YA-5: Guy Fawkes, my 20th birthday and filming a short for the Festival Eurydice!

I’m now stressing out a little bit because I’ve suddenly realized I only have four more weeks in Fécamp left – where has the time gone? – and I have so much work to do yet (like, remember, that Year Abroad essay I’m supposed to write? -.-). But, anyhow, I’ve had some interesting experiences lately, so grab a cuppa and enjoy the post.

Going back to work after the break was tough. We still did a couple fun things like carving a pumpkin for the first time – Moni and I carved a super-cute smiley –faced one which was the first pumpkin either of us ever carved; or went to Courrier Cauchois to give the journalist some biscuits as a thank-you for writing an article about the centre, and invited him to the Guy Fawkes Night at the school on that same weekend.  On the Friday Moni and I went with Antoine to O’Bailly for a couple of drinks which was nice. It was a bit weird at first because the place was so empty (mind you, it was also really early to be fair) but it got better as the night went on and Salomé happened to come too so she joined us for a bit. We did leave early though and by midnight I was tucked into bed, I was tired!

On the Saturday it was Guy Fawkes Night. We made a guy with the children during the lessons and then Moni and I were in charge of baking potatoes for the event. It was really cold and had been drizzling on-and-off all day, so we wrapped up warm and headed to the centre at around 6pm to prepare the quiz and telethon table and help set up. Despite the bad weather, a fair amount of people showed up, not only adult students but also children with their families. We had a lovely evening sharing food and drinks (Manu made sausages on the barbecue) and, of course, burning the guy and playing games with the children – sparklers, making s’mores and blowing bubbles. We chatted, danced and played until around 11, when most people had left or were leaving and it was time to help tidy up. I’d say the night was a success and we even made it into the local newspaper!

The next two days I pretty much spent sorting out lessons and the Toussaint blog posts, which took ages. Believe me, guys, you’ve no idea how much time it takes to run a blog! Tuesday was the American Election, aka. the world’s end. I had the day off so I just ran some errands and Skyped Erin while I baked a cake since it was my birthday the following day and I wanted to bring some cake to the office. I don’t particularly enjoy cooking, and I had some trouble taking the cake out of the tin, but I think it turned out pretty good! I spent the rest of the day researching and doing some reading for my essay, for which I am very, very behind schedule. My only consolation is that I have January to write it, but I really need to do some field work before I leave…

9^TH NOVEMBER – MY 20^TH BIRTHDAY! It was really strange to come to terms with the fact that I am no longer a teenager, but on the Wednesday I woke up to lots of loving messages on social media and whatsapp congratulating me for my 20^th birthday. Izzy singing in French totally made my day and made me laugh out loud! Unfortunately, I also woke up to the bad news of Trump being elected President of the US. I really didn’t think that would happen (nor did I ever think Brexit would win either, but there you have it), so it was some bitter news to hear. I didn’t let that (or the rainy weather) ruin my day though. I opened some presents that Moni gave me and some that I received on the mail (lovely postcards and drawings by the way! Thank-you everybody!) and then headed out for a long morning at the school. Work was alright; I got to play with the babies and I was even sung Happy Birthday by one group of kids! Once I was done for the day, I came back home, took a shower and chilled in my room for a bit before we left to go to my host’s parents’ house, who are really nice. We had some appéritifs and a bottle of champagne with sirop before walking to the Chinese restaurant. We were surprised by a massive group of teens taking up half of the restaurant, but we had our reserved table at the back. It was Liam’s first time at a Chinese and my first time at the buffet in Fécamp, but the food was really good! We had some lychee cocktails (the blue curaçao one was so yummy!) and some wine to accompany the food – veggies, sushi, fried fish and noodles on my part! I opened my hosts’ presents and while we were eating the teens came round speaking a strange language which turned out to be Italian! We saw Abigail who told us they were some exchange students that had come to her high school and I got to speak to one of them – they were from Umbria, all really nice but were leaving the following day and left the restaurant before us, so not much Italian to practice… After dinner the lights went out in the whole restaurant and, suddenly, here comes my host with all the Italian students singing me ‘Tanti Auguri’! It was such a pleasant surprise! My host had run out to get them before they left and convinced them to sing!  The apple cake was really good and it was overall a lovely evening and day!

On Thursday we went over to Liam’s for dinner. We had a chilled night eating pizza and ice-cream, playing pinball and watching Dancing with the Stars French version. It was a lot of fun but we went home after that because I really had to get some sleep for the long weekend ahead of me – the kino challenge!

Friday was the start of the 5^th Festival Eurydice du Court-métrage (also Armistice Day so it was a public holiday). I’d signed up to take part in the 48-hour kino challenge, which consisted of forming a team on the day and creating a short film from scratch to give in on Sunday morning. We would be given the genre, a location to film in and an object to incorporate, and had no idea who would be in our teams. I showed up at Centre Saint-Exupery which served as a base, where I met with Salomé and were explained the rules. We each had to introduce ourselves and say what role we’d like to have in the team, so as to be able to form different teams. I went as an actress since my edition skills are unfortunately quite limited. There was quite a lot of people; a lot of them professionals with proper equipment and all. I felt really amateur but Salomé and I joined a team with Steve and Philippe, two film-makers from Le Havre, and Maxime, a sound technician from near Rouen, and so created ‘Équipe A’ (I know, I know, so original!). After the lucky draw we ended up with these constraints: dramatic-comedy to be filmed in les Estacades (the light-houses at the entry to the port) and all the teams had to include a galet or pebble from the beach. No time constraints other than the 48 hours we had to come up with the idea, film it, and edit it, but none concerning the duration of the actual film. 

