Cemeteries, very, very fragile cars and more food porn

 Hey, all,

It's been quite a last two days, with "3" stops each day and several good meals and some weird stuff (strangers in a strange land and all). 

This is the American Cemetery at Normandy.  If you watch the news regularly, you will have seen ceremonies from here.  It is quite the thing.  Very moving to see all those graves and think of all those young men who died. ):  

But before we went there, we had breakfast in Bayeux (read the last blog) at a place called Selma Alabama's.  It wasn't even a block from our conveniently situated hotel.  Here's the highlight --

Somewhere under there is RR's French toast.  He said he'd never had that much whipped cream in his life. 😂

Then I wanted to see the cathedral there, which used to house the tapestry.  It was built by Odo (that's right,  O-d-o), who was William the Conqueror's half-brother and the bishop of Bayeux.  He commissioned the tapestry.   His cathedral ain't half bad, either. 

It is an amazing example of Romanesque architecture, started in 1076, so it's kinda old.  We struggled to get in (it didn't open till...well, Google said 9, a sign on the door said 10, but people were coming out...🤷

And, then, off to the cemetery.  

It was the first time we dealt with crowds -- there were busses and lots of cars in the car park.  I guess it shows you what being the best known site on the coast will do for you.  And it has one great scenic lookout spot.

You think you know how far it is, then people appeared on the beach who looked more like ants.  It's a loooonnng way up there.  About two long par 5's :)

After some discussion, we decided to head for Giverny, where we were staying last night and the home of Monet's garden.  

On the way, I let RR drive.  Which became a thing. 

First, you should know for the second day in a row, the car showed a low tire in the morning.  We filled the offending tire (right rear) at a rest area and, as RR drove, I looked up the MG ZS to see what one would cost in the states and found out you can't get one there!  And the Reddit that showed up called the car a disgrace to the famous brand, Chinese shite (are they made in China?), and said we were lucky to not have them on our road as they have a reputation for being "very, very fragile."  😗

After I awoke from my nap, the car started making a noise.  A warning ding! and a yellow idiot light came on.  We were the idiots.  Is it oil? Is it low gas? Is it windshield fluid (not that we'd used any)?  Finally, RR says "it looks like a coffee cup" and I look it up and it is a warning of a tired driver!!!  RR said he felt fine.  It says it does it once someone has driven for 2 hours straight.  Which seems lame, but there it was.  We made it to Monet's house and it has not yet reappeared. 

As strangers in a strange land, we parked in what was clearly the parking lot for Monet's house and looked around.  No helpful signs.  I went to the shop "Boutique -- House and Gardens" and got no one's attention so asked a woman outside, who spoke as much English as I do French. :). She pointed "down to the right". 

We did that and eventually got in.  We found the house, which has lots and lots of wonderful paintings -- Cezannes, Pisarros, and Degases, along with some of his own in his studio.  

Oh. I fogot: Renoirs. 

The highlight was the gardens.  We'd never seen such a full garden!  With so many colors.  This picture gives you some sense of it:

RR said he could see how it could be inspiring. 

Then we went through a tunnel (also unmarked) to the lily pond.  It was across the road (probably not as big a deal in his time).  The lily pond was much bigger than we expected, and full of lilies in bloom in several different colors. 

We made it to the shop, where I shopped and K said "It's hot in here, I'm going to wait outside" and made a vague gesture toward the exit door.  Or so I thought. 

I got out of the exit door and there was no K!  🤦 I knew immediately that this was trouble.  RR came out and asked where she was and I said I didn't know.  We waited.  I speculated that she had gone back out the in door and was waiting there.  (that turned out to be true). I thought she'd figure it out and have to come out our way.  I texted, but got no indication that she had gotten on their wifi. ):  RR seemed worried. In the end, I sent him in (though the tickets said explicitly no readmittance), he had the tickets on his phone, to see if she was where I said she'd be and, lo! and behold!  she was!!!  i was told it was my fault. :)

We then went to our hotel, which was only a few hundred yards away.  It was a converted 13th century stable.  Here's the courtyard --

We had trouble finding someone to check us in.  We decided to eat dinner there, which turned out to be a good idea for the food, but they took 2 1/2 hours to serve us.  In the end, they had 7 tables going at once and one wait person. ):

I had the mushroom risotto.

