Normandy

We spent a long, 4-day weekend in Normandy during one of Belgium's bank holidays. Normandy, while usually associated with the famous D-Day landing beaches and WWII sites, is as beautiful as it is historic: quaint villages, traditional french farmhouses, bocage (farmland divided by hedgerows & trees), and fields covered with yellow primroses and gorse.

As far as regional specialities go, Normandy is the land of Camembert cheese; a mildly alcoholic cider made from apples or pears; and an apple-flavored brandy called Calvados.

We started our trip in Giverny visiting the gardens planted and painted by Claude Monet. Our first night was spent on a farm close to Rouen, where we walked around through the narrow streets lined with half-timbered houses and had a quick look at the outside of the massive Cathédrale Notre Dame--often painted by Monet. Next, we headed to Bayeux to see the D-Day beaches and the famous Bayeux Tapestry, which tells the story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. We spent our final day and night on Mont St-Michel, which is a large rock with a gothic abbey at the summet. The interesting thing about this place is that it lies within a bay whose water level is influenced by some impressive tides (every 6 hours). At high tide, the mont is completely surrounded by water and at low tide, sand.

Monet's Gardens in Giverny

Yellow, Yellow Everywhere!
At the beginning of May, Normandy was covered with fields of rapeseed used to make rapeseed oil, otherwise known as canola. Thanks, Peggy, for providing me with this horticultural tid-bit.

Notre chambre à La Ferme du Coquetot

We loved staying at this B&B. It was a traditional French farmhouse on a working farm. We paid 41 Euros (the cheapest we've ever found) and it included a huge breakfast, which extended far beyond the usual continental fare. They even made us some eggs.

I just had to take pictures of our room because it was filled with kitsch. There was definitely a theme. It may seem a bit overdone, but the place really had a charming, rustic feel--It wasn't at all tourist-tacky.

Translation: Here one lies down with the hens

The place was decorated with lots of old camembert labels. These are just a few.

Rouen

Les Plages du Débarquement
(D-Day Landing Beaches)

American Military Cemetary

Omaha Beach: one of the American landing sites

A German Bunker




Pointe du Hoc

This is where the germans had a battery of huge artillery guns. The guns had been transferred elsewhere, but the Americans scaled the 30m cliffs and captured the gun emplacements and the German command post.

This spot is still pockmarked with 3m bomb craters and looks much as it did over half a century ago. I don't think the pictures really capture the enormity and/or amount of these craters. It was mindboggling!

Stopping for a Little Dégustation of Apple Cidre

Our B&B in Bayeux

A Few Shots from the Beautiful City of Bayeux

The Tapestry Museum

Fun at the Saturday Morning Market in Bayeux

Mont St-Michel

We arrived at low-tide and got to walk around on the sand and play in the muddy puddles. We, then, sat in the sun and watched the tide come in. It was a real treat to sleep on the mont because we got to wander around at night after the hordes of tourists had already left. There is a special parking lot for people staying after high-tide. There is a picture of one of the lower parking lots that was filled with cars at one point. Later it was covered with water. In the picture we have, the tide is going back out again.

London With The Girls

Three of my friends (Maria, Viki, Gabriella) and I have been planning a trip to London for awhile. We finally made it happen at the end of April when we went for 4 days. I'm sure many of you who are reading this have been there so you already know how awesome it is. I had a fabulous time and I think that London is now one of my favorite cities! Partially because it has an intangible vibe that I can't quite articulate.

What made this trip extra special, besides spending it with friends, was that Maria had lived their for 6 years so she was able to be our personal tour guide. If you've been to London, you know how valuable that is. I didn't have to look at a map once! She was also instrumental in showing us places off the tourist-track and taking us to restaurants that she knew.

Another interesting thing for me was taking the "le Tunnel Sous la Manche" or "Eurotunnel". It's basically a train for cars and it only takes 30 minutes to get from Calais, France to England.

That's all I'll say for now. I've included some additonal explanations along with each set of pictures.

The House in Wimbledon

This is where we stayed. Maria has a friend who works for the family who owns this house. As you can see, the accommodations were much better than the 2-star hotels we usually stay in. Moreover, The Wimbledon Tennis Courts are just behind the property.

Hampton Court Palace

Because we were staying on the outskirts of London, we decided to visit this palace on our first day. Hampton Court is one of the great Tudor houses in Britain. Aside from the building, there are 60 acres of gardens and a world-famous maze called the Great Vine.

The entire palace was beautiful, but the most interesting part, in my opinion, was the royal kitchen. They had it set up just like it would have been when it was actually being used--complete with food on the tables.

We concluded our visit with a carraige ride around the grounds and a walk through the maze. I'm embarrassed to say, that after 15-20 minutes in the maze, we gave up and took the escape exit! I'm sure we would have had more success if we had not woken up at 5am that morning, driven 5 hours, and then toured the palace for 3 more. We were pretty tired.

Hyde Park
We decided to skip the museums and other tourist attractions this day because it was warm and sunny. Instead, we headed to Hyde Park to boat on the Lake. It was great to see London out playing on a beautiful, Saturday afternoon. While many tourists probably pass through this park, this is definately a local hangout.










Camden Town


After leaving Hyde park, we went to Camden Town, which is an area that was once a cheap place to live back in the late 70's/early 80's. As a result it drew a very alternative crowd (artists, musicians, punk rockers, etc.). This is where Rick lived when he spent a summer in London a long, long time ago. The alternative vibe still exists today, which makes it a great place for people watching. Think Haight Ashbury in San Francisco , Greenwich Village in NYC, or Little 5 Points in Atlanta ( on a much smaller scale).



Unfortunately, I only got a couple of pictures when we were there because we spent most of our time shopping in the huge indoor/outdoor market. No girl's trip is complete without shopping and I did some damage!



Between Hyde Park and Camden Town, this was probably my favorite day during the trip.

The Sites
Here are a few of the sites that we visited. We didn't see a lot of the tourist sites because we really just wanted to enjoy the city. Also, we all live very close so ---We'll be back!





























Out For Drinks

These were taken on several different days. The last picture was from a traditional, English pub located in a small town outside of London.









A Day In The Countryside

Our last day was spent driving through the countryside and visiting a couple of really sweet villages. I fell in love with the immaculate lawns/parks, beautiful flowers, and stone houses with thatched roofs. The first picture is from a restaurant where we had a typical English breakfast, which was huge, even by American standards! I had the vegetarian option, in which the bacon and ham were replaced with veggie sausage and baked beans. Yum!




On that note, I have to say that I was impressed with how vegetarian friendly England was. I would expect that in London, but the small towns/villages surprised me.














My fashion magazine debut - sporting the new bag I bought at Camden Market.