Trip to Normandie

In Paris I became a member of the organisation EIAP (Échange Internationaux à Paris). They organize a lot of parties, trips and other stuff. This weekend a trip to the Normandie, north of France was planned and I spontaneously signed up with some friends. It was a large group of 140 people in 2 buses.

We should meet at half past seven to leave at eight but of course that didn’t work out, because there is always someone late. Names were called with a microphone to see, who was there and who was missing. You need a lot of concentration and luck to hear you name and then to be heard when saying Oui, Yes or whatever. I only heard my name, but was sure it had to be mine, because for French people my surname is unpronounceable. Later, it became clear that they hadn’t heard me and so there were some confusions with the beds for the night, which they finally resolved. Just a suggestion for the next time: it is easier to let everyone enter the bus and during this ticking off their names, but as you like it…

Honfleur

After two hours of driving, we arrived in Honfleur. On the bus, we had played some games, like guessing songs, where you suddenly notice that you don’t know any songs, especially no French ones. Honfleur is a city with a port, where the river Seine flows into the English Channel. Every ship on their way to Paris will pass here. The city is small and very beautiful with a lot of charme, as the French would say. Everyone was very busy taking pictures and being amazed. Of course, as it was a clear difference to Paris. Small, cosy houses and narrow alleys. There was a small market and we could smell the delicious food. Some of the people offered things to try: sweet things, cheese, sausages, fruits, vegetables, a lot of typical apple sauce, compote and calvados. It was obvious that we were in the disctrict of calvados.

A sightseeing attraction of Honfleur is the old church of Sainte Catherine with a separate tower. It is not really special, but takes you to another, long forgotten time. We walked some time through the streets, enjoying the nice village and then looked for a typical restaurant. That was not hard, because there are heaps of them, which look cute and offer freshly caught fish and mussels for a cheap prize. Soon, we found one that we liked and all ordered a three dish menu for 15 Euro plus the typical cider. I had really delicious moules à la crème (Mussles in a cream sauce), then a perfect salmon with rice and potatoes and for desert a Tarte aux pommes (apple cake). Everything was soooo good! And, honestly, what can be better than fresh mussles and fish? For sure not the snails that some of my friends tried. I cannot understand this delicatessen. I already feel sick when I have to watch how they are torn from their houses… No, I really preferred my choice. After lunch, we went souvenir shopping and sometimes even got something sweet or alcoholic to try.

At two o’clock we wanted to continue our way, but … oh what surprise… it took us longer, because some people were late. Is it so hard, to be on time? He always says meeting at quarter to and leaving at the full hour and he even adds all the Spanish and Italian people have to be there half an hour before. With a last look on the pont de Normandie, which is one of the longest bridges in Europe and connects Honfleur with le Havre, we went on our way.

Trouville

It took us one hour to get to Trouville. Trouville and Deauville are one of the most common cities for the Parisians to go to, if they want to go to the sea because it is not so far away and also worth it only to go for the weekend. They even call it the 21. Arrondissement of Paris. Apparently, Deauville is for the rich and Trouville for the poor people. I couldn’t believe it, when I saw the gigantic and pompous Casino. It seems to be as big as half of the city and is the first thing you see, when entering the city. Our first thing was to go to the sea, even if it was windy and only about 15 degrees, which was even seven degrees more than the last days in Paris. Here, we started our photo session. Group picture of everyone, group picture of this group and that one and everyone needs an individual photo, as if we had never been at the beach before. I, as a really fast freezing person, could not understand the surfers out in the sea. I was wearing a hat and scarf and was still freezing. But that’s also me, I am not normal, always freezing more than anyone else. After everyone was sure of having a good picture, we went to explore the city.

