Several days later we caught the Eurostar train from the newly refurbished Euston Station in London and two and a quarter hours later we were in Paris at the Gare du Nord station. Having been in Paris a number of times, on this occasion we did not rush around all the time trying to visit as many as possible of the famous tourist sights. We simply enjoyed some wonderful lunches, strolls along the riverbanks and gardens observing the people and taking in the ambiance of Paris.
One memorable dinner was at a restaurant called Relais De Entrecote in Rue Saint Benoit on the left bank just off the famous Avenue Saint Germaine. There is no menu as the entree is green salads and the main course is steak and chips with a choice of wine and dessert. Sounds very ‘ordinaire’ but if you like steak and something different I can recommend it. You cannot even book but there is always a queue in the street outside. We sat next to an American chef who was in Paris normally working at another right bank restaurant and he said he would give anything to know the secret of their meat sauces. One other place we had not visited before in Paris was the newly redecorated and opened Petit Palace. It is a magnificent building both inside and out and has some breath takingly beautiful art works of all types displayed inside.
After three relaxing days in Paris we took the RER train to Versailles where we had a hire car booked. I had lashed out and booked a Mercedes. Having never driven one in my life I was looking forward to this experience. On arrival the man in the Europecar office apologised that he did not have the Mercedes but I would have to have a Volkswagen instead. (Sorry VW enthusiasts). I was somewhat disappointed but as it turned out the Volkswagen Passat Diesel was a much more spacious and better car than the tiny Mercedes 160.
Susan had always wanted to see Monet’s garden at Giverny about 50 km from Versailles. On a road map back in Australia it seemed easy to head off from Versailles on the outskirts of Paris up to Giverny. But Versailles is in the middle of a tangle of motor ways and it proved a hell of a task getting on the right road. Several times I used my limited French to ask for directions and also pondered the wisdom of my decision not to hire a GPS.
But Monet’s amazing garden, house and the village of Giverny were well worth the time and trouble to drive there. After spending several hours there we went on to the historic city of Rouen. We visited the glorious cathedral, Palace of Justice and Hotel de Ville. The outside stonework of this building was in the process of being cleaned and yet I think they had deliberately left on one part of the wall the pock marks of shrapnel from WW2
The next day we drove to the coast at the mouth of the Seine River and saw the huge new Normandy Bridge and visited the beautiful town of Honfleur. We just loved this place. Like Polperro in Cornwall it is a fishing village but has the whole inner harbour surrounded by colourful five or six storeyed seventeenth century wooden homes. The ground floor of almost every building is a restaurant or shop with outside dining tables spread out to the edge of the wharf. Mussels are the speciality of this area. We also saw some huge cruise boats that ply the Seine River back to Paris and beyond.
Later on we headed to the town of Bayeux and I had the chance to scratch an itch I have had for years- that is to see the ancient Bayeux tapestry. Sometimes famous sights and places when you actually see them can be a little disappointing but this was not the case with the Bayeux tapestry. It is huge and even after almost 1000 years the colours are still really vivid. And to think it was nearly destroyed several times and once almost cut up for horse rugs. The detail in the work is amazing and you can clearly see a depiction of the visit of Halley’s comet in 1066. Bayeux is a wonderful Norman town and we stayed in a charming chateau fronting the main St. Patrice Square and enjoyed wonderful French hospitality from the family who had owned it for centuries. The chateau was constructed in the years 1787-8 just before the French Revolution.
The next day we had the opportunity to visit the coastal area of Normandy where the D- Day landings took place in 1944. We walked along Omaha Beach where there are two evocative memorials right on the sand. Also there is a wonderful museum nearby and a beautifully kept but tragic war cemetery with about 10,000 white crosses.
On leaving this part of Normandy we then went to Mont St Michel. This famous abbey dates back to the ninth century and is a stunning sight when you first see it. The country that you traverse as you reach the area is coastal flats and not that interesting. Then suddenly this magnificent abbey rises out of the flat lands. The abbey occupies almost the entire island and rises hundreds of metres above the sea and surrounding mudflats. It is an absolute tourist mecca and the gigantic size of the car and bus park as you approach the causeway gives an indication of how many tourists visit the place. The time spent in the abbey is wonderful as are the sensational views from the top. It is spoilt a little by being so commercial but as Mont St Michel is the second most visited site in France (after Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris) perhaps that is unavoidable.
From here we travelled via some lovely Brittany towns such as St Malo and Dinan and then made our way back to Versailles. There are some lovely streets and buildings in Versailles besides the magnificent Versailles palace. In the evening after dinner we enjoyed a stroll through the gardens of Versailles Palace. It was a memorable summer evening as the fountains were working and it was light till almost 10.30pm. It was also free which compensated a little for the 90 euros cost of the last fill of diesel fuel before I returned the vehicle. We enjoyed another day in Paris before we boarded the Eurostar to London.
Our last three days in England allowed us to enjoy some sights around London and nearby counties. In London we explored The Globe Theatre, the very modern and different Australian War Memorial near Marble Arch, the Canary Wharf area and walked across the new Millenium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral. Outside London we ventured to Brighton, Chichester, Thame, the award winning village of Cuddington and the historic country mansion of Waddesdon Manor built in the French chateau style by the Rothschild family.
Our three weeks away finished with a great lunch at The Wolsey - a very traditional restaurant in Piccadilly almost next to The Ritz Hotel! That evening Susan and I then enjoyed a great night at the Prince Edward Theatre in Soho where we saw, “The Jersey Boys”. It was a most enjoyable show especially if you can remember the sixties!
On the long flight home we felt we could easily have had another week or so away but we had enjoyed immensely the last three weeks in very special parts of England and France.