Le Road Trip

As you know from literally every other post about our travels, Jason is a meticulous planner when it comes to vacationing. Every hotel is pre-selected, places to go and things to see have been extensively researched, and there is always a short list of restaurants that we could check out if our bellies start to rumble before we have finished a thorough tour of town. This is why I was a bit surprised when he agreed to an impromptu week-long road trip to the north of France during the May holidays. "We always do it my way. Let's try your way this time." Challenge accepted!

Jason rented a car (an automatic so I could help with some of the driving and not have a panic attack) and on May 1, we hit the road, with the Lonely Planet France book (thanks, Josh and Stefanie!) and fully charged cell phones as our only guides. We decided to make our first stop in Nantes, a city that reminded me so much of Bordeaux that it was hard not to feel right at home. They have a tram, we have a tram. They have a water mirror, we have a water mirror, they have a castle in the middle of town, we have... okay, well, we don't really have that. You win this round, Nantes! They also have this cool island in the middle of the river that runs through town where there are these giant mechanical animals that you can ride in. We were there on the ONE DAY that the machines weren't running but we still got to see the famous elephant.

Our next stop took us to St. Malo, a coastal walled city just north of Rennes. Although everything looks pretty old, much of the town had to be rebuilt after sustaining a fair amount of damage during the war. We explored the ramparts on our first day when the tide was in and the next morning, were treated to a lovely walk out to what we thought were islands, suddenly accessible at low tide.

Grand Bé, looking like an island

At low tide, you could walk out the forts over the rocks

Since we love old stuff so much, it shouldn't surprise you that we had to make a stop at Mont Saint-Michel, one of the more iconic destinations in France. It's just over the border from Brittany into Normandy, right in the crux where the country starts to stretch north again. The town is a technically an island and it's easy to walk out there when the tide is out, but you have to be really careful that you don't get trapped there. The water comes rushing in like wild horses and on particularly intense days, you can be swept away by the tide if you're trying to leave at the wrong time. Looming over the whole town is the famous abbey, which is admittedly quite impressive. 

Clearly visible and vast sandbar

10 minutes later, no more sandbar!

Our relationship in a nutshell: Jason being cheeky, me being suspicious

On our way to the place we were staying that evening, we stopped in Granville and Coutances, just for funsies! There was a random jazz festival in Coutances that we didn't really participate in but there was some solid street food that we got to enjoy.

On Day 4, we went to see the beaches of Normandy. It's difficult to describe the emotions that you feel staring out on the empty stretches of white sand, knowing the horrors that took place there only 72 short years ago. It's so peaceful today, so serene, but only because so many young men lost their lives that day. Even as a staunch pacifist that categorically rejects the way our country claims to support our troops while not providing them any services when they come home, it was hard not to appreciate the ultimate sacrifices that were made by hundreds of thousands of soldiers. We also visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which was quite reminiscent of Arlington, with row after row of white crosses. It was a heavy day, but I am glad we went.

Much like in other parts of France, German bunkers still dot the beaches, providing an eerie reminder of the occupation

On our way out of town, we stopped by the floating harbor in Arromanches and checked out a few cannons that are slowly deteriorating in the hillsides of northern France.

We spent the night in Trouville, and we went for lunch in Honfleur the next day. It was one of the more charming towns that we visited on our trip and highly recommended if you're in the area. We sat outside soaking up some rays, our skin two shades pinker by the time we left. We had to cross the Pont de Normandy on our way to Étretat, famed for its white cliffs. They were nothing short of spectacular. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one.

 It would be pretty hard to beat those cliffs so I was not surprised by the underwhelmingness of Pont-Audemer. Apparently it's referred to as the "Venice of France" but that is a dramatic overstatement. It was kinda cute, I guess? We slept in Angers that evening, in the shadow of a very impressive castle.

Looking more French by the day.

We had to be up and out fairly early the next day so we could get the full experience of the Puy du Fou. Part theme park, part historical reenactment, part zoo, this place ranks high on the list of French attractions, right up there with Euro Disney. It's a bit like if Colonial Williamsburg featured many more time periods, sword fighting and explosions. Admittedly, this was something that we probably should have planned ahead of time but I suppose hindsight is 20-20. We ended up at the park on a holiday weekend, meaning that it was crawling with small children and their parents dragging them from one show to the next, on the hottest day of the week, and we paid for tickets twice because my dumb ass didn't scroll down to read the conditions of the tickets we bought online (only valid for days other than the one we would be there. Of course!) 

I hate wasting money and Jason hates crowds so it wasn't exactly a winning combo but the shows were pretty badass. Vikings, duels, trick horse riding, gladiators on chariots, moving castle set pieces, but the best by far was the Bal des Oiseux Fantômes (Ball of the Phantom Birds). Featuring hundreds of birds of prey and incredible falconry, we had actual eagles flying within centimeters of our heads for 30 solid minutes. It was amazing. I couldn't even capture the awesomeness on film because I was too busy dodging owls.

On the 7th day, we started making our way back down to Bordeaux and stopped in the Marais Poitevin, which is known as "Green Venice" (not sure what France's obsession with Venice is but they clearly have never been there). It's basically a swamp that you can boat around or stroll through. Very green! It wasn't worth staying the night so we got back on the road and managed to snag a room at this amazing little beach side resort on the Ile d'Oléron. Terrace that backed up to the ocean, BBQ pits, kitchenette... It was everything you could want and more. We sat in the sand and ate the freshest seafood ever. There could not have been a more ideal way to end the trip.