My Love Affair With France
France 2021 – July 31 through August 8th
Why a trip to France in August of 2021? Especially with the return of Covid and the Delta Variant? We were invited to a wedding and the original date was August, 2020. Honored to be on the invite list and decided to book the trip to go places we had never gone before (Star Trek reference, FYI). Our son’s best friend was getting married and our son was in the wedding. The couple was gracious enough to include us so we were not going to miss this event.
Quick mention about how stressed I was to leave for this trip, so much so, my husband did not think I wanted to go. I desperately did want to go but both of our daughters were headed back to college the weekend we were set to leave. For our youngest daughter, it was her first year attending UGA. Good news, older daughter had been there for 3 years, lived in the same apartment complex younger daughter was moving into and could help navigate for younger daughter. I was willing to let it go but still nervous. And then, the entire Covid situation.
With reference to Covid, we took a risk because we had to get tested going and then coming back home. Going, I could handle, unfortunate to miss a great trip and wedding but coming home, if we tested positive, we would have to quarantine over there. Yikes. Sounds like it would be extra days in France but that is not how it works. Tested negative both times so we were cleared to come and go, thankfully. Not everyone on our trip was that lucky.
Incredible start to the trip of a lifetime. When I say start, it was the parking pass bestowed to us from our best friends. I think they were just as excited as we were for our trip to northern France.
After the stellar parking, Gold pass, we boarded our flight from Atlanta to Paris, direct. While traveling, there are always glitches along the way so buckle up and be patient.
On the flight across the pond, Jimmy’s TV monitor did not work and we sat right in front of the bathroom so we heard the toilet flush every time it was used, ugh. Tried to sleep but it was pretty sporadic. Flight departed around 5:30pm with a 7:30am arrival so it was a difficult transition, but we managed...haha.
Paris Arrival...Off To Honfleur
Landed in Paris with many other international arrivals, evidenced by the line at customs which took 90 plus minutes to navigate. Once through, we headed to Avis to get our car and yet another hour plus wait. France started out a little iffy because of their laid back attitude and lack of urgency which made it feel as if the service left a lot to be desired. As Americans, we expect great and rapid service because we are always in a hurry. As the trip unfolded, we learned to be more French. Relax, chill, lose the high strung way of life and enjoy. Ahhh, France.
Had an itinerary…of sorts. Jimmy and I tend to call audibles all the time while traveling and we make a great team this way. Nights 2 and 3, we had no reservations. Covid helped because there were not a lot of American travelers and that allowed for accommodations to be available.
Our itinerary went like this…land in Paris, drive to Honfleur for one night, next day…the beaches of Normandy, spend night in Bayeux, maybe, off to Mont Saint Michele…stay at Mont Saint Michele maybe, onto Paris, maybe, Orléans for wedding, back to Paris for departure to Atlanta.
After we secured the car, we were off to Honfleur. Jimmy drove the two hours with no sleep and not sure how he did it. Hindsight, this was the easier of our two travel day drives…wait for it, Post coming soon.
Once in Honfleur, I began my love affair with France. What a treat. Most charming, picturesque town and exactly what you imagine Europe to be, right out of a movie. Checked into Maison De Lea…a cute Inn, next to the market square and smack in the middle of everywhere we wanted to be for our day of discovery.
First order of business was to stay awake until the end of day, mission accomplished, read on. Dropped our bags and started out on foot for the day. We did everything Honfleur had to offer from the gardens to the Notre Dame Church on the hill overlooking the harbor. Explored it all so we could pick our favorite spots and spend time doing what we loved the next day. Naturally, we ended up harborside at a café, ordered a beer and a Nutella crepe, yum.
People watching was spectacular. This was the beginning of my week long epiphany…we were the only Americans in France. Covid. In fact, we were asked if we were from England. I think the French people had not seen someone from the US for so long, they forgot the accent.
There were crowds in Honfleur but it was all Europeans. Europe had just gone on Holiday for the month of August. Spoke with a Dutch couple who reminded us they were not allowed to come to the States. Understood. Covid nightmare for the world.
Release the Kraken
How we squeezed in this trip of a lifetime still baffles me. Here, I would like to reference the comment I made earlier in this article about my stress level to go on this trip and my husband thinking I did not want to go. Well, unfortunately for him, after the trip, the Kraken, see below-ha ha, was released. I was ready to go everywhere. More to follow in future posts, stay tuned.
Honfleur. Remember the couple I mentioned who shared their parking pass? They were the ones who recommended Honfleur. They knew we wanted to go to the beaches of Normandy on the front end of our trip and they said we must go to Honfleur. Honfleur is roughly 90 minutes east of the beaches of Normandy. Score. Everything about Honfleur was incredible.
Let’s start with the people. The most gracious, helpful, fun and accommodating individuals we have ever met. Eventually, we shared phone numbers, took pictures and on and on. Amazing. Cecile and Hadji were two of our favorites. In fact, we kept running into Cecile all over Honfleur and it became a funny joke which made me feel like I had once lived there.
After our first night in Honfleur, I found a fantastic running route by the harbor, by the waterway lock, through the park…absolutely perfect and stunningly beautiful.
So ready to go and wanted to do so much more after our initial Honfleur power search the day before. Covered almost every inch of Honfleur, yet I wanted more. This charming town had it all and we absolutely loved it.
After a jam packed full day, we wanted to chill again, drink beer by the harbor and people watch…and meet.
However, our plan had us headed to the beaches of Normandy that afternoon so we packed up and left this most charming town.
Honfleur...Picturesque & Perfect
