- They call it the Channel Sea, not the English Channel...when in France!
- The Normandy area is divided into two parts - Upper Normandy and Lower Normandy; i.e. above the Seine and below the Seine. Fecamp and Etretat are in Upper Normandy; Honfleur is in Lower Normandy.
- The Vikings invaded this are of France in the 10th Century and ended up settling here after the King of France offered it to them in exchange for their willingness to rebuild what they had pillaged and they had to convert to Christianity. SO...Normandy is named after the "North Men" (the Vikings) who came from the North of Europe.
Saw lots of beautiful farmland and lots of Norman cows (brown and white), plus sheep. In Fecamp we visited the Benedictine Liquor factory. The recipe is from the Benedictine Monks, however, it was Alexander Le Grand, a very wealthy businessman who came upon this recipe and decided to update it a bit and start making it to sell. Liquor was starting to be frowned upon at this time so he was also great at marketing and he worked to make the drinking of liquor more fashionable - also marketed it to women and for your health. Built a museum in a very beautiful, sophisticated style - had lots of amazing collections to show off, including an amazing collection of locks and keys, many of which came from castles that had fallen into ruin. The tasting was saved for the end and it did indeed warm us up! And of course we bought a litre. Had my first run in with the French language at this point and pretty much failed; but luckily another lady traveling with us interpreted for me.Next we were off for Etretat (don't pronounce the last "t" - Eh-Trey-Ta). A beautiful seaside resort. The drive there showed us many views of the Channel Sea - they won't let them build on the edge of the cliffs as the cliffs are always crumbling so the views are beautiful. The beach here is nothing but pebbles. Huge high cliffs and rock formations from the erosion of the water. One called the Arch and Needle but now, actually, the Elephant and the Needle. On one side you climb to the top of the hill on the north side - 700 steps round trip but it afforded beautiful views of the sea and the cliffs and the town. If only I could put up pictures I could show you a lot of this. I may ask Kate to do this if I am able to send her some pictures through the iPad.
Had my second attempt at the French language and I did fine pronouncing "crepe"and "chocolat"; however,the merchant pretended to not know what I was saying and made me point to it. When I told our guide about this she agreed that folks in this town are a bit strange with visitors and like to act like that when you try to speak their language. Oh well....the Chocolat Crepe was delicious!
Today (Wednesday) we headed to Honfleur in Lower Normandy. A small fishing village with a wooden church that dates back to the 14th Century. The weather is rainy and cool today so not as much fun walking around but tour was only 4 hours and the heavy rain held off until the end.
Tomorrow it's a hot stone massage for me thanks to a nice Spa birthday gift from my daughter! Thanks Kate! And we will have a day at sea tomorrow as well as we head for Bordeaux and hopefully some sunnier weather.
Our guides for both tours have been fantastic -the one today actually sang to us (and we were able to sing or hum along) to La Vie en Rose. She had a beautiful voice and certainly knows how to earn her tips. But all in all they were very informative and pleasant and truly welcoming of us tourists.
Eating way too much and tonight will join our table mates in the Tuscan Grille specialty restaurant for dinner to hear about their excursion to Paris yesterday. These are the folks who lived in Alderbrook and the Aunt of Kim, who works in the Little Silver Post Office.
Au revoir....Betsy and Ed
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