It was really intense. Coming up with a plot was hard because our genre was so vast, but we managed… We spent the rest of the evening filming in various places and ended up at O’Bailly for another scene and some brainstorming… Lorenzo and Stepfany joined us later for some drinks too so we went to bed quite late. It wasn’t a good move because we met early the next day and we were all knackered. The rain and cold didn’t help much, but we managed to finish filming the rest of the scenes by 4pm and then Salomé and I were done. It was now the guys’ turn to edit it and add the music. It was my first time in front of a camera and we didn’t have any script which meant that it was all improv, which was kind of hard. Also, I found it so tiring to keep up with them speaking in French! They spoke really quickly and the concentration I needed to follow the conversation burned me up really fast. It was, despite this, a great weekend to improve my French. 

On Saturday afternoon I took a much needed nap before heading over to Lorenzo’s for dinner with Moni and Liam. It was a nice evening. We met his friend Ian and had rôti and played different games (proud to say I’m actually good at guessing films from their soundtracks – they were pretty impressed!) and then ended up playing a role-play game called Dead of Winter. It took us a while to grasp the rules and it was quite late when we started to play so we didn’t finish the game because Liam fell asleep, but I really liked it. I enjoy role-play games but unfortunately it’s not usually my friends’ cup of tea, so I have to find other people to play with. Anyhow, on Sunday morning we went to hand in our short film, ‘Camille’.  We were the only ones to hand it in on time from all six groups! Then we just chilled together until the showcase rolled up. Équipe A had a couple beers at a bar but I was so exhausted (and maybe a bit hangover) that I was feeling quite ill so I passed on that. Liam and Moni came to watch the film (which was the first time for Salomé and me too, because they had denied us watching it earlier…). Unfortunately, my hosts arrived late so they didn’t make it to our film, but they did get to watch the other ones and the prizes for the shorts in competition. It was a nice night. Our short was really funny and amateur in comparison to the other ones, but we are really proud of the result of our work in 48 hours! All the films from the kino were amazing! Here is a link to it, because I know you are dying to watch it yourself now!

After the showcase I was really tired and had a splitting headache and was feeling like I was coming down with a cold, so unfortunately I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate and I had to come home for an early night in which I hardly got any sleep because of the fever… On Monday I was feeling slightly better so I managed to do some cleaning and go to work but I was still feeling quite ill so I had another early night to recover from the exhausting weekend and amount of rain (those outdoor scenes in the rain definitely did not help a lot…). Then on Tuesday I slept in and felt much better. I ran some errands in town and cooked dinner as we were having Liam, Antoine and Vincent over. I’m proud to say I made my first paella ever and it was a total success! 

Liam had never eaten it before and he thought it was delicious and so did the others. So a little proud pat-on-the-back to myself! I got a mojito bottle for my birthday and we drank some 2016 Beaujolais Nouveau which is a special wine from Beaujolais that goes on sale the third Thursday of November. We were lucky to have Antoine supply us with a bottle two days in advance! Perks of working at a cave du vin. The whole expectation around the wine is an actual thing, check this out: http://www.thelocal.fr/20161117/ten-things-to-know-about-beaujolais-nouveau-wine-france It was really fruity and sweet; personally, I’m still not convinced though. We played cards for a while and then they left. Successful evening meal re-count: 2 for the girls, 1 for the guys.

The rest of the week has been particularly intense and tiring since I still have to catch up on some sleep. Work has been fine. We had to change James the mannequin into a Sherlock Holmes outfit which was no easy deed since his clothes wouldn’t come off! It was such a hilarious situation trying to trip naked that thing! And then on Thursday night Moni, Liam and I went to the cinema to watch ‘Fantastic Beasts’. It was such a good film. I didn’t know what to expect coming into the cinema since I’d barely even paid attention to the trailer but I really loved it. It’s extremely different from the Harry Potter films and there is a sweet innocence to it, but the actors are amazing and both the beasts and the characters are so loveable. You should totally go check it out! Also, we watched it in French and I couldn’t get over the fact that a ‘wand’ in French is called a ‘baguette magique’! It’s hilarious!

Finally, on Sunday (which was voting day by the way) I was invited to spend the day with Claire, a student from the Centre, and her family. She picked me up in the morning and I had lunch with her family: herself, her parents-in-law, her husband and her two daughters. It was so nice of her; we had a proper French Sunday meal with aperitif and boeuf-bourguignon accompanied by wine and cider. Her house is a lovely country-side manor and they have a Grand Dane dog which is the size of a pony, not even kidding. After lunch we went to Fauville-en-Caux to watch a series of sketches titles “Tous nos voeux de Bonheur” about couple life performed by an amateur troupe from Goderville named the Scènes Maritimes. It was quite amusing and a good way of improving French. If I’d know of their existence earlier, I would’ve tried to join myself! After the show we returned to the house for the goûter or tea-time with two other friends. The apple cake was superb! Overall it was a lovely day and I am so grateful for the invitation; it was a great opportunity to practice French and have a peek at French life-style.

It's been so cold this week it even hailed!

I am looking forward to the next few weeks that I have left in Fécamp. Still lots of interesting things planned! But at the same time, I wish time would go by slower!

À bientot!

Zoe

YA-4: Toussaint break III – Rouen, Fécamp & Le Havre !

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Salut!  I’m back with the last instalment of my three-part series about my adventures during Toussaint. This time, slightly shorter.

If you missed the other two, you can find the first one here and the second one, here.

Let’s get down to business.

Saturday the 29^th was a pretty busy day. We were knackered from all the travelling we’d been doing, but decided to make the most of the last Saturday Dad was around. First things first, we went to Aldi with the car to do a massive grocery shop. We were running low on food and it was great to have Dad pay the bill for me and have a car to carry all the heavy stuff like cartons of milk and bottles of water. After that, we headed into town. First we popped by the Library because I needed to print out some paperwork for my house in Bath next year (I’m not homeless anymore woohoo!) but since the centre where I work was closed, I had to find another way of doing it. It was fairly easy; I had to sign a form to use the computers but other than that we got it done quickly and headed towards Cinema Grand Large where the Saturday market was taking place. We wanted to buy some fresh veggies since in Aldi there wasn’t much of a selection. There were so many people it was kind of stressful, but we managed to get everything that we needed. We bought so much food I had to re-locate some of my things in the kitchen because they didn’t fit the cupboard anymore!

