The best way to see Normandy and the Loire Valley is by car - and we found the most cost effective way is to take a train from Paris to Rouen, pick up the car in Rouen, drive an hour to see the Normandy Bridge and a historic town called Honfleur.
Our train leaves Paris at 8:46am. The tickets are non-refundable - we need to get there early. Breakfast at our hotel starts at 7:30 - we are first to arrive - then as we check out there is an overcharge on our bill. It is resolved but it takes time. The gentleman at reception has been very nice to us so we chat a little too long. We need to catch 2 metro trains to get to Gare Saint-Lazare where we catch the train to Rouen. The second metro stop is close but we just miss the train - shoot! Another 4 minute wait. We now realize we wasted too much time and will be cutting it very close. We need to read the signs through the tunnels correctly with no mistakes, if we get to the train station main board quickly (the station is large) and find the track number and if we run for that track we will get on board. With the stress high and our legs pulling our bags (up and down many flights of stairs along the way) we do all those things and RUN onto the proper train. SUCCESS! Once on board we find out there is a track problem and the train will be leaving 15 minutes late. We don't care and we laugh about what we just did - we had no one to blame but ourselves - idiots.
The train ride goes fast and we arrive in Rouen. We can't find the Europecar desk. Maybe it is outside? No luck. Back inside the train station we find the car rental area but it is a holiday and they are all closed. We see a note with a hand written "Mr Desalvo" on it. I took French in college so I make my best guess. "You can pick up the car at the front of the station at Hotel De Dieppe." We find the small hotel, sign the contract and now need to find P2/level -1 in the train station parking garage. Monique leads the way, finds the car and drives out onto the streets of France. First stop is Honfleur, a port where the Seine River greets the English Channel. It is a tollway so we need to learn how that works, similar to ours but different. We have google maps, thank god because there is a roundabout everywhere and it is difficult to know when to exit. We have a system - not the first, not the second, exit the third way out - it works. We drove over the famous Normandy bridge. We arrive in Honfleur, a cool little town and sit at an outdoor cafe for lunch. We wander around the town for a couple of hours then back into the new mode of transportation - a car. One and a half hour drive and we are in Bayeux. A very event filled day to say the least.
It says, “Thank you please pick up your contract at Hotel de Dieppe at the front of the station” I think?
Here it is - right where they said it would be.
The parking lot maze - the same all over the world.
Driving over the 1.25-mile-long Normandy Bridge - the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western world. This is where the Seine River ends and flows into the English Channel.
Honfleur is a picturesque sea-side town, filled with tourists (including us). The skinny houses were built for the town’s fisherman - at the time, the houses were taxed based on their width and not height. This is our view as we eat lunch along the harbor.
Saint Catherine Church was built by local boat builders - not cathedral architects evidenced by the wood shingled exterior. It was built in 1466, however more space was needed so they added an additional nave in 1497.
Look at the ceiling - it looks like this church could sail if you flipped it over. Look at the newer wood on the left, in the last months of WWII a bomb fell through the roof, but didn’t explode.
One of the many views that inspired so many impressionist painters.