Blogs from Lower Normandy, France, Europe - page 35

Ok, now that this entry is almost a full month behind, I figured I would try and get caught up a bit. Leaving Paris was interesting. I got to the train station a full 2 hours before the train was due to leave in order to wait in line to make a reservation. After an hour in line I discovered that I didn't need a reservation on this particular train. Fun. So, I sat around waiting for the departure board to update and tell me which platform the train was leaving from. There were tons of people milling around in front of the board, and now in retrospect I know why. When the board finally did update, it was only 15 minutes before our train was due to leave, and several trains at once were updated. ... read more

Bon ben, je suis maintenant de retour à Montréal, mais bon, je n'ai pas fini de vous raconter mon voyage. Après deux semaines de vacances, j'avais l'intention de prendre un vol pour Glasgow le vendredi 6 oct, mais quand mon ami parisien m'as offert d'aller passer le weekend en Normandie et profiter du chalet de sa famille, j'ai décider de reporter mon départ pour le Royaume-Uni. Donc, samedi matin, comme plein d'autres Parisiens, on est partit en voiture pour les plages de la Normandie. Notre première destination, Dieppe. Pour tous ceux qui connaisse le Nouveau-Brunswick, doivent savoir qu'il y a une ville du nom de Dieppe, et bien, j'ai pu ainsi visiter le Dieppe orginal. Je me suis ainsi vite mis à comparer... D'abord et avant tout, je tiens à souligner le bonheur que ma première ... read more

Departing Honfleur, I headed west along the D513 coast road towards my final destination for the day. I followed the coast road passing through Villerville and on to Trouville Sur Mer (on Sea) then Deauville, Villers sur Mer, Houlgate, Cabourg, and finally towards Ouistreham when I recognized a landmark that I’d only seen in films or documentaries. As I approached Ouistreham I recognized the Pegasus Bridge in front of me and the Pegasus bridge memorial with the old bridge was towards my right hand side. I had planned to visit the Pegasus Bridge at sometime during my tour of Normandy but I hadn’t planned a specific time or date for the visit. Just before the new bridge was a turning to the right which took me to the memorial site and museum. Pulling into the car ... read more

Okay, after only a little sleep for Kate, we packed up the hotel, and made our way to the campervan place. Mum and dad got the laydown of what to do with the van, and I got the job of finding out how and where we actually had to go to meet Alana, Jules and his dad. Mum had made me chief navigator, as mum was a little nervous after a bad experience driving in Italy - she needed a rest and her nails did as well. After packing the van with our goods, loaded up with only a buddha bar CD and some crazy french music Mum had insisted on buying (I am sure it will suit some people - just not me really) we made our way out of Paris - first hurdle - ... read more

Oh my I can't even remember all that happened in the past few days. I know a few days ago Mélanie, Garance's sister, took me around and I got to see Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur, L'arc du triomphe and the Champs-Elysées. We had a good time chatting and walking around. It was very quite and peaceful despite the many tourists. Having a French person really helps me feel like I'm on the inside instead of just watching the façade of Paris race by me. We had icecream which everyone seems to be having everyday because it is so darn hottttttttt here. Anywho, that night we started Gone With the Wind, Garance, Mélanie, and I before we all became really tired and called it a night. The next day I went with Garance to the dentist ... read more