After lunch we went to Intermarché to grab a couple things we were missing from the list for some cooking we were doing on Sunday, and then took off to Rouen. The city is about an hour away from Fécamp, so we took the high way. Apparently people don’t like paying tolls because the high way was literally deserted and, to top it off, didn’t actually appear on our sat nav because it was so new. It was quite confusing but we just followed the signs and got there alright. It was, however, utter madness getting into Rouen itself. The combination of it being Saturday afternoon during public holidays and there being a fun fair where the diversions from the high way are made it really confusing and full of cars (and people) in all directions. We took the wrong lane and had to loop around to get to the right place, trying to find spaces between the congested roads. Eventually we managed to get to the parking lot underneath the Jeanne d’Arc church, which was full to the top – luckily enough, a car pulled out just as we went by so we quickly got its place.

This time, we took a Jeanne d’Arc guided tour suggested on our travel book which followed her journey from when she was captured to where she was burned. It was really good because it covered the whole of the old town giving explanations about each place and finished at the parking lot where we’d left the car – ace! First, we went by the Donjon Tower where she was incarcerated and tortured before her trial. The tower is the only remaining out of four of an old castle that used to stand there. The Donjon is very well preserved none-the-less. Then we continued to walk along the streets, which are full of medieval houses, a fact that surprised me because of how modern Rouen is at the same time. We stumbled across a random Cathedral which was tarnished with black from the smog (like numerous other buildings) and then made our way to Saint-Maclou Church. 

It is such a pretty church! All white with a very unique façade. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go in because a wedding was taking place, but the exterior was worth it. Then we looked for the Aître de Saint-Maclou, which is a cemetery and ossuary dating from the 14^th century. It is a strange atrium construction with a yard in the centre and the building is decorated with wooden carvings of skulls and bones. Apparently, they used to take the bodies of the Black Death victims and bury them in the yard with quicklime and then unbury the bones and store them in the loft. The place is now an arts school but it was such a weird and unique place – there is also the mummy of a black cat that they found between the walls, allegedly there to keep the bad luck away.

After that we went past the monastery where Jeanne d’Arc was sentenced and headed over to Rouen Cathedral, subject to Claude Monet’s famous series of the Cathedral under different lighting throughout the day. To be honest, I thought the façade was way too jam-packed with statues and gargoyles and it just made the building look extremely heavy. The inside was really dark and nothing too special. It was good to see it, but not my favourite cathedral out of the ones I saw over the week. 

We also found a medieval alley just wide enough for a horse to pass through. Our guide said ‘if being horse chased by the authorities, this alleyway would have been the perfect escape route to veer them off’… We also saw the Gros Horloge which is a big golden clock; a building filled with bullet holes that we did not recognize; and the new Jeanne of Arc church which is supposed to look like an upside down boat and has a food market next to it.

Since there were many shops, Dad was lucky to find his crêpe ‘T’ as he called it, that little tool to spread the batter. And I found the best shop ever, a vintage kilo shop. I had to stop myself though because I really don’t need any more clothes (nor will I be able to fit them in my suitcase to be fair) but I could not avoid getting myself a big comfy Wisconsin Football jumper – just to lounge all day in it! I quite liked Rouen. Since it’s a city, there are so many different people and, although you can see there are a lot of homeless people and the buildings and streets are quite dirty, it was full of families, students, couples and old people too. Everybody had their own style and there was that kind of no-f***s-given attitude that I love about London, so I was happy to see that.

Sunday was more of a chill day since everything is generally closed. We decided to stay in Fécamp and take Dad to the few places he hadn’t visited yet. First we went to the Abbatiale, which was open this time. We actually met Liam and his grandma and her friend while we were there… Everybody had the same idea for a sunny Sunday. Dad liked the Abbatiale, which was beautifully lit up by the Sunday sun, but he thought it needed some extra tlc which is true; it is a lovely building but it is full of dust and partially closed off to the public because they are doing some renovation work on it. After the Abbatiale we went over to the Bénédictine Palace to find it was closed until 2pm, so we had to change plans and look for somewhere to eat in the meantime. Unlucky though, because as a public holiday sunny Sunday everything was full to the brim and there was not a single free table. We looked in the restaurants in the beach and by the port – all complet- and slowly made our way back home – even the kebab place was also closed. We ended up eating at home and then heading back to the Bénédictine.

The Palace is so over-the-top! It was commanded by Alexandre le Grand who got rich by rescuing the recipe and producing Bénédictine liqueur. Inside the Palace all the rooms are decorated with a different excessive style – gothic, Arabic, baroque… And there is a different type of collection in each salle: Gothic paintings, religious relics, iron work, hand written medieval books… So, so over the top. We proceeded our visit and learnt how the liqueur is made and got to see the distillery and cellars (we also happened to bump into Lara who works there as a visit guide some weekends – who knew?), before reaching the end of the visit. There was a modern art exhibition with photographs by Michel Lagarde which were super fun and I really enjoyed them. The montages reminded me of the Jeunet and Caro films, unique and bizarre. We then had a Bénédictine taste test. I had the original one whilst Dad chose the B&B – Bénédictine and Brandy. I didn’t like it so Dad drank them both.

Back home Dad taught me how to make a mock paella, more like ‘yellow rice’ and then we met Liam, his grandma and friend for dinner. We hadn’t made any reservations, which was a huge mistake, so we wandered around for a while until we managed to get a table at La Matelotte. The food was alright but the service was horrible, they took absolute ages to serve us! I had white fish with veggies and some ice-cream for dessert. Dad tried the duck which apparently was really chewy and gross, do not recommend. It was a nice evening though.

