Mont St Michel

Normandy, France – August 2010

We started our trip by flying to Washington, Dulles airport to experience a new airline that is Business Class only.  Business Class on OPEN SKIES was good, certainly better than coach, but not great. The seats were wide, but not super comfortable – the foot rest didn’t extend as far and I would have liked.  The included meal was served all on one tray, no courses like traditional business class, and once the trays were picked up after dinner, the flight attendants were scarce.

Arrival at Orly was easy- through passport control, baggage pick up and customs in no time.  Finding Avis wasn’t so easy. It was in another terminal.  We decided to pay the 13 euro a day for GPS which should have been great but was terrible. Lots of U turns because it was late in giving directions and no street names.  On Monday, I bought a Garmin at a big box store- it was much better and I will rent it at the office – hopefully make up the cost.

Monet's Garden

First stop –GIVERNY- Monet’s mansion and gardens.  A bit confusing to find it, but was well worth the effort.  Monet obviously was not a struggling artist  – quite wealthy.  The grounds were beautiful and it felt like you were merging into his paintings.

I will recommend for anyone driving to take along a chart of road signs.  International signage is great, but as Americans, we didn’t recognize a lot of the signs.

HONFLEUR – our first two nights we spend at a charming and quiet little inn.  I can’t call it a B & B because breakfast wasn’t included.  It was called the Hotel Monet.  A hefty walk from the old town and harbor, and hard to find by car.

Hotel Monet-

Plus- quiet, comfortable room, small property, outside the busy part of town, basic, but very good breakfast for 9e – delivered to the room. There was an outside table which would be great if the weather was a little warmer.

Minus- lighting was poor, tub with a hand held shower.

Honfleur was a lovely town.  We spent the day walking around and took a carriage ride.  There was an old wooden church, many art galleries and lots of restaurants, especially around the quay.  Seafood was the big draw. Art had mussels which along with oysters were served everywhere.  They bring a pot of mussels, they were small but there must have been a hundred.  We learned that you can order them in a wine broth or a cream broth – both ways were great.

After breakfast on the second day (le petit dejeuner) of baggette, croissant, jam, yogurt, cheese, butter, juice and coffee or tea – we reluctantly left Honfleur.

Drove to Caen and “THE MEMORIAL” also called the Peace Museum. Very well done with a walk through history display as well as a movie about D Day with a split screen showing the German army preparing for the invasion on one side and the Allies on the other.

Continued to drive past many landing beaches – JUNO, SWORD, GOLD and on to Omaha.  Our hotel is hotel du Casino.  It was here on D-Day and Eisenhower stayed here after the war.  It is across the street from the beach and has beautiful views. It was recommended that I ask for a room on the second floor but we have a room on the 3^rd- smaller windows and more steps.  I would recommend asking for rooms 3, 4 or 5 which are on the second floor, bigger windows, less steps.

Hotel du Casino

Plus- quiet, great location, great view, good included breakfast, good lighting

Minus- not much English spoken, not many restaurants nearby, no real shower, only hand held in bathtub

Next day we went to the American cemetery.  9500+ buried there. Very moving  Shown in the beginning of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Good movie in the theater about specific soldiers with actors reading their last letters home before D-Day.  Good museum.

On to Bayeux- nice medieval town with an impressive cathedral.  We chose to skip the famous tapestry of Bayeux- their claim to fame.

9/1

Left Omaha beach after breakfast and drove to Utah beach. It was a very successful landing – museum and monuments.

Stopped next at St Mere Englese, where the Allied parachutists first liberated the town, first to be liberated in France.  One parachutist landed on the church belfry and they have a mannequin still on the roof.

Got to Mt St Michel around 3:30pm. Night tours had ended the day before for the season.  Great to be on the Mont – packed with tourists when we got there, but thinned out when the monastery closed.

Our hotel is Le Mouton Blanc (the white sheep)  Some concern because it was only a 2* hotel, but it was quite charming.

Plus- great location on the Mont – main street with a view over the street. Nice shower! Extra pillows, 90euros, very cheap for the area

Minus- up steep stairs, small room

Dinner was at a restaurant connected to our hotel CHEZ MADO which also was a hotel itself.  Best meal of the trip!  3 courses for 22euro plus ½ bottle of wine another 20euros.

