French Impressions
Some fellow bootie travel friends have been on a round the world trip since last October, and were soon to be leaving Europe… currently in France. We’d been trying to meet up at some point, and this was going to work as the best option, so I met them there. Despite the close proximity to Holland, I hadn’t made it there yet, so I was excited. I took the overnight Eurolines bus to Paris (€82 return), and then caught a train in Paris to Rennes (€50) where I was to meet CJ and Bri. After a rather restless 8 hour bus ride, I found them waiting for me at the train station. And after a coffee and croissant, we were driving towards Mont St Michel.
It was impressive from a distance, the village below could be very quaint if it weren’t for being overrun with tourists and the cheekiest of tourist shops. We walked around the area for a while, but opted not to go in the abbey. We grabbed some mussels at a restaurant in Bayeux with some wine, and saw the 900 year old, 225 foot tapestry commemorating William the Conqueror’s victory over England in 1066, and then headed to the Normandy D-Day beaches, which are just that… beaches. Some signs and things about the war, but nothing particularly spectacular. We stopped in a memorial museum, which was just closing.
We then headed to Caen to find a place to sleep. I got to see a lot of the French countryside from all the driving. It was nice… something that often doesn’t get to happen when travelling. In fact, the only other countries in Europe I have seen more of like that are Holland and Ireland. It’s nice in France… similar in some ways to Ireland, but with less celtic ruins and graveyards and more thatched roofs and grape fields. In Caen we found a hotel room to split between us and found some food. We found the city to be almost eerily dead. Nobody really seemed to be on the streets and out and about, but we did find a cozy wine shop. As Bri and CJ are the wine experts, I left it to them to make choices… thus I’m not sure what I had. But it was nice. And on the way back to the hotel we had some fun on toys.
The next morning we drove back to Paris. They had been there earlier in the travels in France, but I never have. It worked out well, because it saved me from having to get another train ticket back, and that’s where they had to return the car to and fly out from the next day to their next destination. In Paris we hit a few of the main sites… the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elyssés, and the Louvre… though only the outside and the entrance down through the glass pyramid. We got there as it was soon to be closing… and it’s just not worth going in if you can’t spend a whole day (or week…) there.
The next morning we went to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont and the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. The park has some cool structures and is a nice place to chill out on a nice day. The cemetery is famous for housing the remains of many famous people, including Balzac, Delacroix, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. It was nearing the time I had to catch the metro back to the train station where I get the bus back to Amsterdam, so I only had time to see Oscar Wilde’s grave. The cemetery is massive, though, with many very interesting crypts.
The bus ride back was slightly more comfortable. There were many less people, so I was able to stretch out a bit more. So, although very quick, I’ve finally seen some of France. I was a little surprised… I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. Of course, as a traveller I want to go practically everywhere… but Paris never had a hold on me like other places. It was just one I knew I would get to, but I wasn’t in a rush… so I wasn’t sure what I’d think of it. But, I did enjoy myself. It’s a beautiful country, rich with history and sights and art. And, I didn’t even find the French to be as rude as stereotyped. Granted, it may be true that they either don’t or don’t want to speak English, but I’m quite over that. I’ve learned to communicate otherwise when I don’t speak the language, and the people the you really need to talk to in English always do.
Tags: Europe, France, Normandy, Paris, Travel
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