Here's my journal for NORMANDY, BRITTANY & LOIRE VALLEY

My wife Chris and I embarked on this tour immediately after doing Insight’s Country Roads of France tour (I’ve already posted my journal for CRF on this site). In fact the last night of CRF overlapped with the first night of NB&L (Saturday 5th May 2007). We missed the introductory drinks and the Sparkling Illuminations tour of NB&L because of this. If, however we had reversed the order we would have only missed CRF’s introductory drinks and if we had been able to do the tours later in the year when there are also Sunday departures of CRF there would have been no overlap.

I need also to point out that this tour was the last week of a 4 month overseas vacation. We were pooped!!!! So much so that details escaped our attention – e.g. our vivacious and excellent tour director whose enthusiasm and savvy added so much to our experience was a Belgian whose first name was Monica, but her last name escapes me. Similarly, I can tell you that there were 38 people on our tour, roughly equal groups of Americans, Canadians and Australians, but I am unable to give precise numbers. I can say that they were a very happy, harmonious group whose punctuality meant that we were never spending dead time just waiting (as can be a problem in some groups).

So, we missed Day 1 of this tour. . . . .

Day 2: A taxi trip across Paris got us to the Hotel Rive Gauche (the previous tour had shown this to be an excellent hotel) to link with our new tour.

Rouen’s old town is a lovely medieval town which we probably did not do full justice to because of the biting, icy winds. There is a marvelous walk along the rue du Gros Horloge. It takes you past medieval houses and shops, under an arch bearing both the big ancient clock of the street’s name and some wonderful friezes, and onto the Place du Vieux Marche, with its very disappointing monument marking the spot where Joan d’Arc was executed, a modern church in her honour and the market of the square’s name. Chris particularly loved the Cathedrale Notre Dame, she has that in common with Claude Monet. It has wonderful carvings and beautiful 15th century windows, and also Richard I’s lion heart is supposedly interred there, but you need to be on a cathedral-run tour to see the crypt where it is located.

On to Trouville, a lovely fishing port. Our hotel, Le Beach, was atmospheric (think Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday) but not great.

The afternoon optional was very worthwhile. The tour of the calvados (apple brandy) distillery was mildly interesting, particularly the tasting session. But the second part of the optional, the tour of Honfleur was spectacular. You’re bound to have seen it in photos, a beautiful, small, medieval harbour surrounded by colourful three storey buildings. There are great walks and shopping along the harbour front and also in the back streets.

We did not take Monica’s suggestion of having the seafood platter for dinner at a particular beach side restaurant, opting for a quick Italian meal. A double mistake. The platters were pricey but magnificent. Our dinner and a couple of other quasi-Italian meals of our time in France led me to formulate Ray’s gastronomic rule # 12: The French don’t know how to do Italian (or perhaps they do but give vent to their historic rivalry with the Italians).

Day 3: The day was plagued by poor weather – cold and wet. This made appreciating the D-Day beaches difficult. A touching moment on Juno Beach, where the Canadians came ashore. A Canadian I had befriended was near to tears as he told me that this was where his father, a tank commander, had died.

The Invasion Landings Museum at Arromanches is well worth the visit as is the American Military Cemetery at St. Laurent.

Our hotel and Pontsoron, the Montgomery, was formerly owned and lived in by the nobleman who had the doubtful distinction of killing King Henri II in a jousting accident in 1559. Even though Henri’s deathbed wish was that there would be no retribution, his widow Catherine de Medici had a long memory and, some years later, pushed trumped-up charges that led to the unfortunate lord’s execution. The hotel is adequate without being great.

Day 4: The main reason we chose this tour was to see Mont St Michel. It did not let us down. Monica got us going early to avoid the other tour groups. It is a marvelously atmospheric place and brilliantly preserved.

We had our lunch at St Malo where we got a second chance at excellent sea food platters. The town is an unexpected delight, with a walk around the ramparts the highlight. We met an old lady who was obviously returning from some military commemorative ceremony. We got to talking, we with our very limited French and she with no English. I had thought that the chest full of medals she displayed belonged to a deceased husband. But no, they were hers, including the Croix de Guerre, France’s highest military award, for her work for the Resistance. She even kissed us both in farewell.

And try the local tart – a culinary masterpiece.

Day 5: A nothing morning, just driving to the Loire Valley. Morning tea at Angers, capital of old Anjou and home of the Plantagenets. Time to see the beautiful Renaissance-style gardens in the former moat of the Chateau d’Anjou.

Then a wonderful drive through the Loire Valley, with amazing chateaux and atmospheric villages. A stop in Saumur to taste some sparkling wine (very nice) and for lunch (wonderful entrecote).

Finally we reached our hotel – the magnificent Chateau de Rochecotte. The tour was worth doing just for the experience of staying here, the former home of Talleyrand, Napoleon’s most famous minister. The buildings are lavish, the gardens lovely. We had a sumptuous room. The highlight dinner the friendly chateau staff put on was one of the best meals we had in France.

Day 6: This was chateau day! We wake up in a chateau, visit two chateaux in the morning, have an optional visit to a chateau is the afternoon (all 3 date from the 16th century) and go home to a chateau in the evening. Chateau Villandry was enjoyable, particularly its Renaissance-style gardens. I preferred Chateau d’Azay le Rideau with its flamboyant architecture and beautiful setting. It’s a warning against sycophancy. Its owner Giles Berthelot made his pile lending money to Francois I and smothered the interior and exterior walls of the chateau with Francois’ emblem, the salamander. But when Francois became too indebted he charged Giles with embezzlement, forcing him to flee France and then confiscated the chateau.