On Monday the 31^st it was Halloween! Sadly for me, no actual Halloween plans. It is a pity though, because it is one of my favourite holidays. I was woken up at 9:30 by a knock at the door which my Dad answered to: a little ghost asking for treats. We realized we didn’t actually have any candy other than some chocolate, so before I even had breakfast we went on an emergency sweet shopping spree just so we had sweets for children knocking at the door. We ended up buying too many and I now have a ton of candy in the cupboard. It is funny though because the children don’t actually ask trick-or-treat, they just offer you their bag for you to chuck the candy in…

I used up the morning to do some cleaning upstairs and download the pictures we’d taken so I could copy them on Dad’s pendrive and viceversa – I took way too many pictures, and the fact that I had my Nikon camera this time thanks to Dad did not help (great pictures but excessive quantity)… Anyway, after lunch we packed Dad’s suitcase and left for Le Havre to check into Dad’s hotel next to the station and return the rental car. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and all went smoothly (not as stressful as the last time we were in Le Havre, since we’d got used to driving around by now). Dad had suggested doing some tourism around Le Havre but I was quite tired and didn’t want to do a lot of walking so we went to his hotel and had a coffee instead while we waited for my train back home. Dad left Tuesday morning but since Tuesday was a public holiday we didn’t want to risk transport problems so he stayed the night in Le Havre. This way he could rest well before the long journey to Switzerland. The hotel was amazing! The room was super functional and it was all controlled through a tablet: you could move the beds around, watch TV projected onto the wall, control the blinds and lights… Insane. It was sad to leave Dad but I had a fantastic break with him and I’m so glad he came over to visit and we rented the car and visited so many places! I wouldn’t have been able to do so otherwise and it was great to have him around; getting to Fécamp is a pain so thanks for coming Dad! 

After an hour-long journey, I got back to Fécamp and literally showered, did some cooking and chilled on my bed and started sorting out the bazillion pictures I took over the week. The next two days I was still home alone since Monika was still in Glasgow so all I really did was sleep, clean, do an insane amount of laundry, plan some lessons and do some blog work, upload some pictures… basically I had to put my life back together. I also got some random contact allergy with hives on my arms which I’ve been taking medication for but are still there, not cool at all. Plus, it was really hard to get through to the doctor because he was on holiday but my hosts were nice enough to arrange an impromptu visit because my arms itched like crazy. I will unfortunately have to go back because it doesn’t seem to be getting any better…

On Wednesday we had a staff meeting for the start of classes again on the Thursday and we watched ‘Saving Private Ryan’ with Antoine and Vincent, which I’d been wanting to watch for a while and is a really good film. Not the same can be said for the dinner, which was a massive failure. Sausages aren’t Moni's or my thing, but the intention was there…

All in all, I spent some lovely holidays with Dad exploring the north of France; I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did! And I hope you readers have also enjoyed my retelling of the holidays! Thanks for following my adventures!

Zoe x

YA-4: Toussaint break II – Saint-Malo, Dinan, Bayeux, Omaha Beach, Amiens & Thiepval!

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Bonjour à tous! Following my previous post about my adventures during Toussaint (if you haven’t read it, you can find it here, I am back with the second instalment of three.

So on Wednesday the 26^th we got up early (or as early as we managed to, because we were so tired), grabbed breakfast and got back on the road. This time, Saint-Malo in Brittany was our first destination. There was again a lot of fog, particularly in the high way (I guess it’s normal for the time of year and the place?) but we dealt with it. We did have sat nav problems when we got to Saint-Malo though, because there were some road works and we had to take a diversion. We ended up in the train station parking lot, but after realizing we were way too far from the Old Town, we left and made our way to the beach using Google Maps. We eventually got to the seaside and found a place in a small parking lot near the Fort National. We were quite lucky because, despite it being Autumn and a heavily overcast day, the parking spaces were scarce but we managed to find one. Once parked, we got out and headed down to the beach. 

It looked amazing; the beach is absolutely massive (and sandy, which is a change around here!). It reminded me a lot of Brighton and Southsea, with the line of grand houses and the avenue leading right onto the seaside walk with stairs onto the beach itself. Even though it was windy and cloudy, walking on sand is always great! We could see the Fort National from there and, after taking some pictures, headed over to the Tourism Office which was right around the corner. They charge 30cent for a map of the Old Town, and also charge for the use of the toilet – I swear, is anything not expensive in this place? But the lady we spoke to was helpful enough to give us a suggested tour-  going along the ramparts and then into the city itself- and she also pointed out where the ferry to Dinard and the timetables were. The original plan was to visit Saint-Malo and then take the ferry to Dinard, which is a seaside town just opposite Saint-Malo, before getting back to the car and driving to Dinan. Quite an ambitious plan. We ended up giving up on Dinard since we saw the town from the ramparts and it did not look too interesting (nor it was, according to our trusty travel guide).

Anyhow, we went into the Old Town (noticing there were some free toilets by the entrance #rookieerror) and climbed the stairs up to the ramparts. The views were breath-taking! 

You can see the sea and beach, but also all the little off-shore islands near the coast and the opposite side of the firth where Dinard is. Honestly, it was beautiful! I couldn’t stop taking pictures! From walking along the ramparts of the walled city (which started off as a corsaire city) we saw the Château de Saint-Malo which is now the Town Hall, the different doors giving entry to the city, the fort where they used to hold the gunpowder (and which attackers failed to blow up, their boat running aground near the beach instead), the Grand Bé island where Chateaubriand is buried and the different beaches with many little boats. 

There was low tide and no wind so the swimming pool at Plage de Bon Secours literally looked like a mirror, it was amazing! We also saw the house of corsair Robert Surcouf before entering the actual city. We walked around following the map but every little turn had a different thing to see. We saw the outside of the Saint-Vincent Cathedral where there was an organ concert taking place, and had lunch by the Monument to the Fallen. 

After lunch we decided it was time to keep moving so we went back to the car and headed for Dinan, stopping for fuel on the way (diesel is quite expensive tbh).

