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Category Archives: Normandy
France in focus – Etretat
I’m smitten.
If this wasn’t enough to convince you, there are plenty more examples here of why I’m smitten with Normandy.
Tagged cards, France, France photos, Normandy, polaroid france
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Buvez du Vin à Rouen
No matter where you live in the world, it’s easy to get caught up in your immediate surroundings, to fall into habits of staying local, revisiting the same over, dining at your favourite restaurant, un café at the bar where the waiter can order for you before you’ve had a chance to straddle your coat over the back of the chair, such a creature of habit so many of us become at some time or another.
Life abroad doesn’t eliminate the entrapment of habits, not even in a place as beautiful as France. So when it does, you have to break out, explore, touch, open your eyes and rediscover.
I’ve spent a lot of time this past year ‘rediscovering’ this Gallic land and visiting new destinations for an injection of different accents, food, and architectural styles.
Once place I discovered outside of my regular stomping ground is Rouen. When new visitors come to town and we’ve done the required sightseeing in Paris, Versailles and nearby, we head north to cross into Normandy. Home of the burning stake to which Jeanne d’Arc was attached, and burial place of Richard of Lionheart who is tucked away quietly under cold stone in the back of the Cathedral, Rouen has charm yet a steely sense of eeriness.
The first time we visited, we noticed there were no children, and the more we noticed, the fewer children there seemed to be. It felt like a scene from a Ken Hughes movie. Old buildings and doors with shutters that closed, people stared as we stolled by with our two on their trottinettes.
On our subsequent visits we’ve realized that really there are children, (there were just none that day) there are equal amounts of elderly, and both those numbers are matched by a crazy amount of macaron shops with multi-level cakes costing in the hundreds of euros.
One last stop? The fantastic school of arts, a visit worth while just for the deathly faces that stare back from the wooden walls.
Sounds fun, huh!
Easily accessible by train from Paris. Speaking of Paris, I’m over at BonjourParis this week with photos of the Chanel/Lagerfeld themed windows at Printemps.
Destination revelation – Yport
Well, it’s time for a revelation.
In passing through coastal towns in Normandy, part of our hearts stayed in the quaint streets of Yport. Untouched by tourism, it was a welcome contrast to nearby Etretat. We drove home with the strong probability that we may spend a lot more time near these beach huts somewhere down the road.
Tagged beaches, France photos, Normandy, paris day trip, Village views, Yport
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Windows to Another’s world – ocean perfection & a dream village
Don’t you just want to dive into that gorgeous water? Right now I certainly do! With our five day weekend I’m kicking myself that I didn’t pack the little people in the car and run away to be oceanside for the weekend, escaping the hot, dry patch that has engulfed the Yvelines for the past few weeks.
Where are the photos taken you ask? Well, remember the Windows to Another’s World post when I promised a few more photos to follow, these are some of them.
It was an idylic place to be. On the Saturday morning I rose early and headed out, my eight year old came with me for company, leaving the ‘boys’ to continue sleeping. The ocean was wild and smashed up against the rocky beach as the sun came up behind the cliff tops. We were all alone on the beach, taking photos, recording the sounds of waves crashing and the crunching of stones underneath our feet. It was magical. (photos 2,3,5)
Eventually our solitude was broken by a group of fisherman who came out to cast an eye over the ocean. They huddled by their boats, walked to the edge of the turbulent waves, jokingly posed and danced to be in photos before they ultimately took one final look out over the waters, shrugged their shoulders and retreated inside.
As we made our return home on the Sunday, we detoured via two places. The first stop immediately won us over. Just look at the divine colour of the water in the first picture, it’s tropical island material! Yet here we were in Normandy, less than a two hour drive from Paris. We walked and fell in love with the village, the beach, the water, the windows – everything about it has me dreaming of being there right now.
Still curious? One more round of pics to follow that might help.
Hint - The wharf is in a nearby ville where we made the last of our stops on the return, but not in our adorable little dream village.
Tagged beaches, carams, Etretat, France, France photos, Holidays, Normandy, paris plages, summer, Village views, Yport
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Windows to another’s world – Haute Normandie
We’ve been looking at windows. Other people’s windows. We’re thinking about moving ours from one part of France to a little place elsewhere – not right now, but certainly it’s part of the long term plan. The biggest obstacle for me is that there are so many beautiful places to choose from.
Scattered along the coast of Normandy, there was one village that impressed. A lot.
Jennifer at Lou Lou in France recently asked her Twitter followers to name their favourite place in France. At the time Honfleur was top of my list, but it might just have been toppled by this new find. Curious? I’ll post some more photos next week to see if you can guess where our hearts wandered to last weekend…..
Escape to Normandy
We’ve decided to escape for a couple of days and things are looking better than good.
Have a super weekend.
Tagged France, France photos, Holidays, Landscapes, Normandy, normandy beaches, Yport
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A Normandy chateau fit for a King
Another round of school holidays in France has found us exploring and discovering Richard the Lionheart and his traces in Normandy.
Said to have only spent six months of his ten year reign in England claiming it to be too cold and rainy, the ‘strong, brave king with the terrible temper’ was supposedly once heard to say, “If I could have found a buyer I would have sold London itself.”
First stop, Chateau Gaillard – a medieval castle in the Eure department of Normandy that took little more than one year to build.
Amongst the untouched ruins and those that are being restored, lays a part of history with a view worthy of a Kind of England and Duke of Normandy. Nearly eight hundred years later, the stony relics that were once covered in a ‘rain of blood’ are now a peaceful oasis atop a rocky outcrop, serene views take one’s eyes as far as they can see.
Just over an hour from Paris, and fifteen miles from the overcrowded Monet’s Gardens in Giverny, few sight-seekers make the extra journey to Les Andelys. A tourist coach occasionally pauses to allow passengers to briefly descend and admire the view, yet few visitors walk the extra distance to explore the inner walls, descend the darkness to the prison cell, or imagine enemies on horseback approaching for battle.
Their loss.
Chateau Gaillard’s website.
Escape to the winter grey of the Calvados – Honfleur
There’s no escaping the grey in France during winter.
From October through till April, everywhere you look, cloud lingers low and there’s a dampness in the air. The sun makes the rarest of appearances, her warm glow tucked away, out of sight. People wrap up heavy to match the sombre colour of the skyline.
Not someone to be bothered by winter, I embrace it. My favourite season came like a built-in wardrobe with coats and chunky scarves, gloves, pink cheeks that glow when everyone returns to the warm air from the chill outside. Hot chocolates and vin chaud, cider and galettes.
It also happens to be the time when I most prefer the ocean. And when it all comes together like a Saturday trifecta, there’s only one thing to do. Jump in the car and head to the Calvados. Unlike the summer rush, it’s mostly void of tourists. With the exception of a few cars making their return to the UK, there are no crowds lounging about the harbour, no long waits to get into one of the quaint, fisherman restaurants. The waters are calm, the beaches littered with pebbles and shells waiting to be collected by pint-sized fingers.
The grey slate buildings blend perfectly with the sky, the ocean, the lunch, and the quiet harbour. It’s a little corner of heaven, and my favourite escape.
Carams elsewhere
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