Art had mussels in cream for first course – great! Leg of lamb for main course and apple pie for dessert

I had the famous Mt St Michel omelet for a first course (ok) and Farmhouse chicken for my main course – it was fantastic! Fried camerbert for third course.

Visited the monastery/abbey the next day.  To me Mt St Michel was a highlight of the trip – it was like being part of a fairy tale.  Very romantic.  St Michel is an island when then tide is high and the parking lot is covered.  When the tide goes out, the sand is like quick sand, so it was a good defense of the island.

9/3

Sadly left Mont St Michel and drove to Chartes, mostly good highway.

Had a nice lunch in Chartes and then visited the Cathedral.  The Cathedral is really wonderful, stained glass throughout.

On to Paris for the last night.  This was the worst drive of the trip.  When we got to within ½ hour of Paris, it took 2 hours because of the traffic.  Stuck with no way off and gas getting low was making us both nervous.  Finally go off, got gas and found our hotel.

From Mont St Michel to Chartres the toll road was 17 euros – from Chartres to Paris another 6 euros. Over $30 usd in tolls, very expensive.

2 nights at the Orly Holiday Inn. Very nondiscript lobby, ugly hallways, but the room was a nice change. No character but big comfy bed, nice comfortor and large bathroom. Nice shower, mini bar and for the first time ICE!

We returned the car and took a bus into Paris.  Ate a nice lunch and walked around Paris.  We hadn’t plan on spending any time in Paris, but were too close to pass a walk around one of the worlds most beautiful cities.

After the trip, I got a little surprise at home – a speeding ticket!  It came in the mail – 90euros for going 5km (about 3 miles) over the limit. BE WARNED!

“Wait… you mean buffalo mozzarella actually comes from buffaloes?”  It’s a question that has been posed to us many times during the planning, execution, and telling of our trip to Tenuta Vannulo.  I guess it makes sense that people would ask that.  Buffalo wings don’tactually come from buffaloes…

Our trip to Italy was an extremely generous undertaking on the part of the parents, so we were eager to do something to thank them and acknowledge their generosity.  Our initial thought was hiring a chef to come to the villa, but we soon realized that that was something they had already planned on.  Cari had remembered visiting Tenuta Vannulo, a buffalo mozzarella farm, as part of a tour group organized by her mom, so we decided that would be a unique and fun activity for the group.

Read more about their experiences with at the buffalo mozzarella farm here.

Roberto, one of the owners of our villa in Tuscany, prepared one of the most memorable meals we had during the entire trip. It really was our very own Big Night.
The menu:

• assorted cheeses with various jams
• marinated olives
• caprese salad

Read more about their experiences with here.

When you have 13 people travelling together, it’s sometimes hard to get everyone on the same page about activities. A cooking class, arranged by Adam’s sister and cousin, was a great way to get everyone involved in a fun evening of cooking which resulted in a fabulous meal.

We made a four course meal consisting of bruschetta, pesto pasta, balsamic chicken, and panna cotta.

Read more about their experiences with the cooking class here.

Our villa in Tuscany was located just 20 minutes from San Gimignano, a medieval walled city that is home to many restaurants, shops and a big attraction to tourists.  Thanks to Divina Cucina (and my mom for finding her website), we had already eaten our best meal of the trip in Chianti.  Who knew that later in the same day, she’d have just as good of a recommendation for dinner – one that was slightly off the beaten path and seemingly authentic?

Ristorante Dorando (website) was among the higher-end restaurants we visited on this trip, and it was interesting to experience the Italian take on fine cuisine.  So many of the places we visited were trattorias or family-friendly spots, so this provided a much different experience…

Read more about their experiences in San Gimignano here.

In a region known for its wine, it would have been a shame to not visit a vineyard. Luckily Adam’s mom was on top of researching options for every town we visited, and this vineyard was on the top of her list for a lunch stop after the Chianti Market. It proved memorable for a number of reasons.