Dinan is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Brittany, and I fell absolutely in love with it! Finding a parking space was an adventure in itself. First, we were lucky to get the spot left by a car that was just pulling out – it was packed! Then, we didn’t know we had to pay until we were leaving and I read ‘Parking Payant’ on the floor. So back we went trying to figure out how it worked.  Apparently, there was a ticket machine on the far side of the parking lot which gave you a prepaid ticket to display on your car. However, the prices varied depending on how long you were staying and it was all really confusing. It took us two tries – a first one before heading to the tourist office to grab a map – and a second one on our way back from the office. Fortunately, an old man helped us out and we got the correct ticket and had no further problems. As I said, all the different towns have different systems and we pretty much tried them all!

In Dinan we took the recommended route on our map, seeing tons of medieval houses. It reminded me so much of Lacock near Bath! All the medieval houses are decorated with planks of wood and have that protruding second floor to gain more space. Again a walled city, we had to climb quite a few steps to get to the ramparts but it was so, so worth it. The sun was setting and there were no clouds, you could see the forests surrounding the town and the river port in the distance and it looked straight out of a fairy tale – I fell in love with the place! We also saw the church in the middle of the town which was as eclectic as can be with different bits and bobs added throughout the centuries. For an art history student like me, it was really interesting to see. We then headed back home since our parking ticket only lasted till 6 and had a mediocre dinner at our hotel – the menu du jour which was fish soup, turkey fillet with Norman sauce (which I’ve realized I don’t like) and grilled apple with salted caramel butter. Sounds good but it wasn’t great.

On Thursday we were leaving the hotel, so we got up early, packed the rest of our stuff and checked out after breakfast, ready for the long day ahead. First stop, Bayeux. For some reason though, the sat nav decided the fastest route was taking us out of the autoroute and making us go through tons of little one lane roads frequented by tractors. It offered us both a picturesque view and a stressful drive, but we eventually reached Bayeux and were the luckiest people ever finding a free parking space on the road right next to the Cathedral – what were the odds! After this victory, we first headed for the tapestry. It was surprisingly good. It is really long and very, very well crafted for the age it has. They give you an audioguide with your entry ticket which explains you the different scenes – again, I have been learning so much about William the Conqueror since I’m here! Looking at the Tapestry was like reading a comic. After going around with the audio guide, we went back to the start to enjoy it at our own pace. The hand stitching is amazing and it is well preserved for it being so old and having suffered so much over the centuries. There was also a short film and an exhibition about the tapestry explaining how it was made and more about the history of it – super worth seeing if you are ever near Bayeux!

After the tapestry we stopped for lunch near the Cathedral. Nothing special, just some chicken fingers with fries and a sugar crêpe. Then we went into the Cathedral. It was a lovely sunny day so the Cathedral was beautifully lit up by the sunshine creeping through the stained glass windows. It was amazing! I actually think it was one of the prettiest cathedrals I saw all week – and I saw some really famous ones! The crypts have some medieval paintings decorating the ceiling and it is quite well preserved for a smaller town like Bayeux.

After Bayeux we were on our way to Omaha Beach. I wanted to visit one of the D-Day beaches while we were nearby, but I didn’t really have any preferences. Omaha and Utah were the ones that I recalled off the top of my head, and since they are all packed with different D-Day museums, we simply chose Omaha because it was nearer. We first went into the Omaha Beach Memorial Museum, where there is an exhibition about the beach during the war, with tons of original objects and pictures and papers from the era. It was amazing and moving to read about the people who fought and lost their lives there. They showed a video explaining how D-Day took place and actual soldiers gave their account of it and it was all very emotional. Again, their sacrifice is one that I will never wrap my head around. In the large scale, it helped win the war but it took so many lives none-the-less. I really liked the story of Jean and Edouard Tierney – a nurse who worked in Omaha Beach during the war and who met his husband Edouard, an aviator, while she was there and who have both made numerous donations of their personal objects to the museum and have paid many visits. It is the fact of seeing their faces and learning their stories that makes their sacrifice have even more meaning.

After the museum we went down to the beach itself. The beach is massive and beautiful, no trace of what happened there 70 years ago save for a Memorial Monument with flags. It was a beautiful place to be honest; kilometres of sand spreading as far as you can see on both sides.

We then rushed to the American War Cemetery in Coleville-sur-Mer and arrived ten minutes before closing time. Fortunately, the lady at the gate let us through and we had to make a run for it but we made it to the Memorial and first hundreds of white crosses. I really wish we’d had more time to walk around but I am happy that we were able to go in and have a look, even if it was only for a quarter of an hour. We’d gone so far it would’ve been a pity if we’d had to leave without seeing it. The Cemetery was as massive as the beach itself, lines of crosses one after the other.

Once back in the car, we had some snacks and started the long drive back to Fécamp. This time, we went through the toll roads to save up time. Toll roads in France are quite expensive when you travel long distances, but they const-effective time-wise. We stumbled with the rush-hour traffic jam in the Caen périférique but other than that made is safely back home without any issues. We tried everything during this road trip: fog, narrow lanes, massive roundabouts, crazy French drivers, congested traffic, empty high ways, being overtaken by a lorry, the Pont de Normandie and every kind of toll imaginable – paying on the go to a man, paying a machine, getting a ticket and paying at another barrier, paying for bridges… Congratulations to Dad and driving me around even though I know it’s not the thing he likes best xx We were really tired once we arrived back in the house but we still unpacked, did some laundry, cooked some dinner with what we had lying around and planned the following day before a well-deserved sleep.