RR had the sea bass, which he said was perfectly grilled.

K had the duck.   

We were all amazed at another great meal. 

Pear with ice cream dessert. 

And then today: we started at 8 o'clock, not finding anyone in the hotel common spaces.  🤷  The place around the corner was supposed to be highly rated, so we tried it.  No one appeared.  We heard people in the kitchen but our calls of "bonjour". got no response. ):  

Then back to our hotel, where finally someone appeared and told us to sit and they'd get to us in a few.  We ended up having a delightful Continental breakfast and it turned out to be with the room -- gratis!!!! joy joy.

Then off to another cemetery. 

But along the way we decided we needed gas.  RR said it was his turn, so he got out and started.  I went looking for bottled water.  It turned out to be a good looking pastry shop, so I was stuck in a line a few minutes and came out expecting RR to drive.  He said "I can't get it to work."  We both tried.  It kept rejecting his card.  Finally, we gave up and went looking for another station.  To get there, I had to do two, yes, two roundabout switchbacks (u-turns) and get on the highway for just a moment.  

This time the machine would take his card but they had  no 95 or 98 octane gasoline.  ):  RR said "let's put 5 gallons of 85 in it till later".  We did.  (shhhhsshhh). This turned out to be almost half a tank!!! (it's a hybrid)  Later, the check engine light came on.  Very, very fragile, remember? :) 

Our destination was the cemetery at Somme, also run by the Americans.  We were literally the only ones there!!!  RR commented on the discrepancy and disparity.  

About 1,800 Americans are buried there, killed in our first action of WW1.  

From there we crossed pretty French farm countryside, and wondered at the piles of root vegetables in the fields and even saw picker with it's wagon full of them.   We speculate that they are turnips, though they may be sugar beets.  K is still not sure they aren't potatoes.  Anyway, an interesting nuance of the local culture. 

Then to the Somme 1916 museum, which purportedly had a trench, which RR wanted to see.  It didn't really; it has a tunnel built later with the museum bits within.  They have lots and lots of artifacts and made the most of the setting in terms of trenches.  We exited into a beautiful garden and found our way back to the car. 

During the museum visit we saw a film on the war in the area and they noted all the cemeteries and memorials within a 5 mile radius of where we were: Albert.  I wanted to see the one.  You'll see why from this pic --

It commemorates the thousands of men from the British Empire who disappeared during the war. It was built by a famous architect, who said it was shaped to point to heaven, as these men would be going that way.  It has a tremendous view north? across the farm landscape.  

It was now after 5 and we were not near Saint Quentin, named after some 3rd century local, where we are staying the night.  

I once again went with the google and found a place for dinner -- most of the other nearby places were fast food types.  RR was ensconsed in the bar with a pint and wondered about eating there, but they specialized in pizza -- lame for our last night in France. 

K and I found the place in mind, which turned out to be Lebanese.  The guy who greeted us asked if we had a reservation and seemed concerned we didn't. There was literally no one in the place!!!! 😂😂😂 We sat and waited.  I had to ask for menus.  RR didn't show up.  I ordered a half bottle of Lebanese red and he brought it fairly quickly.  I still didn't have water.  RR walked by, ignoring our store front.  I had to chase him down. 🤦

In the end, we all had the Lebanese plate, with variations.  RR's was the biggest, so here it is:

From the bottom (as best I can): gherkin, hummus, garlic cream sauce, tabbuleh, green salad, haloumi, that ricey stuff, a fig leaf stuffed with rice, and a salad with peppers and cucumbers. 

And I am caught up. 

I hope we have no more car adventures tomorrow, as we give it up at 2 o'clock.  Until later...bon soir. 

RR's mystery bag and two days in Normandy

 Bonjour, mon amis,

We are in France.  I'm sure there's something clever someone once said about arriving here, but someone else will have to come up with it. :)

I'm told I have to be sure to blog as often as possible because some of the audience is living vicariously through this blog.  That's sad.  But they probably have to work, so that's the beginning of sadness. 😀

Yesterday's journey to France began with me bolting to Avobar, which you may remember was 50 feet from our flat's door, and maybe, just maybe, grabbing a pastry while I waited for coffee.  Just maybe.  

