Visit to Northern France -- July 8

We left Paris early this morning for a trip to Northern France.  This excursion was optional for our group, so it was just me and 4 students who embarked on the adventure....and we're SO glad we did!  It has been beautiful and peaceful and generally not as hectic as in Paris. The pace in Paris is fast...all the time...basically everywhere, so it was nice to be able to slow down a little this weekend. 

We travelled into the Normandy and Brittany regions -- but not the actual D-Day beaches that we think about when we talk about Normandy in the US.  If you look at the map below, we went from Paris to Honfleur and then from Honfleur to St. Malo.  St. Malo is technically in the Brittany region just outside the gray shaded area on the left side of the map.  The weather was much cooler than in Paris today -- it was very pleasant along the coast.   

In Honfleur, we had about 2 hours to walk around and grab some lunch.  The ground team strongly encouraged us to eat crepes in Honfleur....so, I took them up on that suggestion.  Who doesn't love a banana and chocolate crepe (with a little coconut ice cream on the side!) for lunch? Ha ha.  We also walked around the outdoor markets and ventured into the local library/tourism office.  I love comparing libraries -- so, this was a bonus for me today. Here's a little about Honfleur: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honfleur 

 

We hopped back on the bus and headed for St. Malo -- and whew, that ride was a long one.  Our guides explained that school just let out for the summer in France this week, so many families are heading on holiday -- which meant -- TRAFFIC JAMS! I finished one book and started another -- and had time for a nap on the air-conditioned bus -- so, not awful, just long! 

St. Malo was first a medieval city designed as a fortress to keep invading troops out (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Malo).  Now, it's a huge tourist destination in France and some of the stores would remind you of Myrtle Beach or Gatlinburg.  Others, however, were super high-end and fancy!  We had a guided tour around the area and then, grabbed dinner where the recommendation was something seafood since we're on the water. I had the most amazing salmon sandwich -- it was a piece of beautifully cooked salmon with some kind of creamy sauces on it and then tomato and lettuce -- it hit the spot.  Salmon can be so hard to cook right -- I appreciate when it is.

In one of the pictures of St. Malo, you'll see something that looks like a swimming pool -- and it is!  It was created early in the 20th century as a way to attract people to the area as a resort town, and it refills itself with sea water twice a day.  How's that for easy cleaning?

 

 

  

My room feels a bit like something out of the "Sound of Music."  I'm waiting for Maria to start singing at any moment.  France is WAY more environmentally conscious in terms of energy consumption than the US.  I couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights in my hotel room tonight -- they only turn on when you insert your room key into a slot in the wall.  In my apartment, all the hallway lights in the building are motion-controlled.  The students have been talking about how their homestay families are very clear about the importance of turning off lights when you leave the room, taking short showers, etc.  One of our speakers said that in part it has to do with the energy crisis in Europe due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, but he noted that Europe was considerably more energy conscious even before the war than the US. 

 

On to Mont St. Michel tomorrow --- we have a 5-hour bus ride home, so I'm going to try and blog on the bus if I can.  

Until tomorrow...