Paris & Normandy

Seems like the Egypt post was just yesterday. Time is just flying by. Since returning from Egypt I have moved in to a new apartment in Belgium. It’s been quite an experience going from Ireland, where all apartments are rented completely furnished, to Belgium, where not even the light fixtures are included. That said, I am happy here. I like having an apartment where it can look a bit like “me” and I love being on the Continent where I can get somewhere relatively fast and easy.

The spring started out exciting. My dear friend Barb came for a visit. What a time we had. I don’t think we stopped moving, except to sleep, for the whole two weeks.

Barb landed on Sunday and we hit the ground running. She did GREAT after her flight from the US. After dropping her stuff at our aparthotel (it’s just as it sounds) in Montmartre, we headed out for breakfast. We found a great natural food place down the hill called SEASON (singular) which not only was healthy food, they had plenty of gluten free options. We visited once more during our stay in Paris. After breakfast, we did the Hop-On Hop Off bus around the city. I find these a great way to see the sights and get your bearings in a new city. Yes, it’s touristy, but when you are a tourist you should own it. Barb had still not hit the jet-lag wall after dinner so we ran out to see Sacre Coeur at night.

The City of Lights was a whirlwind. We walked a lot, took in the Lourve, Orsay, St Chapelle, walked through the Jardin du Luxembourg and pretty much wore out our feet. Penguin enjoyed the museums, especially Orsay and teasing that polar bear.

A real highlight of the Paris leg of the trip was lunch at the Jules Verne restaurant at the Eifel Tower. That lunch is a once in a lifetime experience and we were glad to do it. Wonderful meal, amazing service, but you pay for it. As I said, once in a lifetime…for me anyway.

We made it to Versailles but weather was too awful for the gardens. The palace itself is impressive; however, but if you have been to St Petersburg or Venice, it may leave you a bit underwhelmed. It was my first time their and I am glad to have been.

After Versailles, we rented a car (picking it up OUTSIDE of central Paris) and headed towards Normandy. Barb did a great time driving as we got lost leaving Orsay. Penguin tried to help navigate.

We stopped in Giverny along the way and the gardens were surely showing off. It’s no wonder Monet loved this place so. The famed waterlilies do not bloom until later in the year, but everything else was glorious. If you are ever anywhere close, this is a must see. I would have enjoyed spending a night here, but we had places to go.

We finished our long day of driving in the charming town of Bayeux in Normandy. We really didn’t have much time to explore this town and its stunning, oversized cathedral as our mission here was the D-day beaches. Again, this place deserves a return visit and more time.

The day touring the D-day beaches, towns and museums was both physically and emotionally exhausting. At all of the sites, as we learned about the thousands of allied soldiers and French civilians who perished during the Normandy campaign, I could not help but think about today. During WWII, millions died because of a mad man. Today, another mad man is threatening the world. Looking at all of those headstones, crosses and stars both, made me realize how important standing up to tyrants is and how great we can be when we all work together. We owe a huge debt to the “greatest generation”. Let us never forget for what they all fought.

Never wanting to be too serious, Penguin decided to end the day playing on a period Jeep. Apparently you can rent these things somewhere to tour the area. Again, something to keep in mind for a return trip. Luckily for us, Penguin can’t drive a stick.

Our final day at the coast as spent at Mont St Michel. This has been on my list for a while. It’s quite an ordeal to visit now, so be sure to see the trip tips below. I also would not recommend visiting at Easter. I now know what a lost salmon in September must feel like.

Mont St Michel sits on a BIG rock in a tidal bay. In the morning, it it often obscured by mist allowing it to appear slowly as the sun warms the air, almost by magic (or Divine Providence?).

The view is stunning and the walk through the abbey an amazing journey through religious and architectural history.

One of the most amazing things we experience at the abbey was the noon service. It is not a mass or a service in which you can participate. You can only watch and feel the spiritual energy as the monks and nuns sing. Unfortunately, even after a few attempts, I cannot get the video to load here. You will just have to follow me in Instagram: Laurenglobetrotter.

This concludes the France leg of this trip. After this we did a whoosh through Belgium and Amsterdam. Stay tuned.

Trip Tips:

A new feature of these posts will be trip tips. I do not want to become a travel guide, but I do want to share tips, ideas, what was good and maybe what wasn’t so good. Where relevant, I will include links.

The first tip I want to give anyone traveling to Europe post-Covid is to make sure you have a smartphone with data. Either get a roaming package from home or pick up a sim at the airport on arrival. Everything in Europe is now contactless, from tickets to menus. You will be showing QR codes and scanning them more than you every have before. For all of our entry tickets, I printed PDFs and stored them in a folder on my phone in case I didn’t have coverage. If you are uncomfortable using your phone like this, practice before you leave your home country and get a child or grandchild to show you all the tricks.

In Paris we stayed at the Aparthotel Adagio in Montmartre. It’s an affordable hotel with a small kitchette in a decent location. However, I would not recommend it for stays longer than 4 days since housekeeping and fresh towels are not included in the rate. Also, it can be a little bit of a challenge to get around from there as the metro line which it is on is not one of the more convenient ones.

In Bayeux we stayed at a private vacation rental called La Petit Vahalla. It was very nice and I would recommend it without hesitation. The owners are super nice. The place was big with a good kitchen and we each had our own bedrooms. It also had the best shower I think I have ever used in Europe. I would stay there again just for that shower.

Both of these accommodations were booked online with booking dot com. I use them the most as they seem to have the best options in Europe.

In Paris, I recommend buying the Paris transport ticket for 3 or 5 days. Three zones gets you central Paris only. Five zones will give you the airports and Versailles. Purchase this at a ticket machine in any metro or RER (train) station. Do NOT purchase this in advance. If you are just staying in Paris, you can also opt for a 10 pack of single use metro tickets. You need to have a ticket to both enter and EXIT the station.

Almost EVERYTHING in Europe now has timed entry. This was brought in during Covid and will likely stay. The times are fairly rigid, so think about the slot you book. You do all of this online. If you have the Museum Pass, you still need times entry reservations for the Lourvre and Versailles. You do all of this online.

In Normandy, make sure you visit the Caen Memorial before going anywhere else. It gives you a great introduction to D-day and live in Normandy pre and post invasion. Purchase your tickets online in advance at by clicking here . Note: the button to get the version in English is in the top left of the screen. After that, decide which beaches you want to see. If you get an early start, you can probably fit in a town and three beaches. If you are American, don’t miss the cemetery. The Brits and Canadians also have cemeteries.

Mont St Michel, like everywhere, now has timed entry. What is not mentioned ANYWHERE is the cluster that is now the parking and shuttle system. Allow yourself a minimum of 60 minutes to get to the abbey entrance from the parking area. Even if you walk. It’s 2km from the parking lot and there is a free shuttle, but the queues are long. Google maps is, at this writing, unaware of the situation. The shuttle takes you to the causeway. It is another 20 – 30 minutes walk, most of it up the streets of the rock, to the abbey entrance. There are many sights that sell the entry tickets: GetYourGuide, Viator, etc.