If I did, it would explain how I made it to France without food.  Or real food. 

We got downstairs around 9:05 and I called an Uber.  He came in 4 minutes, but on the other side of the closed road a half block down from us.  He actually circled around and ended up coming right past where we were initially standing. 

Our driver, Osman, was loquacious.  In the hour forty minute trip to Gatwick, he talked cars, bikes (he hates them too), politics and how everything we'd ever heard about Asia was a lie. 

If you are doing the math, it is 1055 for a 1235 flight.  Okay, right?  Even K with her trip anxiety seemed to reassure us that all was well.

We got in the easyjet check bag line and I sent mine off; RR sent his off on a separate line and K tried to do hers and it said she didn't have a checked bag and needed to pay for it.  We got an attendant and she was no help and went and got another attendant.  It was loud and she had an accent, so understanding was tricky.  In the end, she came back with numbers on a slip of paper and said we had already sent 3 bags forward.  She said RR had sent 2!!!!  The one weighed 20k and the other 19k.  We said we didn't have a second bag.  RR hadn't gotten a receipt (I had), and there were no names on the luggage tags. 😡. Finally, now at least 15 minutes into the process, K said "just charge us and we'll file a complaint" and the woman took us to another kiosk and whisked her bag through -- without the extra charge!  😀 She told us to look in Rennes for the other bag and let them know.  I realized as she did the kiosk what happened -- it asks you for another bag and you have to say no and if you don't, the next person up can use your account!  That must be what happened.  Given there are no names on tags, how can one know?  But that person's bag went to Rennes; how they ever were going to identify it and get it back to them, I don't know.  I'm betting it didn't happen.  I also speculated about what was in it -- my companions said they couldn't care less. :)

So that was that adventure. 

We were given an MG ?Z to drive: the desk person called it their "large SUV."  It ain't large.  It holds (barely) our three large suitcases and a small bag, and all of us (and a fourth, if we had it) comfortably, but in the States it would maybe be a medium SUV, leaning to the small side.  It runs nicely though.  It is in "vert" (on the tag)...if you want to work on your French. 

From the airport we shot as quickly as possible (with an almost embarrassing stop at Burger King [it was easy on and off the highway] for K's first food of the day.  I had to join her.  RR was living on his pent up anxiety) to Mont. St. Michel.  K and I had been here in 2002 (pre-blog), but RR had never been close.  If you aren't familiar, it is absolutely spectacular, sticking up on an island for hundreds of feet. 

We parked and got on the shuttle, that takes 20 minutes to the foot of the hill, and RR bolted ahead, hoping to climb to the top before it closed.  He didn't make it. ):  They were just closing the one gate as he got there.  He said he looked for "a secret passage around, but there wasn't one."  He only got up to the level of the first chapel, but still said it was unbelievable, which it is.  The village below is cute, too. 

Then to our hotel, where we stayed in 2002, which is in Ducey, set on a stream in an old mill. We had a view of the falls from our room:

We were running late, we ate dinner at 730, so we ate at the hotel. It turned out to be excellent.  

Pollock in muscat sauce.

Apple, bacon and goat cheese salad (K tried to get chicken on it, which Andrea, the staff person who both checked us in and served dinner, could not understand -- notwithstanding there being no chicken on the menu :))

This was supposedly their butcher cut.  Seems a lot like a burger to me, but I'm not French. :)

This morning we had the hotel breakfast, which was a modified Continental.  It had eggs and pancakes along with the usual Continental stuff. No pics necessary.

And then off the hour and half to the Normandy beaches. 

Oh, but, no!  The MG decided one tire was low!!!  So we pulled into a rest area (I figured out what the sign meant to indicate one -- my French being tres mal) filled up -- it took two persons (don't ask me how a single person does it) and found out that the MG self corrects rather than having a reset button.  Ten minutes down the road, the light went off!!!

