Blogs from Caen, Lower Normandy, France, Europe - page 2

Normandy France from 27 Sept to 1 Oct We arrived at the Paris Nord train station and after ferreting the info on where our car hire place was, we found it and all was ready for us. With 2 GPSs (one built in the car and ours), Tom drove out of Paris. It certainly reminded us that we did the right thing last time we were in Paris, last year with Kerrie & Gemma, when we left our motor home in Versailles. It was bumper to bumper for 45 minutes. You have to make sure you drive confidently and while in Paris do what Parisians do, and that is, don't hesitate. We arrived at our hotel in Pontoise which was 30 kms out of Paris and on the way to our first tourist stop - Rouen ... read more

I'm writing this post really late... several months after having been there, so I'll probably have forgotten a few details. I think my best contribution with this post are the photos that I took and edited. I didn't have the best weather during my short stay in Caen, so I didn’t really get to do all that I wanted there. Besides, I wasn't able to find a car to rent and moving around in public transport between villages is pretty difficult, especially if you're on a time frame. So, first tip: if you've been planning to get here for a while and really want to get the most out of your stay, rent a car or book tours way in advance. While I was there I decided to do the “Band of Brothers tour” (based on ... read more

A marathon day of driving today, probably the longest single stretch we are going to do in one day. We set off in sunshine from Buckingham and the temperature and weather deteriorated from then on. It was not raining at the coast in the UK but soon started spitting on the other side of the Channel. We made good time getting down to Folkestone and had enough time for a break and to stick the anti-glare stickers on the car headlights. No idea whether they are on in the right place but the guy behind us on the train was just gaffer-taping his up so we at least had the proper kit! The train is super smooth and fast but very boring as there is nothing to see and you can't really get out. Dad did ... read more

Located in Lower Normandy, Bayeux is home to the famous Bayeux Cathedral and Bayeux Tapestry. I was lucky enough to gain the privilege of spending an entire day roaming its streets and admiring the ancient beauty surrounding me. The first thing you notice when driving in is the tall cathedral. The perfection of its structure makes it look surreal, and even more desirable than imagined. In one of the pictures I took, it looks like a castle in an old Disney movie. Inside the cathedral is even more magnificent. I spent a lot of my time looking at the effort that was put into the stain glass windows. And all the way around are sculptures and works done of Jesus and different religious aspects. There's always locals there too, either praying or greeting the tourists. They ... read more

November 10 – Caen – Saturday – Saturday seems to be a quiet day in Caen. Usually the street below my window at the hotel is bustling but today hardly anyone has been in it but some people standing in a doorway smoking in the cold. Since they can’t smoke inside they stand out in the cold and rain and smoke…….I think if I smoked I would give it up before I would do that. By the way it was raining today. The first time since I left England that it has rained, it was quite nice not to have rain almost every day. It is somewhat cold though, but I can deal with that. I had thought the phone that I had gotten in England with an O2 SIMS card would work here but it ... read more