First, we were greeted by who we can only assume was the owner and tasted some chianti. Adam obviously tasted a good bit more than I did since I’m pregnant, but the man at the vineyard teased me about it. He offered to show me photos of his wife and beautiful children, all of whom are fine after 9 months of a wine sipping mother. Needless to say, viewpoints on alcohol consumption while pregnant are different in different parts of the world! Adam purchased a bottle of 2003 Chianti Classico to remember our experience (and so I could have some later!). Meanwhile we both marvelled at the shelves marked with wine dating back to the 1940s.

Read more about their experiences at Fattoria Montagliari, click here.

We were thrilled to discover that our first villa had a wood fired pizza oven on the property. The villa’s management offered up a chef to come in and prepare pizzas for our group to celebrate a few family birthdays.

Needless to say we ate a lot of pizza on this trip, and it was never disappointing. This pizza, however, was the best. pizza. ever. Starting with a simple focaccia and moving on to at least a dozen types of pizza, we ate well that night.

Read more about their pizza night here.

Cari and I have spent the last two weeks enjoying the food and culture of Italy.  We started in the Campania region, near Sorrento, before making our way to Tuscany and an unbelievable villa near San Gimignano.  In a country known for its wine and food, it was a mouthwatering experience that we will talk about forever.  Since this blog usually centres around food, we thought we’d take you through our experiences with food – both at restaurants and back at the villa. To give the highlights their proper due, we’ll devote one post to each great experience.

Read more about their experiences at Il Pozzo here.

Our adventure to Peru started from Miami – overnighted near the airport and flew out in the morning with a connecting flight through San Jose, Costa Rica to Lima.

First time on TACA airlines and was very impressed.  One fault of the check in agent in Miami, they recommended  checking  luggage through to Cuzco (also spelled Cusco) – with a 545am flight to Cuzco the next morning it sounded like a good plan since we had  R small carry on bag with toiletries and a change of clothes. Turned out it was not a good idea.  Arriving in Cuzco the next day with no luggage, the TACA agent said you have to pick up luggage in Lima.  Luckily, it was at the hotel by mid afternoon.  Not much to say about Lima – our group did go downtown to see the churches and square, which was very nice – but hardly worth the HOURS spent in bumper to bumper traffic.  One dinner in Lima was very good.

After a very early start, flew to Cuzco, checked into our hotel and started  sightseeing.    We went to the Temple of the Sun or Koricancha (also spelled Qorikancha) and the walled fortress of Sacsayhuaman.  Lunch was at a Peruvian restaurant and I tried the Alpaca.  It was good – I would compare it to veal.  We went to a folklore dinner show that evening which was entertaining.

Cuzco is 11,400 feet above sea level, so for a couple of Hoosier flatlanders the elevation was uncomfortable.  There are altitude sickness pills, which seemed to be somewhat helpful.  Interesting, I went to the pharmacy and asked about the pills (they understood me) when I asked the price it was quite low, about $1.25 – but then they asked how many did I want, they cut the shrink wrap package and you bought individual  pills.  I also bought canned oxygen – not sure how effective it was, but Art was struggling to breathe.  The hotel had an oxygen tank and you could get 15 minutes on the tank anytime you wanted.  Since being home, I see that some higher end hotels have oxygen enriched rooms. One from our group went to a Doctor, who prescribed Gatorade to counteract the diuretic of the altitude sickness pills.  The Peruvian choice is Coca tea (or the locals chew the Coca leaves)  The tea tasted like green tea and is said to counteract the altitude, fight fatigue, and diminish hunger and thirst.  It seemed to do all of those things.  If it wasn’t for the minimal amount of COCAINE it would be a great diet drink.  The cocaine isn’t a stimulant, but it can show up in your blood stream for a random drug test.

The weather in May was about perfect – warm and sunny days and cooler nights.  It is the start of fall, and considered the best month to travel. T-shirts during the day, sweater in the evening.

The next day our excursion took us to the Sacred Valley. The Sacred Valley  is the land that extends between the towns of Pisac and Ollantaytambo. This past heart of the Inca Empire starts  10 miles outside of Cuzco, and includes  Inca ruins and beautiful views of the Andes Mountains. Flowing through the Sacred Valley is the Urubamba (Vilcanota) River, which gets pretty rough in spots as it descends through the surrounding gorges, and the different landscapes here are breathtaking  We had time to explore and shop.  We saw bricks being made for  building, side by side with sheep herding.  From the bus there were sheep, goats, cattle, chickens and llamas – some in enclosed fields and some tethered.