Finally we arrived at Utah Beach.  There was only a couple pieces of equipment there, so we moved on to the WW2 museum (you'll find there are a lot of museums around here) . We paid the 9 euros and were done is less than half an hour. 

From there, I took them to St. Marie Eglise, the first town to be liberatored on June 6/7.  It is famous for having a dummy hanging from the church spire from his parachute, as an American did on June 6 and survived that and the war! 

It was a very cute little town and we ended up having a half sandwich there (or, as Sheldon Cooper would call it, "A sandwich.") as RR again checked out every nook and cranny.  There were statues of Eisenhower, memorials to the airborne divisions, another museum (we didn't go in), the whole shebang.  

Then we shebanged off towards Omaha Beach.  If you aren't a WW2 history buff, Utah and Omaha Beaches are the two where the Americans came ashore on June 6.  They cover many miles of Normandy coastland.  

It should be noted that RR, who was assigned as second driver on the MG, drove this leg.  As I slept most of the way, I suspect I missed a lot that would make entertaining blog, but what I did see and hear was fun.  There was a lot of confusion about which spur to take out of roundabout on Google maps (this has been a theme of the trip) and other turns.  That he had to lean toward the console to read the map I found concerning.  I was told I had no right to say anything.  I don't know what that's about....🤷

The museum at Arromanche, part of Omaha beach and where a lot of American equipment was brought to shore, was remarkable.  Called the D-Day Museum (to separate from all the others), it had a building dedicated in 2023 and lots of displays and several films.  

The most amazing thing at Arromanche was this --

 

They decided in 1944 that they weren't going to easily win either of the natural harbors on this coast, Cherbourg or Le Havre, but that they needed to develop the technology to create an artificial harbor.  What you see is the remains of that harbor -- still there 80+ years later.  None of us knew of this, which was a part of the post-D-Day operation.   They moved 3m tons of stuff into France as part of the invasion.  Which included 150,000 men the first day and many times that thereafter. 

I admit to not taking my time in the museum -- I was WW2 saturated.  I sat down and sent RR a message as to where I was.  I got bored at that spot and sent a second message.  I walked around, looking to see if there was another exit they might have come out of.  I was about to go to see if they were standing at the car, parked a blcok away, when RR appeared.  I guess I gave him some body language bc he mocked me. ):  They had stayed and both conceded they listened to EVERY track on the audio guide. 🤷🤷🤷

We had a drink across the street and I drove them to the Engineers Memorial on the hill east of Arromanches --

And then in the other direction to the top of the cliffs and these bunkers. 

It still had the German gun in it!!!

And then we went into Bayeaux -- no, the tapestry is NOT here -- and found that our hotel was in the very center of another cute little town.  

And now for the food porn.  

During one of my several sits, I looked for "best restaurant near the Churchill Hotel Bayeaux" and got all kinds of places within walking distance.  The one was across the street, got 4.9 out of 5 on Google (who the dopes are that didn't give it a five, I don't want to know) and was only 20-30.  They required reservations but I walked up (couldn't get the French phone number to work 😡) and he said they would have a table in half an hour.  We went and had a drink and came back.  

FYI the desk person at the hotel told us it was a couple running the place and the man was the chef and specialized in sauces.  He wasn't wrong. 

This is piquillos -- chilis stuffed with cheese.  The waitperson poured the sauce on in front of us -- too quick for me to get a video. It was very, very good but he told us the entrees would better.

Truffle linguine with pig jowl -- the biggest piece I'd ever seen, it was like a pork chop!

Their beef on flatbread. With a sauce (see small pitcher)

Apple patin with ice cream.

Everything was to die for.  We made MS sounds over and over, and we tasted each other's and wondered if we'd chosen wisely.  The apple dessert was a bit of a disappointment, but everything else more than made up for it. 

And it was only 108 euros, including tip!!!!

That is our first two days in France.  It's been great and we are all tired but having a good time. 

Tomorrow we are hitting the cathedral here, the American WW2 cemetary, then heading inland...

And K made it a point that we had to stay in the hotel where we are staying tomorrow night, so it should be something...

Till then...