At this point some people would be chateaued out. Not us! For years we had wanted to see Chateau Chenonceau, which is built spanning the River Cher, and the optional was worth it. A magnificent place that, unlike the other two, has never required major restoration because it was never pillaged in times of war or revolution. And it was the battle ground for 2 powerful women, the wife of Henri II, Catherine de Medici, and his mistress Diane de Poitiers.

A pause for thought about the chateaux: imagine all those magnificent, expensive buildings and, until the 20th century, not a toilet or bathroom amongst them.

The evening optional, the troglodyte dinner, was o.k., but nothing marvelous. The only other accessible eating option is Chateau Rochecotte itself which would cost the about same without wine (but, judging by the highlight dinner, would be better quality).

Day 7: Chartres Cathedral was magnificent. We didn’t have time to explore the town – it was either the cathedral and lunch or forego one of these to see the town. The bitingly cold wind helped decide us. A lot of people in our group missed seeing the cathedral’s south portal. Don’t, it’s one of the highlights. You can get up close and personal to its brilliant carvings.

Back in Paris we passed on the Louvre tour – our months of traveling caught up with us and we opted for an afternoon nap.

For the expensive but excellent Moulin Rouge optional refer to my journal on Country Roads of France. Our group was amazed by the seats – right up front to the extent that one of them could actually touch the stage.

Our hotel, the Bercy, was excellent, although we did have to insist on a change of rooms as our allocated room smelt badly of cigarettes. The hotel is well away from the centre of town and not near anything of interest to tourists, but there is a Metro 5 minutes walk away and the trains run frequently and get you into town quickly. On the way to the Metro is what is called locally “The Village”, which is simply a broad pedestrian walk lined with shops, mostly restaurants. The 3 we tried in our time there were very good, and on Sundays there is the bonus of an excellent Dixieland jazz band playing.

Day 8: The morning optional to Monet’s Garden at Giverny was a delight. And for those thinking to do it on their own, I priced what it would cost to do it by public transport and, at the cheapest, we would have saved only 10 euros per person. For the extra cost we got door-to-door pick up and delivery, traveled much faster and in greater comfort, had the benefits of a guide and were taken earlier than the first train so that we avoided the huge crowds that built up later. I estimate that it would take a couple of hours each way by public transport.

That afternoon we did our own thing – Metro into Chatelet (easy to use and cheap, especially if you buy a carnet – a book of 10 tickets), and then walking the Rue du Rivoli and a trip to renew acquaintances with Notre Dame – well worth it.

Travel fatigue again induced us to pass on the optional farewell dinner.

Day 9: We had an 11.15 pm flight out so the hotel looked after our bags while we again explored the city on foot.

Overall, a fabulous tour.

thanks, Ray, for a lovely tale, especially the comments on the overlap with CR of France tour. This will help me with my bookings.

Thanks also Ray

Although we did the 'other' company's tour of the same name (this avoided the day cross over at the beginning otherwise it was identical almost, in 2004) you touched on many places that we went to and again the images popped into my head.

Thanks

Hi Ski,
What's this? You've never visited Australia? Come on Ski, it's just a short swim across the Tasman.

Here's my list of countries visited, though it's a bit of a cheat listing countries like England and Wales as separate entities or Madeira rather than including it in Portugal. I've met people whose list is 3 times as long as mine and, yes, we have the same entry in the places yet to visit list. By the way, interesting that there is so little overlap between your list and mine.

Countries visited:
Austria, Canary Islands, China, Columbia Dubai, Egypt, England, Fiji,France, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madeira, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Marino, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, USA, Vietnam, Wales

quote:

What's this? You've never visited Australia? Come on Ski, it's just a short swim across the Tasman.

It was many moons ago that we visited Aussi, so long ago that I felt it was unfair to add to the list as with a trip to LA (you can hardly say that we saw USA) and a week in Hawaii. All so long ago. Although I have to say as I'm getting older, as is the way of things, the long term memory is stronger and I can remember quite a bit. The short term memory is a bit of a problem though As long as a wake up in the morning and remember who I am I guess thats all thats important

As for returning to Aussi. Well, its so close we thought we'd get all the distant countries done first while we're in our 'prime' and do the closer ones when we in our dottage, so I'm afraid it'll just have to wait I'm sure it'll still be there in 10 years from now and you have to admit the history etc is very similar to NZ, and we do like traveling to somewhere that is not similar to where we live.

I hope in a few more years that our list will grow as big as yours but on looking at our money tree I doubt if it will cope already its leaves are curling at the edges



PS: I just thought I'd pop the countries on as a sig: its sometimes nice to know 'ah Ray's been to Turkey, I'll ask him' Well back to the housework

quote:

Originally posted by Ray K:

Countries visited:
Austria, Canary Islands, China, Columbia Dubai, Egypt, England, Fiji,France, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Madeira, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Marino, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, USA, Vietnam, Wales

::squee::

Someone on the boards who's visited my country! I hope you had a good visit.

Loved your tour tales. Our CR of France was way different when we took it - your two tours combined sound like the description of the tour we took. Times change, so do itineraries.

Nice to hear you had a great time!

Ray,
Wow- thanks for the journal info- you and Phil should be hired by Insight because you both provide better info than their web site which is pretty good itself! What is the "elite" level that the two of you are rated?
JRouge

It is their "karma" level. It means they have posted more than 90 messages [as have I]

RayK,

Thank you so very much for your journal.

We are going on NBLV Sept 07. It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

This is our first overseas trip in 16 years. (Our last was a drive yourself tour of Ireland.) Since we travel so rarely, I've been a little nervous about whether the experience in France will live up to the advertising. Your real-life description is delightful! I can't wait! We have a whole summer to get through before we go! Thanks again!
Joan

eringorah, please post a tour tale of your Sept 07 trip. We are planning this for Sept 08 and would love to hear about your trip.