An American Girl in Avignon

Normandy day 1
May 21, 2009
Well, time to take a trip up north! It was a holiday weekend in France for the jour of the ascension, so since we didn’t have class on Thursday, Shawna, Jenny, and Rachel, and I decided to be very French and “faire la pointe.” In other words, if you have a day off towards the end of the week, like Thursday, for example, like we did, you just take the rest of the week of until the start of the next one and extend your vacation. I love French people. They know how to vaca.
I was tired, because I had been out the night before, even though I intended on getting some sleep before my early morning train ride. Of course, my plans usually fall through here, so that didn’t end up happening. I’ve just learned to go with the flow, expect surprises, and just stop planning things. Plans always change anyway. Now, I go out with an idea about what I want to do, but usually things just happen. As Sakinah put it nicely last night, “How on earth do we keep getting into the weirdest stuff/situations?” To be honest, I don’t know. It’s not planned, but it’s awesome how things just happen and nights fall into place! For example, we met a guy from Ireland the other night and made some friends from Australia. We usually don’t end up in the places we are planning on going, or we end up meeting new people and going someplace new. Life comes at you fast. Go with the flow…
Anyway, I woke up early, which is a miracle, because my alarm clock has not been working. Thank you, God! I would have missed my train if I hadn’t have woken up naturally. I was running late, so I hurried to catch a ride to Paris with the others. Since I had waited to buy my ticket, I had to sit in a different compartment across from people I didn’t know, which I really didn’t mind. Another thing I have learned in France: how to sleep/ take naps while traveling. I used to never be able to nap on planes, buses, or anything before coming here. I just hope I get some sleep on the ride home…that will be the real test!
Oh, when riding the trains in France, always make sure to have your discount cart 12-25 with you if you used it to buy your ticket. Our tickets and cards got checked twice on the trains today. Before, this had never happened…maybe once, but I really can’t remember to be honest. Shawna unfortunately left hers at home, so she had to pay a fee and get a replacement card when we arrived in Bayeux. Make sure to travel with it! Also, have at least one person in your group bring their passport, even if you are staying within in the European country. Most hostels will want to see someone’s if you are from the US.
We had to switch trains in Paris, so since we had an hour to kill, we decided to explore the city and get some Starbucks (I’m kind of suffering withdrawal) before boarding our second train to Bayeux.
On the train, I saw countless sheep and lots and lots of cows through the windows. Sadly, I didn’t get a good shot of any of the many sheep we passed by, but I could make a whole facebook album with all of the cow pictures I got. I kept seeing these yellow flowers in the fields, thinking they were some wild flower that grows in Normandy. It turns out that they are mustard plants. Learn something new every day.
Every time I go somewhere new in France, I am always shocked by how different one city is from another. Not to sound cheesy or repetitive, but France is a very varied country. You can find just about every single type of climate here. You’ve got the mountains, the Mediterranean, desert-like areas, frigid, temperate, warm climates, and everything in-between. France has a little bit of everything. Bayeux was familiar to me from my senior year Brit Lit days. I love all of the history surrounding William the conqueror and the early days of the English and French settlement (I am a nerd :)), so I loved the British vibe the town had…it was occupied by England after all.
Our first stop was to see the famous Bayeux tapestry that was sewn in the middle Ages, depicting the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings. I was astonished by how long it was! The tapestry was set behind glass, and even though it was centuries old, it was absolutely incredible! All of the detail was still intact. The long work wrapped around two large rooms and told the seemingly never-ending story of the battle and the town’s settlement. Wow. I love, love, love European history! I am such a geek. I think this was one of my favorite things I saw during my whole stay in Normandy.
Our next stop was the Notre Dame of Bayeux. Before coming here, I didn’t know that there was more than one Notre Dame. I just assumed that Notre Dame was the famous church in Paris, but apparently, there is more than one. The French love to complicate things like this; the more complex, the better. The church was stunning, and is undoubtedly the most beautiful church I have been in during my stay in Europe. The funny thing is that I thought that the inside of this church was prettier that the original “Notre Dame” in Paris.
Our hostel was something out of a storybook. The downstairs was a bar/tavern, so we could walk downstairs for drinks at night and coffee in the morning. In order to access our room, we had to take a little winding staircase, and our room was just adjacent to some of the steps. There was one room per “floor,” and all the rooms were tucked tidily away in the corners of the wall. It was so neat.
That night, we decided to go exploring in town. We found a tearoom called Anna’s Tearoom (I was very excited about this, because that is my sister’s name), where we drank tea English style Earl Grey with a little bit of milk. The woman who owned the cute café originated from England. The territory is close to the English Channel, and as I mentioned before, used to be occupied by England!
After this, we were hungry. Since most restaurants in France don’t open until late, the same for even ancient-owned British land, we had to walk around some more before dinner. It seemed to me that the only thing to eat in town was pizza and crepes, so we decided to go with the local fare and try it out. Gosh, why is pizza in Europe so much better? It is huge, thin crust, and the ingredients are all fresh and amazing. Dang it, you French people! Why does something so non-French like pizza even taste better here?
Another thing I love about France is the table red wine you can order at dinner. It is cheap and guaranteed to be good. We split a pitcher between the four of us for 12 Euros total and got around 2,5 full glasses, not bad, huh? Order table wine if you come to France if you are eating with a group, you’ll save money without sacrificing taste. The French NEVER serve low quality wine as table wine. This would be considered insulting and a grave sin. You can’t go wrong.
After we had stuffed ourselves to the max with wine and pizza, we decided to go all-out and splurge on some massive mound of luscious ice-cream dessert for all…even though we really weren’t that hungry. When in France, right? I seriously thought I was going to be sick after this, but it was so good. We all had to unbutton our pants and loosen our belt loops after this meal, I am unashamed to admit. So good, yet so bad at the same time.
We slowly waded our way back to the hotel, grabbing our aching stomachs the whole way. I couldn’t wait to take nice, hot shower (don’t have to conserve water here, it’s not our house :)), before crashing for bed.
Funny story: while trying to get some sleep, Shawna, in her dream-like state said, “Faites attention! Speak in English please!” and then rolled over and continued to have a mumbled conversation for a minute or so more. I thought I was going to burst out laughing! Why am I always the one next to the people doing weird things in their sleep? This one is going to the books.