On Friday we got up early despite being super tired from the day before. We got ready and left to go to Amiens. This time we just stuck to the high way despite toll roads, since Amiens was so far away we had to save as much time as possible because we were only there for the day. It took us around 2 hours to get there and we didn’t have any problems until we were actually inside Amiens near the centre, and the road to the parking lot was closed. We had to loop around a couple of times until we found our way to the Cathedral parking following the street signs. It is so stressful to drive through unknown cities! Once we left our car in 3 Cailloux parking space, we first went to see the Cathedral. Oh my, was it massive. At the Tourist Office the young man behind the desk suggested going inside the Cathedral and the heading to the Saint-Leu neighbourhood before making our way to Tour Perret and Jules Verne’s house. So that we did. The façade of the Cathedral is a masterpiece, so intricately carved and decorated with all sorts of statues and gargoyles but without it looking too overwhelmingly full and heavy. I really loved it; I think it was the best part of it because I didn’t find the inside to be too majestic in comparison (which is usually the case though). The relic of the Cathedral is allegedly the head of Saint John the Baptist, but that is only accessible if you purchase a ticket and we were going free-style. However, there are many little details inside the Cathedral that make it clear that it was a rich city.

Once we finished in the Cathedral we made our way to Saint-Leu, the old neighbourhood, just behind the cathedral. It kind of looked like a run-down Murano, with old houses in different colours lined up by the canal. It looked sad though, with the walls looking dirty and many shops closed and empty. It had the potential of being a cute version of Amsterdam, but turned out to be a decayed and sad version of it – I didn’t really like it. We headed back to the square by the Cathedral and went in for lunch at a random restaurant called Big Ben on the right of the Cathedral. It turned out to be a hipster French bistrot and we had the menu du jour which was to-die-for: proper British fish and chips (fresh cod and home-made chips), a Liège waffle with salted caramel butter and coffee. So worth it! The place was jam packed with family and business men, I really liked it. Definitely recommend it if you happen to be around. By the time we were done with lunch, it was time to continue our journey and we didn’t have time to see Jules Verne’s house, but we did get a glimpse of Tour Perret between the buildings on our way to the car. I have now confirmed that I enjoy much more visiting little towns than big cities; good to know for future reference.

We were then on our way to Thiepval. Since we had a car and Dad wanted to go to Amiens, I thought I would make the most of it and visit one of the locations in the Somme. Since I was younger I’ve always been interested in the Great War so it was a dream come true to actually go to the Somme, even if it was just for the day. I chose Thiepval because it is home for the largest Commonwealth War Memorial to the missing of the Somme, in the place where the bloodiest of the battles took place between July and November 1916. We first went to the Interpretation Centre which has tons of information and a new area that opened this summer as part of the 100 year anniversary of the Battle. It was very emotional to learn about the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives there and the mourning of their families.

We then headed to the Franco-British memorial itself, a 45m high construction of brick and stone designed by Lutyens with the engraved names of the more than 70000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme. Among the names we saw that of one of our ancestors, Leonard Harry Bedford (d. 18/10/1916; name on Pier and Face 16C), to whom we left a little poppy cross. There are also a few Commonwealth and French grave stones behind the monument, with flowers and letters to the Unknown Soldier written by school children. Despite the long drive, it was a very special place and definitely worth visiting. The Somme itself looks just like the rest of the country side we’ve visited, only it is more flat – expanses of fields dotted with clumps of trees as far as the eye can see, and even a century later, some unfilled shell holes are still to be seen if you look close enough. The drive back home was long but, as I said, I am really happy we did it because I wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise!

I’m going to wrap up the second instalment of my Toussaint adventures here. Hope you’ve enjoyed the posts so far and keep tuned for the last one coming soon!

Zoe x

L.H. Bedford: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/770709/BEDFORD,%20LEONARD%20HARRY

YA-4: Toussaint break I -Fécamp, Étretat, Caen, Mont Saint-Michel & Fougères !

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Salut les lecteurs!

This is going to be a long one since I’m covering my adventures road tripping around France over the Toussaint break, so make sure you grab yourself a cuppa before starting! I’m dividing the trip into three posts, just so I can properly tell you all about what I got up to in such amazing places, so make sure you tune in in the next few days for the rest of the tale!

First of all, just to let y’all know I’m also writing for my University’s Placement Blog which you can check out here: http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/hss-placements/2016/10/15/year-abroad-i-moving-to-france/ I will be posting about my placements in both France and Italy, but from a more placement-oriented point of view.

Now that is out of the way, let’s dive right into it.

As I said on my last post, my dad came over to visit for ten days. He arrived the night of the 20^th after having delays and losing his suitcase during the layover in Barcelona. Therefore, when he got home he was really tired and just had his stuff in his back pack. It was great to have him around though; getting to Fécamp isn’t easy but he made the long journey to see me!

The following day we did some tourism around Fécamp. The morning was lovely and sunny so I took him to the Mill where I work first. He was able to meet my boss and have a look around the classes where I teach as well as taking a look inside the actual Mill itself. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I work in some adjacent rooms to an old flour mill that was closed in 2007, but all the objects are still well kept inside and it could easily be re-run if wanted. I knew he would love seeing all the different tools and objects in there so I had to take him! He also loved the views from the top, which is one of my favourite things!

We then walked into town. I showed him the exterior of the Abbatiale (not the interior because it was closed) and the Palais Ducal and then we made our way to Place Bellet with the Monument to the Fallen stopping by the hidden park and I also showed him the philatélie shop –more cool and quirky objects to look at! We had lunch at one of the kebab places and then walked to the Église de Saint Étienne. We thought it was closed but a man stopped us on the way to say the entrance was round the other side, so we went it. I’d never entered before, so it was a first-time for me. The interior is quite dark but the newly restored stained glass windows are beautiful!

Then we headed down to the Tourist Office to ask for some maps and information for our road-trip. The lady there, who actually spoke a bit of Spanish, said there was a car rental company in Fécamp so we went to check it out after dropping by the Bénédictine Palace to have a look. However, it was pretty expensive for a car rental so we decided to rent it in Le Havre as we had planned instead. We then went to Texti to get my dad some clothes since he still hadn’t got his suitcase back. The air company said the suitcase was in Paris and would be delivered within 48hrs so he needed some clean clothes in the meantime. Oh, we also saw some shop window theatre in a couple of streets – it was really cool because they used their hands as puppets! In the evening, while we were sorting out our trip to Le Havre the following day, my boss’ husband came over to meet my dad before they left on holidays. I’m really happy my dad got to meet them both; my hosts have been so nice I really wanted him to meet them.

