Kalyn Michele: September 2016

The Normandy region of France was always on our bucket list but it sat on that sheet of paper for over a year with no stroke of a pen through its name. It remained there unmarked until June when we chose to visit during the anniversary of the great invasion during WWII known as D-day. As soon as we found out that Alex's father would be visiting us during this timeframe, we knew we had to make the trip happen! My father-in-law is the most well-read man I have ever met and his knowledge on historical events is extraordinary. To be able to visit such a historical place with his son would be a trip of a lifetime for both of them.

Driving was our transportation of choice, because everyone likes a good road trip now and then.. until your bum starts to ache from sitting for so long! An eight hour trip was broken down into two days with an overnight stop over in Reims, France. Reims is situated in the champagne region of France and home to many well-known champagne houses and the Notre-Dame de Reims. Our overnight in this city allowed us a place to rest and wake up refreshed to tour the Taittinger champagne cellar, purchase some bottles of bubbly, and continue onto our final destination.

Once we got past the traffic that comes from the outskirts of Paris and started to approach Normandy, we began to see lush grassland and rolling farmlands. Famed for its apples and cheeses, its easy to see why this area can produce some of the best Calvados and Camembert.

Our days were spent as tourists, soaking in the sights and feels of the beautiful coastline, the island monastery of Mont Saint-Michel, and many landing beaches that are dotted with museums, moving memorials, and somber cemeteries.

Summer daylight graced us until 11pm each night, keeping our toddler up late. He ran around the big garden attached to our tiny French cottage in Tracy Sur Mer for hours on end. Watching Brecken play tag, collect sticks to help grandpa start a fire, and find bugs + all the dirt was exactly what we needed. A nice vacation with no-frills, just time together. It's the simple things in life!

Travel Notes

Taittinger Champagne Cellars
A winding staircase will take you 18 meters underground to the cellars where monks used to store their wine. The temperature drops to roughly 45 degrees F in the cellars so bring a light sweater or jacket to avoid shivering throughout the tour! Our guide explained the art of champagne production, history of the caves and of their family owned company. The entire tour was really fascinating and Brecken was so in intrigued by the dark caves, he kept whispering, "oooooh cold cave!" in between licks of his lollipop. Tours for this champagne house begin at 9:45am and run once every hour until 3:45pm with no reservations required. Link to champagne site

Camembert
Because I can't get enough cheese, I insisted we take the longer route to our French cottage so we could make a stop at the tiny village of Camembert. In my mind I envisioned a grand production site and was quickly surprised to see the sleepiest place ever. Was it worth the extra hour detour? ehh, no. But, I'm glad I can now say I've been to Camembert! You can learn about the history and production of the famous fromage at the little museum, La Maison du Camembert, and visit the store across the road where they provide samples for those who paid a museum entrance fee.

Calvados
An apple brandy that is made from distilled cider and matured in oak barrels. My taste buds did not take a liking to this drink as an aperitif but I would imagine it would be quite good to use in both sweet and savory recipes. There is a 25 mile cider route to the east of Caen, marked for tourists throughout the picturesque area of Pays d' Auge.

D-Day Celebrations
There are so many events going on in the area during the week of D-day. People come from all over to celebrate the allied landings on June 6th, 1944. To make sure you don't miss out on various festivals, check out this website, Ddayfestivals, and download the event program. We divided D-day between Arromanches and Sainte Mere Eglise to watch the the paratroopers. With so many individuals dressed in authentic clothing from the 40's and driving vintage vehicles, it brought a taste of that time period to our present day. Additional sites we went to were Omaha and Utah Beach, Normandy American Cemetery, and Pointe du Hoc.

Accommodations
We stayed at Akena City Reims Bezannes for our overnight layover in Reims, France. It's a budget-friendly hotel with a great price of 70 euros a night. It was clean, the staff were friendly, and a continental breakfast buffet was offered.

With Alex's dad along for the trip, I wanted to find a small place to stay for the week so we didn't have to be in separate hotel rooms. I've also found that renting cottages, apartments, or entire homes has often been much less expensive than booking hotel rooms. Cheaper prices and more space, I'll take it! Here's a link to our rental, Tracy Sur Mer Cottage

Mont Saint-Michel
1.5 hour drive from where we were staying, we knew we had to make the drive south to see this stunning site. Most images of Mont Saint-Michel show this magical mount topped by an Abbey surrounded by water. However, the bay is subject to the largest tidal range in continental Europe which provides an ever changing seascape. It was low tide when we arrived and the place looked a little less magical when it didn't appear as an island. My main tip of advice for this location.. go left when you get to the main entrance and avoid going right towards all of the shops and restaurants. You'll have a peaceful walk up to the Abbey and avoid the crowds. Visitors must park in the designated car parking areas 1.5 miles from the island and utilize a shuttle bus or carriage ride to get closer to the island. The shuttles operate from 7:30am-midnight.

Itinerary- 7 days and 6 nights