I felt the trip to the Sacred Valley was wonderful, but I would look for a tour that incorporated it into the trip to Machupicchu (assuming the train is not leaving from Cuzco).

The next day was Sunday and the morning was free.  Art and I took a taxi into the main square, hoping to visit a couple of the beautiful churches we had seen earlier.  The churches were not open to tourists on Sunday morning during services, so we ate breakfast overlooking the square.  After breakfast, the square seemed to be filling with people and we figured out that a parade was going to happen soon.  It was great fun to watch the dignitaries seated at a platform across from the flag-raising.  The parade started with preschool groups, each in different “uniforms” followed by grade school, high school, university, military groups and so on.  We had to be back at the hotel by noon so we didn’t stay for the whole thing, but we felt lucky to have stumbled into the celebration.  I guess they were celebrating the anniversary of the city of Cuzco.

Back at the hotel we joined the group and drove back through the Sacred Valley to the train station (or so we thought!)  A little background.   There was a train from Cuzco to Aguas Caliente – the closest town to Machupicchu.  In January there was major rains which caused mud slides, breaking the train tracks in at least 3 places.  Everyone was stranded at Aguas Caliente and Machupicchu until they could be helicoptered out.  I had been told that the train was back in service – what I wasn’t told was that it was only the last third.  So back to our excursion!  We got to the town where we thought we were catching the train and the roads were blocked by another festival so we all got out and walked.  it was further than expected and our guide started calling motorcycle cabs for us (motorcycle pulling a little hansom).  We thought we were going to miss the train, but when we got to the train station, we were put on 20 passenger vans and taken on a very harrowing ride for about 1/2 hour from that train station to the train station that was the furthest the train could get to.  Once there we boarded our train and it was a very pleasant ride.  The train had comfortable seats and even served a  snack!

The town closest to Machupicchu is Aguas Caliente (hot water)  It is obviously strictly there for the tourists.  There was a lot of damage with the mud slides and so much of the town is under construction.  The hotel we stayed at was Andina Luxury and it was very nice.  Our room had a balcony overlooking the raging river.  I’ve heard complaints on trip advisor that the river was too noisy, but I liked it!  Sure beat listening to the train go by, which was on the other side.  There are plenty of restaurants and they all seemed to have the same menu – EVERYTHING.  You could get Peruvian food, Mexican food, Italian, Pizza, salads- just about anything.  We went for a pizza.

Monday morning we were told to meet our guide outside our hotel (the group was split between a couple hotels) at 6am, so we could be in Machupicchu by sunrise.  It is a 25 minute bus ride into the park.  Luckily, Machupicchu is lower elevation than Cuzco, so it was easier to breath.  Machupicchu is amazing.  How the Inca’s got the stone into that valley is mind boggling. The name Machupicchu means “old mountain”.   I won’t give a complete history here, but it was an Incan holy place with a 4 day trail access from the major town of Cuzco.  It was not conquered by Spanish, but tribal differences between two brothers after the death of the leader (their father) led to the abandonment of the area in the mid 1500’s at the time the Spanish were carrying off anything of value.  If they knew about it, it wasn’t “paved in gold” which is what the conquistadors were interested in, so it was left alone.  The jungle retook the area and it was “lost” for hundreds of years.  In 1911 an American historian, Hiram Bingham rediscovered it – while searching with a Peruvian team that knew of its existence.  A train route was started soon after, but it took decades to complete.  In 1983 it was names a UNESCO world heritage sight. It is listed as one of  the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Machupicchu was well worth the effort of getting there.  I would do it again if the train was running from Cuzco, which is supposed to happen by this time next year.  I would like to spend more time in Peru, there are many other sights and cities to visit.  The Peruvian people we met were all warm, friendly and hardworking.  The food we had was very good. The hotels, rated 3 * were all very comfortable. We kept to bottled water to be on the safe side even in hotels and restaurants, and as much as I hate to use such an ecologically unfriendly method of getting my water, it was the only logical choice.

Please call or email me with any questions or comments-

Alison at Advance Travel
Phone: 260-486-7468
or Toll Free: 1-800-760-5446
Email: alison@advancetravelfwa.com