Saturday morning they delivered his suitcase – fortunately they brought it all the way here and we didn’t have to pick it up from Paris. And then we headed into the town centre to check out the market. There were so many stalls selling fresh fruit and veggies and also fish and seafish and shoes and it was amazing! I should definitely try to go more often because there were some real bargains! We picked up lunch from La Mie Câline and then went to the station to get the coach to Breauté-Beuzeville and change to the train to Le Havre. It takes about an hour as we found out. Apparently they will open the train station in December and then it will be quicker but for now it’s either that or a long bus ride. Also, I got confused with the ticket machine and bought extra tickets oops. Better luck next time! Once in Le Havre we walked to Hertz in the industrial area near the gare. The distances in Le Havre are so much larger than I thought; it’s a very industrial city and not very pretty in my opinion (bear in mind, I only visited the area near the station). We did take some amazing pictures of the reflection of the buildings on the bassin because there was not a breeze of wind and it looked like a mirror – it was wonderful. In Hertz a lady called Veronique took care of us and, although the car we’d seen online wasn’t available, she gave us a better one for a reduced price and we got out of the place driving a silver Kia Ceed. We popped the Sat Nav to get to the station and check out where the Flixbus stop was for when Dad left. Lemme say, driving around is so much harder and so much more stressful than walking! Just the trip to the station and the drive out of Le Havre were a complete nightmare because of so many different roads and entrances. The sat nav definitely helps but it was hard to get used to. Finally, both with dry mouths and stressed out, we arrived in Fécamp and found a parking spot. All we did the rest of the day was rest at home, plan the road trip and have an evening stroll to the beach (buying myself some Mexican dinner on our way back).

Since Sunday is an awkward day because most shops are closed, we decided to venture out with the car and go to Étretat to see the Falaises. The weather was lovely (kinda windy but that is normal). Some lovely tourists took a picture of us two together and we wandered around the town. I also managed to get a pin of the blazon of Normandy for my backpack! I’d already added a Fécamp one I found over the weekend and I added a couple more pins I got over the week from different places – I will cherish this backpack forever. We then came back to Fécamp and were super lucky to get a table for two at Chez Nounoute since we hadn’t made any reservations and literally arrived after closing time – she was in a good mood because I can’t explain it otherwise! She is such a character, she reminded me of what my Grandma would be like if she ran a restaurant, teasing clients and showing off! I had some hard boiled eggs and moules while Dad opted for the paté and salmon with Norman sauce. And for dessert, apple crumble. So yummy! After that the sun had kind of hid and the temperature dropped but we drove up to Cap Fagnet anyway to show him the éoliques, the views of Fécamp and the Falaises, the Chapelle du Notre-Dame du Salut and the bunkers. I love it up there, the views are truly amazing and I actually find the old bunkers along the coast really interesting. Once back home I took a warm shower to heat me up and then packed for the trip starting the following day early morning. I was planning for a long night sleep but, unfortunately, an alarm went off in the street during the night and Dad thought it was our car so not only were we woken up but we had to go outside and check on the car… Turns out it was a house, but it was quite a fright!

On Monday we got up early and set out for a long drive to Caen. We made the mistake of removing toll roads from the itinerary so the sat nav took us along the Seine past Pont de Normandie and Pont de Tancarville and Lillebonne to this random spot next to the river and then suddenly said ‘Turn right and board the ferry’. We looked at each other so confused omg literally what?! Apparently there was a free ferry that you could board and it took you across the river to the other side. A man told us it was free and that we had to line up behind the rest of the cars. I swear, we were so taken by surprise! The ferry trip was fine, but it was such a stupid loop that we did and wasted so much time… On the other hand, it was quite an adventure. The adventure continued when we got to a random turnabout that the sat nav didn’t recognize and the exit directions were Le Havre and Paris, which were definitely not where we wanted to go, so I just said, ‘take the other exit, to Évreux, and we’ll work from there!’. So we did and thanks to my co-pilot directions we slowly made our way to Caen through the normal road parallel to the motor way – even if that meant going slower. We went through tons of little villages which were actually nice to see, we went through Beuzeville, Pont l’Éveque, Dozulé, Troarn… And in about three hours finally made it to Caen and successfully managed to find the parking lot.

Caen itself was actually really pretty for it being a city. We first went to Église de Saint-Saveur and then stopped by Quick to have lunch before heading to the Tourist Office by the castle. Turns out it was closed for half an hour more so meanwhile we popped into Saint-Pierre’s Church. It was very pretty and it was amazingly restored after being bombed during the Second World War. 

Then we headed to the Caen Castle. We were unlucky because all the museums were closed that day so we couldn’t go into the Normandy Museum they have there, but it was worth going to the castle anyway. There was a photo exhibition about medieval castles and abbeys in Normandy and also the views from the ramparts were amazing! The sun was shining which was a plus. 10/10 would recommend climbing up there to have a look at the skyline; you can catch a glimpse of the many church spirals in the city! 

After the castle we went to the Abbaye aux Dames where Mathilde of Flandres, William the Conqueror’s wife, is buried. I must say, I’ve learnt a lot about him and this period while I’ve been in France this time… I’ve seen so many different churches over the past few days that the places mesh with each other, but I do remember the amounts of cobwebs coating one of the windows at the Abbey… 

Then, on our way to the Abbaye aux Hommes at the other side of the town we stopped by the Maisons au Bois which are some medieval houses in the middle of the city. One is undergoing restoration so the façade was covered but we were able to see the other one – old house with wooden façade, tiny windows and lots of sculptures. On our way to the Abbaye we also saw tons of little Parisian-style cafés packed with young people having drinks together – so lovely! Once we saw the Abbaye aux Hommes (only from the outside because we had to pay to go inside), we grabbed some dinner at La Mie Câline and then continued our drive to Villedieu-les-Poêles, a small town famous for its copper work and bell-making.

