pastries this morning (though I think we had gotten some extras and I may have eaten another croissant sometime during the day)

Croissants: 14, Crepes: 7

Before we left for France I had been reading a cruise trip report from someone who did the 2017 British Isles cruise and stopped at a restaurant in Normandy that they loved. So, I got the name, and looked it up and it seemed like it could be a good fit. So, for dinner we went to La Ferme de la Ranconniere.

It’s actually an 13th century farm (and even has its own Wikipedia page). Currently it’s a restaurant and hotel. I think it hosts a lot of private tour groups (at least for breakfast and lunch), but is very charming.

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For dinner, we all ended up with the Prixe Fixe menu, and I had finally trained everyone to let me take food photos!

Anthony of course got a beer, but he went with the D-Day Biere. Mom kept the label.

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And they brought out amuse bouches. I don’t remember what everything was, some sort of red pepper cracker and then the tart was something fishy. I can’t remember if I even tried them, but whoever did liked them!

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Appetizers:
I got the Norman hot cheese terrine and Camembert ice cream. Yup, you read that right – cheese ice cream. And this was delicious! Lauren got it too and I think she said it was her favorite dish, period, in France!

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Dad got the starter of the day, which I think involved smoked ham, asparagus, and goat cheese?

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Someone else got the Marinated beef and Iberian ham, crispy tapenade and old-style tomato

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As an in-between dish, we got Norman apple sorbet with calvados (basically apple liquor). The liquor was a bit too much for me and Lauren, so we sort of ate the sorbet and poured the liquor into mom or dad’s cups.

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Entrees:

Rolled duck fillet and braised sucrine lettuce, with a pommeau sauce. I think this is what I got, though I can’t quite remember. Whatever I did get I know I liked.

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Roasted guinea fowl from Normandy, served with a cappuccino of local flavours

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Beef fillet with dry fruits, served with vegetables Provence style

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For dessert,

Chocolate with a “crème brulee” heart and its Streuzel biscuit

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Clafoutis “Made in Normandy” and vanilla ice cream. (Clafoutis is a French version of flan with fruit)

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Traditional Ranconniere Ice Nougat – Anthony wouldn’t wait for me to take a photo before starting to eat!

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All around delicious!

I think we lost track of the time as we were eating and when I went to the bathroom I realized how dark it was and the fog was really rolling in! We weren’t far from the apartment, but still, these roads were narrow and dark!

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Lauren ended up driving home (I think I wasn’t feeling great), which meant she got to drive in pouring rain and then in dark fog… so that was fun for her! I sat up front and navigated using Google Maps. I actually had to yell at everyone else to stop talking (and yes, Dad, whisper talk is even worse) because it was distracting us; Google maps was very helpful at that time because we really could barely see further than a car length in front of us and there were some sharp turns on the farm roads!

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Anyways, we got back to the Airbnb and settled down. I think Joey wanted to take photos of the fog (it actually looked pretty cool), so while he was out, Anthony and I decided to mess with the dolls. At first Anthony basically tried to make it look like someone was sitting right inside the front door, which freaked Joey out enough. Then, rather than place the creepy little doll somewhere scary, we thought it’d be better just to hide it entirely, so Joey would be scared the whole time about where it was! Unfortunately that didn’t work out as well, because we didn’t hide it very well so he saw it when we dropped off my mobile wifi unit in my room! Though I was in the shower and when I came back out, it was tucked into my bed, which was funny!

 
So, I got my act together and actually finished up the next day too, so today is a double post!

Day 13, Part 1

Today was our last full day as a family, and it sort of didn’t start out on the right foot.


The original plan (pre-arrival in France) was to do Mont St Michel, but that got scrapped when we were in Paris and realized how exhausting it would be. Then, we were thinking of just doing more in Normandy (which would have been nice since there is so much to see there). But finally we had decided to do Giverny instead (Joey actually expressed a desire to see it after visiting the Orangerie in Paris).

So, going to bed, that’s what we thought was the plan. And Lauren and I both got up earlyish and she even got Joey up earlier so we could get there. But then Mom woke up and was feeling exhausted so was thinking of just staying in and packing… Lauren didn’t want to leave Mom alone, Joey didn’t want to go without her, and Dad and I didn’t want to go alone. So it caused a bit of annoyance and confusion in the morning.

Since we were up, Lauren and I went down to get some pastries for breakfast (Joey caught up with us after we were a block away), and discovered that Courselles also had a weekly market, so we walked through it.

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Joey ended up getting some paella which he said was delicious.

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I ended up getting a croissant and a palmier (though the palmier from Amboise was better)

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Croissants: 15, Crepes: 7

After we got home, and we still didn’t know what we were doing, I just shut down – didn’t get mad, I was just tired. So I ended up laying on the couch and dozing off. Only to wake up with mom dressed and ready to leave for Giverny? So, I guess she changed her mind… Anthony stayed though.

It was an uneventful drive down (I think Lauren drove). Giverny actually is in Normany, just on the very edge of it (it’s a border town), and is much closer to Paris than Courselles, which makes it a decently convenient day-trip from Paris.

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Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet

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Claude Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 – 1926. He first noticed it while looking out of a train window and decided to move there. While there he completely renovated his home as well as designed the gardens around it. The home itself is very colorful and airy, with pastel colors taken from his paintings. He also had the nearby river partially diverted to supply water to the gardens.

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Half of the garden (near the house) was designed as a living en plein air painting, with flowers planted in straight-lined patterns. We also noticed several volunteers who come over to tend the garden (including some American university students). He also had some large, feathery chickens who he raised in areas of the garden.

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The other half is a water garden and was the inspiration for his water lilies paitings. It was inspired by his love for Japan (you can see many of his collection of Japanese prints in the house), including the Japanese bridge and oriental plants.

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After Monet’s death in 1926, he left it to his son, who in turn left it to the Academie des beaux-arts after his death in 1966. Unfortunately it had been neglected for about 20 years in the interim, but the curator of Versailles restored the house and gardens, with the help of lots of American donors. It became a public site in 1980 and is the second most visited tourist site in Normandy.

 
And of course mini-Monet made the trip

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And the home – I’m not going to lie, this design is my ideal home design!

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This was the view from Monet’s bedroom and study. Yeah, I think with this, even I could be inspired to be a painter!

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Afterwards we were hungry so stopped at a café next door (there were others further along the pedestrian road, so we probably should have waited)! I got the ham and cheese sandwich, which was decent. The others got various forms of salads and a quiche

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And afterwards I grabbed an ice cream from the truck since it was pretty hot that day! (Well at least in Giverny it was hot – in Courselles it was chilly)

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Afterwards we made the long drive back to Courselles – I ended up driving and we hit lots of traffic (got the Friday evening crowds leaving Paris). Anthony was in a bad mood since he didn’t get to do a lot that day (I guess it was too boring in town?) so Mom was annoyed that he wasn’t being grateful for the trip! But we grabbed our final family dinner at a creperie.

I got the mushroom, ham and cheese crepe.

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As well as the chocolate crepe for dessert.

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Croissants: 15, Crepes: 9

I think Lauren got some cheese soufflé thing, that she loved

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We went back and completed packing up. Mom and I actually switched suitcases since hers was too small for everything to go back home. So I took her smaller case with just the things I would need for the next few days and she took all my souvenirs and other clothes back home. And I think she ended up sleeping in my room that night because my dad’s CPAP had blown a fuse, so he was snoring pretty badly!


 

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