Pardon my French

Pardon my French trip posts because I totally get that more than, say, three posts about the same topic is a little annoying.   I'm on post four, and I still have two more I want to write, complete with really funny punny titles.  Like "Show me the Monet" for our trip to Monet's house.  When I thought of that one, I snorted because it was so lame and perfect, and then I screamed it Jerry McGuire-style to Dan, "Show me the Mo-net!!"

 I guess I kinda ruined it by telling it in advance, but it's still coming. :)

Anyway, I'm fully aware that I'm milking this topic totally dry, but I figured it would be more interesting than, say, talking about preparing my students for standardized testing or how Dan and I are thinking of getting our peeling windowsills repainted, which have been the riveting subjects of my life this past week.  Plus, I want to write all of it up just as a memory for me.   Feel free to skip the next three posts, though, if you are sick of being knee deep in croissants.

Okay, so day six consisted of us driving to Mount St. Michelle, a medieval abby on a quasi island.   I've wanted to visit ever since I saw a picture similar to this one on a calendar in the foreign language resource room:

I snapped this picture about three miles away:

It was freezing that morning, so we had on every article of warm clothing we packed.  I asked Dan to snap a picture of me out front of the abby and just as he was about to click the shutter, he called out, "Work it for the camera, girl!  Show me some of your third layer!"   You probably had to be there.  Now I'm left with this picture of me laughing my ass off like a lunatic with hair blowing in my mouth.

I couldn't get enough of the silhouette of the abby or the tide coming in around it:

But I could get enough of the inside of this little "town".  We beat it out of there pretty fast because the inside streets were absolutely mobbed and full of  touristy shops selling Eiffel Tower paperweights.  We could barely move without colliding into a fanny pack.

Then, we spent two nights in Dinan, a medieval town in Brittany, which was one of my absolute favorite parts of the trip.  We slowed down, slept in, and enjoyed a much less touristy France. 

I loved the timbered buildings.   Notice how the top levels jut out more?  Dan and I read in our trusty Rick Steves book that that's because in medieval times people were only taxed for the square footage of the ground floor, so they squeezed in extra space by building the top levels out.  I'm just happy these top heavy buildings are still around to check out.  I mean, some date back to the 13th century.

We walked the long, steep road to the port:

A few sights on our walk were this outside table for a bistro where we later had crepes:

The wall that used to protect the city:

And even artsy graffiti:

When we finally reached the bottom, we stopped by a bakery and bought pastries to eat by the small port.

Delicious apple sticky bun thing:

The rest of the day, we just hung out.  We ate, we drank cider, we rewarded our steep walk with another pastry.  Our one sight-seeing venture was the bell tower.

200 steps later and one ladder later, we reached the top.  It wasn't even that tall, but for some reason my fear of heights kicked in because the guard rail seemed so short and I got scared that the bell would toll the hour deafeningly loud and somehow we would be startled or something and fall cartoon style.  Totally rational, I know.  Needless to say, Dan took these pictures since I was gripping the hand rail with both hands and edging along the perimeter, roller skate rink style.

  

This picture might be the one I frame.  I just love the quaint village look that is going on here.

If you are reading this, you actually made it to the bottom of this post!  Good for you! 

Next post will be about the food.  Then, the infamous "Monet" title and I'll officially retire my blog passport for a while. 

Dan's Day

Want to take a pop quiz about our trip?

Try to determine which of us chose each of the below activities.

1.  Who wanted to find the pastry shop that made the goodies for the Marie Antoinette movie: 

Dan or Me?

2.  Who wanted to take photos of Monet's dreamy garden: 

Dan or Me?

3. Now, who wanted to spend eight years hours with a group of retirees touring D-Day sites: 

Dan or Me?

Answers:  Me, Me, and Dan all the way.   But you already knew that. 

Are you feeling accomplished now?

Yes, I received many smirks when people heard about our plans for the very in-depth WWII tour we had planned, and more than a few, "Hee hee, I know who wants to do that!"  I rolled my eyes playfully, but actually didn't mind going along to get along because Dan's always so great with humoring me.   Well, then us two all-stars ended up missing the tour completely since we slept through our alarm.  We're kind of a mess. On the three hour drive to the coast, I kept thinking, "Damn, now I have to make it up to him by letting him take over all of tomorrow."

"Dan's day" actually ended up being pretty amazing. We stayed in the town of Bayeux, which had this towering church that kind of reminded us of Hogwarts. 

I know that was a nerdy comment, but look at it at night.  Do you see what we're saying?

Anyway, it was an adorable town that consisted of about eight streets, a small river with several waterwheels, and several restaurants that catered to all the American and British veterans that come through.  Seriously, I saw several English signs that proclaimed, "Welcome to our liberators!"

We toured the D-day beaches and were overwhelmed by the stories at the American Cemetery:

Dan took me to the currently very peaceful Pointe du Hoc:

While it looked so tranquil now, I was surprised by the remnants of the horrible struggle with the Nazi soldiers, like craters from bombs that were dropped by Americans and barbed wire set up by the Germans.  It hit me that it wasn't that long ago, you know?

