With the help of earplugs, I had a better nights sleep. I'm a heavy sleeper and can sleep through a lot, but if I'm still awake, I get very distracted by noise and so, ear plugs it was. Another French continental breakfast and we discussed where to go. We had all day to drive the 2 hours home, so we could take our time and any detours we wanted.
We went South, to Deauville, only 12km away. It's Normandy's answer to the Hamptons, but hadn't quite hit it's stride as far as the season is concerned. For the low season, there was still a fairly sizable number of visitors and the market we stopped in was pretty busy. We decided to walk down to the water and see the beach. The beach cabanas are all named for actors and actresses. Some great, some not so great. Deauville holds the French film festival for Northern France, while Cannes holds court in the South.
While walking on the boardwalk, taking our time to decide where to eat, I had a flash and realized we hadn't paid the parking meter. I could just see going back to the lot, with no rental car and no way home. Obviously we rushed back for the car, hoping for the best. Whew, that was close. At least we got free parking for the day. Since we had seen what we deemed necessary to see, we headed out of town on search for a small eatery out of the city. Forgetting it was Sunday, it took us longer to find somewhere than expected, but we managed to have a good lunch at a small hotel's restaurant in a town well off the beaten path.
We were passing Giverny on the way home so we stopped for a bit to see if we had time to visit the gardens. They were crazy busy with lines wrapped around buildings and streets filled with tourists. We just walked around the "town" a bit. The town is basically Monet's house, gardens and museum. We walked around none the less and then headed back to Saint-Nom for dinner.
The Mom had cooked a Moroccan chicken dish, with couscous and salad. We all ate outside, with myself being the diving line between children and adults. A role I find myself in frequently. Dinner went well and afterwards we said goodbye as my Mom headed to her hotel and the rest of us prepared for the week.
We went South, to Deauville, only 12km away. It's Normandy's answer to the Hamptons, but hadn't quite hit it's stride as far as the season is concerned. For the low season, there was still a fairly sizable number of visitors and the market we stopped in was pretty busy. We decided to walk down to the water and see the beach. The beach cabanas are all named for actors and actresses. Some great, some not so great. Deauville holds the French film festival for Northern France, while Cannes holds court in the South.
While walking on the boardwalk, taking our time to decide where to eat, I had a flash and realized we hadn't paid the parking meter. I could just see going back to the lot, with no rental car and no way home. Obviously we rushed back for the car, hoping for the best. Whew, that was close. At least we got free parking for the day. Since we had seen what we deemed necessary to see, we headed out of town on search for a small eatery out of the city. Forgetting it was Sunday, it took us longer to find somewhere than expected, but we managed to have a good lunch at a small hotel's restaurant in a town well off the beaten path.
We were passing Giverny on the way home so we stopped for a bit to see if we had time to visit the gardens. They were crazy busy with lines wrapped around buildings and streets filled with tourists. We just walked around the "town" a bit. The town is basically Monet's house, gardens and museum. We walked around none the less and then headed back to Saint-Nom for dinner.
The Mom had cooked a Moroccan chicken dish, with couscous and salad. We all ate outside, with myself being the diving line between children and adults. A role I find myself in frequently. Dinner went well and afterwards we said goodbye as my Mom headed to her hotel and the rest of us prepared for the week.
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