It was really easy to get there because we just took the high way. The town was cute because it was so traditionally French with the town hall, a church, a square and the tall Norman grey houses. However, it did feel a bit sad despite the sunny sunset; perhaps it was the fact that there was moss everywhere and not too many people around and lots of closed shops. Anyhow, we were only going to be there for the three nights we’d be exploring the area. We stayed at Hotel Saint-Pierre and a neighbour let us in because the reception has weird opening times. The whole hotel and restaurant were run by a woman and his husband – literally everything, from cooking to housekeeping to check-ins, it was insane. We had booked a twin room but they gave us one with a double bed. Five minutes later the woman knocked on the door with some story about another client who had swapped rooms and so we had a twin bed room just how we wanted – I guess it was her seeing that we weren’t actually a couple! We dropped our things in the new room, went out for a look around the town and then back for a shower and some sleep – we were knackered!

The next day we got up in a freezing cold hotel room – apparently, there had been a problem with the general heating over the night which they were getting fixed. On Tuesday there happened to be the weekly market of the town we were staying in, so after breakfast we ventured into the cold and misty morning (honestly, so much fog! Like in India!) and had a look around. There were a lot of fresh veggies and fruit sellers – the size of the spinach leaves and nuts was incredible – and a couple clothes stands and other kinds of food. If only I had been home, I would have definitely done the weekly shopping there!

After that we got our things and headed to Mont Saint-Michel. That is a place I knew I wanted to visit before I leave France in December, but it is a four-hour-drive away from Fécamp, so I was lucky that my dad came and we rented a car. Thing is, there was fog everywhere. I swear, we could not see a thing. Basically, you could only see what was happening around 20metres around you and that was it. Needless to say, we were quite sceptic on the idea of seeing the Mont but we went anyway and decided we could always come back if it didn’t work out. We followed the sat nav and arrived in the parking lot where we left our car and headed to the coach stop. The queue to board the coaches was quite long but it didn’t take us long before we were on one. Well before arriving at the parking lot we should’ve been able to see the Mont in the distance so the whole thing felt really strange and unsettling because we didn’t really have any references around us. Anyhow, we boarded the coach which took us the distance left to the base of the Mont, and dropped us off on the far side of the bridge connecting the island to the main land. At this point, we were getting off on a bridge with only the flow of people to guide us through the fog. It wasn’t until we were literally 100 metres from the walls that we actually started to see the vague silhouette of the Mont. Surreal. 

Honestly, the fact that there was fog everywhere and that, despite it being October, the place was flooded with tourists anyway, was quite depressing. The plan was for Dad to stay somewhere around the base so that he wouldn’t have to climb a lot of stairs since he has knee problems, but in the end he made a massive effort and went up to the top with me – kudos for him! We went into the Abbey (which is free for EU young nationals between 18 and 25 years of age, so I didn’t pay a dime!). The Abbey itself was like a labyrinth; so many different rooms! It was quite disappointing to get to the ramparts from which you are supposed to see all the marshes surrounding the Mont, and not being able to see much further from the base of the island because of the thick fog. But, if we were not going to be able to see the views, then at least we were going to make the most of the inside! 

We were lucky though, because just as we were leaving the Abbey, the sun started to shine and the mist cleared for a little bit, so we actually were able to see the view! We were really lucky because we managed to get back down and take some touristy pictures of us with the Mont at the back before the mist ate the whole thing again and the Mont disappeared into the fog. One more destination ticket off the bucket list!

At this point, we’d had nothing for lunch other than a few bits of cheese and fruit stolen from the breakfast buffet, so we were quite  hungry but all the places were closed since it was around half three. We decided to have a look at a German War Cemetery I’d seen some signs of on the way to the Mont, so we followed the directions to Huisnes-sur-Mer. There we found the Mont-de-Huisnes German Cemetery which is an ossuary in which are collected the remains of German soldiers and some civils from different parts of France. There are the remains of over 11000 people, which is crazy to think about but it was nice to see they have a place in France where they are together. The place has a modern design with the different crypt chambers organized in a circular two-storey structure surrounding a central lawn with a big cross in the centre. You can also see the Mont Saint-Michel from there (or that is what they say, because it was covered by mist again by the time we got there). It was incredibly moving to see all the names, some of them with flower crowns, pictures and letters from their families. I will never be able to wrap my head around the massive massacres that these wars were on both sides.

We then decided to drive to Fougères, since it was quite early to go back to the hotel. But on our way there we saw another sign, this time for an American Cemetery near Saint-James. We decided to go there instead and had to stop for directions, as per usual… By the time we got there, it was unfortunately too late because it closed at 5pm and we arrived five minutes before then and were not allowed a look. Bummer!

So then we went to Fougères which is known for having the one of the best conserved medieval castles in Brittany, and it truly is a sight to see. Here there was no fog anymore and we arrived just as the sun was setting so the views were lovely. I must say, people in small towns are really nice because we were having problems finding a parking space and a woman explained to us how the different coloured lines work and directed us to a free area nearby… It is different depending on the town, so make sure you look it up to avoid a fine! The castle itself was closed but we walked around it (massive hill included, poor Dad). 

We were starving at this point so we looked for a place to eat and ended up in this small crêperie called Tante Suzette. Let me tell ya, the food was heavenly! I had some artisanal cidre to accompany my ‘farm’ galette with eggs, ham, mushrooms, onions, tomato and cheese. It was so, so good! And after not having anything to eat since the morning, it was a long overdue meal! And, for dessert, I had a crêpe with apple and salted caramel butter – my mouth is watering. The owner was really nice and even complimented my French! On our way back to Villedieu, the sun set and the fog reappeared which was really stressful since we had trouble finding the anti-fog lights, but we eventually arrived, ready for a well-deserved sleep.

Keep an eye out for the next two instalments of my Toussaint adventures!