I rib Dan about being a history fanatic, but he really does make this very important event so interesting.  I never knew that soldiers had to climb up cliffs using rope firemen ladders that they shot up from below, or that they had to time this particular invasion just right to avoid being drowned in high tide. 

I don't know how to really write up about all of this because it was pretty unforgettable for a simple blog post, so I'll just say this:  I'm really glad Dan had his day. 

He also was so great with indulging me... as my portion of the trip resumed quickly after.  More pictures to come.

More Frenching

Sexy title, right?  I had to go there, since Day 4 of our trip was spent at the over-the-top, indulgent Versailles.   I know it's touristy as it gets, but I've always wanted to see it since I saw the eye candy in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (you know, the one where Kiersten Dunst plays her with a Californian accent?)

These pictures probably don't need much explaining.

Gate crashing with 10,000+ other people.  We were the geniuses who decided to go on Easter, the palace's busiest day of the year. 

Two hours of lines later, I snapped this pic of the understated ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors:

Stopping in the tourist shuffle to take a pic:

 Yes, I did get my pretentious on by wearing scarfs constantly.  At least I didn't bring my beret.

Below is the open hall of the smaller palace (Petit Trianon). 

 You know, the one the royalty used for bumming around because it's such a dump. 

Beautiful grounds with fussy trees

(reminds me of that icky Gillette commercial):

We finished by checking out an entire quaint village that was created for Marie Antoinette to enjoy with her friends.  I'm talking nine adorable, full-size buildings with thatch roofs, an intricate dairy tower, and a barn created for one royal who wanted to play village peasant once in a while.  I can see how this ticked off the lower class back in the day, but very cute to explore now!

I loved how these goats were hanging out in the tubs when we passed.  I'm thinking they probably have a pretty cushy life at Versailles.

After Versailles, I got Dan to check out the pastry shop that made all the fancy cakes for the Marie Antoinette movie.

Dan's artsy pistachio cream puff:

Mine tasted like creme brulee meets a Krispie Kreme doughnut.  There was burnt sugar on the first layer= yum.

So that concludes are day checking out how the royals lived. :)

Just do it #20: Pretend to be a Parisian

Dan and I got back from France last weekend!  What a great trip! We're now five pounds heavier, many Euros poorer, and perma-smiling while pouring over our photos.

We've been planning this bad boy for months. Before going on our trip to France last week, I tried to prepare as much as possible. 

French language book with oddly skeezy chapter?  Check.  

A different scarf for every day of the week?  Check. 

A print-out of tips reminding me not to don sneakers or a fanny pack?  Check. 

Granted, all I know about Paris comes from the last season of Sex and the City when Carrie goes there with that pretentious Alexander Petrovsky, but I was so excited to visit... and a maybe a tiny bit nervous about the Parisian attitude that I had heard rumors about.  Look, Dan and I could be considered the typical "sloppy Americans".  He's loud and likes taking ridiculous novelty photos wherever we travel.  I had my camera permanently around my neck and once said "si" instead of "oui" to a waiter's question.  Damn you, high school Spanish, for coming back to haunt me.

So, no we didn't quite fit in and despite leaving my Adidas in the hotel room, the hostesses knew we were American before we even had time to say, "Une table pour deux, s'il vous plait."   For the record, we found almost all of the French people to be exceedingly formal, polite, and helpful.  It probably helped the we peppered our responses with tons of "merci's" and apologies for not speaking the languge.  I can understand some of the frustration with touristy morons (tourons?) like ourselves. 

Anyway, we had an incredible time!   Here's the Paris leg of our journey, in list form, of course:

Ten Things I Loved about Paris:

10.  Quality time with this guy-  What else can make the airport wait go faster than a round of Travel Scrabble?

9.  Being able to fall comotose from jet lag in this room!

 It had ornate pattern everywhere, like the inside of a jewelry box.  I also loved the view of Napolean's tomb from our window:

I never got tired of the night view:

8. Taking in everyday Paris, from gorgeous flower shops and fromage stands:

To how green they are there (electric car chargers on the street!):

To the flowers everywhere:

7.  Seeing incredible works of art

(while Dan kept referencing the creepy opening to The Da Vince Code).

6.  Novelty photos.  It wouldn't be a "Dancation" without one.

5.  Too many amazing structures to mention (Notre Dame, The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower...)

4.  Going along with number 5... amazing views

3 AND 2.  THE FOOD.  This is so big it deserves a separate blog post coming soon.  Until then, I'll just leave you with one treat I ate:

A closer view is from this wonderful website:

  

That is a croissant covered in candied rose petals and stuffed with raspberry cream, my friends.  HolyHellSoDelicious!   More food in a later post.

And lastly, number one...

1.  Paris at night.  They call it the City of Light for a reason.

More on the rest of our trip coming soon!