Normandy

This was our first overseas trip since pre Covid days and it was so exciting to start traveling again! There were still too many crowds and air travel hasn’t improved at all, but it felt good to get out and explore. We visited Normandy in 2004 on a day trip from Paris and we knew we had to come back and explore the area in more depth. We had a trip booked for our spring break in 2020 and then Covid hit and everything came to a halt, but we finally made it.

Taking a direct flight from Boston to Paris and not having to deal with connections and layovers made dealing with air travel easier, but finding long term parking was not easy. We made reservations with Airport Parking Reservations which uses a parking lot at a Hampton Inn north of the airport. It definitely was not the best option, and in the future we will plan farther in advance so we can get reservations at the airport.

We arrived in Paris mid morning, picked up our rental car at Hertz and drove to Rouen, which is a few hours north of Paris. We spent the night in Rouen and explored the city before driving to Noron-la-Poterie, where we stayed in a 15th century chateau, but not before driving by Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches. 

We arrived at Le Manoir du Pont Senot which is a beautifully restored 15th century chateau and would be our sanctuary for the next four nights. It was located on a narrow, winding, country road (watch out for the speeding cars) and was just what I envisioned. We were greeted warmly by our host and climbed the curvy stone steps to our room and instantly felt at home. Each morning we were provided an amazing continental breakfast, much of which was homemade and then we spent the days exploring the area.

Over several days we visited many of the D-Day sites including Pont du Hoc, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach and Museum, the American Cemetery, as well as the town Sainte Mere Eglise and the Airborne Museum. All of which were sobering and extremely informative. 

One of the places I really wanted to visit while in Normandy was Mont Saint Michel. It seemed like one of those iconic places that needs to be seen when you visit a place. Unfortunately that’s what everyone else thinks as well, so it was very crowded! We knew it would be busy, but did not anticipate how crowded it was going to be; I can’t even imagine what it’s like in summer! Thankfully we checked out Rick Steves Normandy guidebook which had a helpful tip on avoiding the crowds and taking a different walking route to the top, and as an added bonus avoided all the touristy shops.

On our last day we drove back to Paris before our flight home the next day and stopped in Giverny and visited Monet’s House and Gardens, which was stunning, but oh so crowded!! The amount of people really took away from enjoying the gardens and house.

We loved our time in Normandy, of course it went by way too fast!

Brendan & Jen {April 2023}