At about five o’clock, I entered the creperie Tutti Frutti with my friends, where we had the best crepes for a long time. They were so amazing! I was still so full from lunch, but everyone talked me into eating a crepe, because if we are already here, we would have to eat one. It was absolutely worth it. Obvisously, I didn’t just take any simple one, as I would always find one like that in Paris and even cheaper. So, I took a special one, which was the Normandie crepe with cream, calvados-icecream, caramelized apple slices, calvados and chocolate sauce. I would have swum in it! It was a pure dream! I didn’t need any dinner after that. I was so full, I didn’t even want to get up to walk. But the bus would be leaving soon and we still had to go to the supermarket. Imagine what! Everyone was on time… ok, the organizer was late… But that was the only one no one said something about.

Caen

We arrived at seven in Caen, which is not pronounced “kein” and was extra for the Germans emphasized. In our Ibis Budget Hotel we first had some confusions about the distribution of the rooms, but after some drama everyone was more or less happy. One again, my positive expectation about Ibis Budget were fulfilled: The rooms were not big, but tidy and also the bathroom was good. It was already dark, when we went to the castle of Caen. Or at least, what is still there from the castle, which is only old walls. And they were also prohibited to walk on. No one cared about that, so we went up to enjoy the view over the city. It was really nice with all the lights in the little city. For the night, we had planned to sit together and talk and drink, but we were not allowed to go to the eating room. So we wanted to meet in the room of the organizer, but as 140 people don’t have enough space in one room, we just started our own cosy group to celebrate the birthday of one of my friends.

The next morning, we got ready and then enjoyed breakfast in the half empty eating room. Actually, we had been distributed to different hours, so it would not be too full, but I had the impressions that just everyone was going to come shortly before we wanted to leave. The breakfast was perfect. They had tea, coffee, hot chocolate, juices, water, brioche, bread, baguette, croissants, cheese, honey, Nutella, different kinds of jam, butter, cereals, everything you could wish for. After breakfast, we packed out stuff and waited for the sleepy heads and guess what? Every day, they were getting more and more punctual.

Mont Saint-Michel

At around 12 o’clock we arrived at the Mont Saint Michel, where we had to take smaller buses to get over the bridge. The constructed the bridge just recently to stop the sand coming to the mainland, which is about one kilometre away, and to be able to get to the rock at every level of tide. The construction changed the currents in the sea and our guide told us that the English say that Mont St Michel belongs now belongs to them and not any more to France. If he was joking or not, I cannot tell.

Anyway, I know that Mont Saint Michel was never invaded, because it is hard to besiege it, with high tide coming and going. At the rock our guide vanished with our student IDs to get some tickets and we were, again, busy taking pictures. And the sun was shining and making everything perfect! We had 17 degrees in November and the landscape was just beautiful in this light.

The legend says that the archangel Micheal told the bishop Aubert to build a church on the rock. But the bishop didn’t believe in what he saw and so didn’t do it. As a warning the archangel burnt him a whole in his skull and then, in the year 708, he began to construct a small abbey. Later, it became bigger and a small village appeared. A fire destroyed part of it, which was reconstructed afterwards. This is why a part is romanic and the other one gothic. We visited the abbey, but what I thought of as most breath-taking was the view over the region from top of the abbey and as well from below the rock up to the abbey and the angel. The inside is not so interesting. Might be due to the fact, that the old carpets and decorations are gone. Also beautiful is the garden for meditation with the flowers and trees. It seems really calm and relaxing. We saw many rooms and I cannot remember, what they were for. The village around it is really small, but a good place for meat lovers. I was told that they have one of the best lamb meats there. Because of the salt that is on the grass that the lambs eat, it is already salty. It is also really expensive, but it should be worth it. Sadly, I didn’t have the time to taste it. We just got some fast food on the way back to the bus.

Now, it was only going home, but that sounds easier than it is. Of course, it was two buses and yes, our guide was the funnier one, but it is really too much asked to get back on the bus that you had been on the whole two days? Apparently yes.

Five hours ride back home and everyone on the buses were sleeping. It’s not like it was really exhausting, but for some reason everyone was very tired and we all just wanted to get into our beds.

Short summary: Really interesting trip with cool people and nice things to see. Already looking forward to the next one!

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