Cafe Life, Granville, La Manches
I wish customers could bring their little dogs into our cafe like they can do in France. Once again, it just seems more civilized here. We are set to travel today–perhaps the busiest travel day in France, the start of the vacation season. We’ll get an extra jump because my […]
Walking the Quays in Granville, Boats with No Water
We walked out onto the giant concrete barriers that provide a cushion against Atlantic Ocean storms and protect the pleasure boat harbor here in Granville. Even though it was 9:45 pm, it looked like it was about 6:30 pm, the barriers provided a long, long promenade from which to view […]
Driving Down the Normandy Coast, With Time to Stop
Today was the kind of day you hope to get at least once or twice during a working press trip. A day where we got up late, had a leisurely breakfast, and got on the road in this beautiful part of France with time to mosey into small villages, stop […]
A Gentleman Farmer Pours Us His 44
We met Alain Travert in front of his oven. Tucked away into a non-descript shed, the oven where he bakes natural bread doesn’t look like much from the street. Inside, this retired bachelor farmer baker creates baguettes and country breads every day, and refuses to sell them to anyone. He’d […]
Now That’s a Cheese: The Market at Bricquebec
At the market in the medieval town of Bricquebec, all of the vendors ended our transactions with ‘have a good holiday!’ That’s because the country is practically all on vacation…people’s luxurious six weeks off begin about now. How civilized! At the market we saw crates of small chickens being loaded […]
Biking into Bricquebec, Crashing a Party
We made it to the tiny town of Brix, in Normandy’s La Manche, a peninsula that makes up the western side of the province. Our trip from the seaside village of Barneville-Carteret took us past many tall hedgerows, behind which were rows of corn and wheat. At the end of […]
Pouring a Bell in Villedieu-les-Poeles
The town of Villedieu-les-Poeles has been famous as metalworking mecca for 900 years. It began because in this part of town, the land was not owned by the king, and thus not subject to taxes. So artisans like bellmakers and copper forges thrived. The Fonderie de Cloches Cornille Havard is […]
A French Market: Where Bizarre Shellfish Can be Found
We learned when we first arrived in Granville that this coast is famous for shellfish, and that the lively city where we were staying was the de facto capital of the area, since it is the largest town on the coast. This morning we got a chance to see the […]
The Shooter Meets the Painter in Granville
“You should leave the shooting to me, and just concentrate on the writing,” said my traveling buddy Paul Shoul. Well, he has a point, he has much better equipment and is willing to lug it everywhere also always willing to go the extra mile for a good shot. Here is […]
Coming Back to Gritty, Salty Granville
We arrived in Granville, on a spit of land jutting out just above the famous Mt. St. Michel on France’s coast. I came here when I was 16, traveling Europe in a group trip with other kids, and I stood on a corner and recognized a gauzy, hazy memory…a movie […]
Normandy’s Thriving D-Day Tourism Sites
Here in Longue-sur-Mer, a Sherman tank rests next to one of the thousands of metal barricades put up by the Nazis to stop the invasion. The business of showing tourists these D-day attractions comes in third for popularity in Normandy, after Mt. St. Michel and Honfleur. At Arromanches, we joined […]
Haunting Face at Caen’s Memorial Museum
This haunting image fades to black every 10 seconds, signifying the horrific number of deaths in the Nazi-run concentration camps of World War II. The museum takes you on a journey beginning in the 1918, and lays out a time-line that began with World War I’s Treaty of Versailles, through […]
A Visit to the Palace of B&B in Fecamp
We went to a palace yesterday devoted to a certain spirit. That would be B&B, Benedictine liqueur, which is actually manufactured in a 1900s gothic/romanesque palace in the oceanside town of Fecamp. “Everything here is about the drink,” our guide Danielle told us as we glided from room to room, […]
‘A Good Drink’ and the Norman Hole
Have you ever heard of the Norman Hole? It has to do with the cherished apple digestif Calvados, which has been made in towns here in Normandy for centuries. Our guide Jean-Paul Herbert educated us about this tradition while we ate fish at a beachside restaurant in Le Havre this […]
Up on Top of the Cliffs at Etretat, Thinking of Jumpers
Up and down the coast of Normandy there are high chalk cliffs that sometimes go as high at 200 meters. We got a chance to see these impressive natural barriers up close today as we had lunch in front of the large-pebbled beach at Fecamps. This town of about 10,000 […]
At Rouen’s La Couronne, They’ve Served Since 1345
Last night for dinner we choose the oldest Inn in France. It was opened in 1345 and through the centuries the owners at La Couronne have compiled the ultimate walk of fame up and down their staircase and in the upstairs dining room. A panoply of French stars and old […]