Parislog 52
August 31, 2006

Because we were planning on leaving early in the morning on Tuesday for Normandy, I stayed the night at I*’s house. I had miscalculated my hunger and ended up at her house after all the stores had closed but fortunately she was kind enough to make me a little something. I crashed on her pullout sofa and fully expecting that metal bar in the middle of the back that all pullout sofas seem to have, I gingerly laid down. It was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t believe it. I think that it was more comfortable than my own bed at the apartment. I slept well but I wish it had been longer.

We got up at 7AM to be ready when A* got there at 7:30. We still ended up being a little late due to I*’s need for the morning cup of coffee. I am so glad that this was one of life’s crutches that I missed. So we were off.

We drove out of Paris and up the road to our first stop at Rouen. This city is spectacular. Your eyes are filled with wall-to-wall medieval architecture, wood beams and white plaster. Some of them were painted and some were natural colors but all were crooked in the most amazing ways. I really thought they sometimes looked like they were going to fall over. Unfortunately great swathes were destroyed on D-day during the Second World War by Allied bombs including a huge amount of destruction to the central cathedral. They are still working on the repairs to the cathedral 60 years after the war but it is worth it. The cathedral is in a number of Monet’s paintings.

We were inundated with rain by the time we got to Rouen and did all of our wandering around in a torrential downpour. It was a mournful ambience for the place where Joan of Arc took her last breath. I bet she was wishing for rain like this while being burnt at the stake.

This is just wrong. McDonald's!





We bought some umbrellas. Our shoes were soaked through. We stopped to eat and get a little bit of dry time. The restaurant was called La Toque d’Or and had a breathtaking medieval interior with crooked beams and a huge fireplace. And it was not a Disney version. This stuff has actually been there for 600 years, give or take a century.

We got back on the road again and headed for the region of Etretat. Our gite (bed and breakfast) was called La Ferme aux Canards (The Duck Farm). It was also built of the timber and plaster construction but was out in the countryside with nothing but ducks and cows around it. After we got our keys and met the owners, we headed back out again to see two sections of the coastline called the Big Dalles and the Little Dalles. The Little Dalles was our favorite of the two with a more interesting cliff line and a long row of white beach cabins that you can rent by the hour, day, or week. The beach was full of round rocks from the erosion of the cliffs.

We went to a tiny little store to get some food to make a little dinner at the gite and as we were sitting down to eat our salad, cheese and fruit, the owner came and brought us a bottle of cider to drink. It was in an old fashioned bottle with a built in plug on a wire. The Normandy region is apparently famous for its apple products too.

More tomorrow.