France

France, a country of wine, romance and walks along the Seine River. We spent 9 days in France, taking our time visiting Paris, Carentan and St. Malo. We traveled via bus from Amsterdam to Paris, which turned out to be much more economical than train. Travel tip: while in Europe, always take the time to research buses if you are looking for a budget friendly form of transportation. We used a company called Flixbus multiple times and, for the most part, were satisfied with our service. Our only bump in the road occurred on the way from Amsterdam to Paris (quite literally, as it turns out). It was a 8-9 hour drive and our poor bus driver didn't get much of a break; unfortunately he entered the through the wrong part of the terminal and drove the top of the bus into a sign at the Paris airport. He then had to back-up in a round-a-about, which is near impossible, and make a sharp right hand turn into a parking lot to receive his ticket from airport police. The bus was too large for the area he was in, thus he couldn't make the turn and scratched the entire side of the bus along a cement barrier. Needless to say, it wasn't his best day. Finally, after much swearing by the driver, we completed our journey to Paris and began our time in the City of Lights! 

Our Airbnb was different then most, but provided what we needed. It was at the very top of an old apartment building. To get there, we had to clime 6 flights of steep spiraling stairs at the back of the complex. The elevator did not reach that part of the building because it was previously a servants quarters. The room was without air conditioning, but had a fan, a shower, a sink and a full size bed stuffed into it…the bathroom was found just down the hall in a separate room. I would guess the room was between 80 to 100 square feet, so you can imagine it was pretty tight. Most nights, we slept with the window open in order to keep a little air circulation moving through the room.

Our first full day in Paris was Sunday, so we started our week in God's house, worshiping with other believers in the area.  Needless to say, Nicholas and I walk everywhere…while in route to church we noticed the Eiffel tower in the distance, we didn’t realize how close we actually would actually be to the famous monument.  The church we attended was right along the Seine River, which ended up providing a beautiful walk to the Eiffel Tower after church ended.  I do have to mention that Nicholas and I were quite tired at this point in the trip, so we didn’t have the same energy as we have had going to see other cool places in our travels.  On our walk to the tower, we realized that we wanted lunch, but not at a restaurant as we were still not enthused by the thought of prepared food.  Hence, we bought lunch at a grocery store (sandwiches and a salad kit), which unfortunately we had to hike back to where we started our venture out in the morning (as that was the only grocery store that the phone pulled up as open on a Sunday).  Lets be honest, already being tired and hungry, walking around trying to find a grocery store and then learning it is back where you started was rather frustrating and more tiring…not complaining, just sharing the reality of the situation.  Upon buying our cheap grocery store meal and arriving at the Eiffel tower to enjoy a picnic, we didn’t have the excitement that most probably have when arriving at such a beautiful infrastructure. In fact, my first comment was “I thought it was bigger than this”.  I share this as a funny memory for Nicholas and I because up until this point, we had been amazed by everything…not that this wasn’t amazing, because it was, more we just didn’t have the “go get ‘em” energy.  With that said, the Eiffel tower is surrounded by a beautiful green with benches spread throughout to enjoy sitting and taking in the spectacular site…I do have to say, sitting down to eat lunch right under the Eiffel tower was a pretty amazing experience and made for a perfect picnic spot!  If you haven’t noticed the theme through our blogs yet, food is IMPORTANT! It energizes and keeps you going, so don’t wait till you are starving to eat, because it certainly has an effect on how you feel before and then after.  Afterwards, we walked back along the river to the Pont Alexandre III, an art museum and Arc de Triomphe. It ended up being a wonderful first day in Paris!

Our second day we decided to finish some of our self-designed "walking tour" and walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre! The walk from one to the other was quite pretty; looking at all the architecture, historical buildings and the park by the Louvre made it very enjoyable. In the afternoon we decided to do some shopping! I was quite excited to do some shopping in one of the most fashionable cities in the world. The third day in Paris we visited Notre Dame, another old church and some government buildings. For lunch we decided to try some traditional crepes, both savory and sweet! Nicholas had one with cheese, ham and potatoes and I had one with tuna, spinach and goat cheese. For dessert we had a strawberry crepe with whipped cream. I can honestly say they taste quite different than any crepes I've ever had the U.S., Nicholas also agrees.

Wednesday was a day trip! We took a short train ride to the Palace of Versailles. This palace was by far one of the most opulent palaces we saw on our travels. The second most opulent--in my opinion-- was the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. The Hall of Mirrors was very pretty, and it was impressive to learn how expensive mirrors were at that point in history.   It is incredible to see the fashion in which wealthy people lived in that day and age, how they dreamt and how they achieved (even if it was through selfish/foolish ways). During our time, we were able to wander the grounds of the palace, we even had time to walk to the Petit Trionon (where Marie Antoinette regularly took refuge). We then headed back to the train station; it had started to rain and I don't care for walking in the rain. We headed back to Paris for a good night's sleep before heading to the region of Normandy. 

Normandy is a beautiful area in France; the towns are quaint and lovely. We stayed in a small town called Carentan, which is right on a small inlet. Our Airbnb host put us in one of the upper rooms of his large home in the area. It was right behind the inlet, so the town was easily accessed from the area.  Carentan is small, thus, there isn’t more then a few hours of walking around to be done before you have experienced it all.  This led us to venture out and take a trip to the town of Bayeux and Sainte-Mere-Eglise.  Bayeux was a short 15 minute train ride away from out city and is known especially for the Tapestry that is in the city.  Although we failed to see the tapestry, we had an enjoyable time walking around the lovely city, becoming accustomed to what it had to offer.  In Bayeux lays a beautiful cathedral that was partially bombed out and later renovated and rebuilt.  The city also has many cute little local stores that line many of the streets for the many tourists that visit the area.  The following day, we decided we wanted to go a little further and head out to see Sainte-Mere-Eglise, which required taking a bus to the area.  In my opinion, this was the best day trip we took while in the area.  We were able to see a lot of WW2 history and learn a lot about D-Day, through the museum there dedicated to the 101st Airborne, which liberated the town. Even though the museum is small, we spent 4 hours inside it and enjoyed every minute. 

We ended our time in France in Saint Malo, a port town right on the ocean. We were there for 2 days before heading to the island of Guernsey. (We were suppose to only be there for 1 day, but our ferry to the island broke down.) The old city of Saint Malo is beautiful and we enjoyed walking around the walls, on the beach, having dinner together and being able to call family. I was able to facetime Rebekah for close to 3 hours, which was a lot of fun. 

All in all, France was a beautiful country and we had a lot of fun there. Our next trip I think I would like to add in the wine country and some southern beach towns, but it's always good to save something for the next time!