October 18, 2023

Paris and Normandy

 EUROPE 

Paris - Heart of Normandy 

Seine River 


Day 1/2:Tues. October 10th —

⭐️TRAVEL

After spending the morning at the Cardiac Surgeon's office, 

we were cleared to fly and go to Paris!!

Wed, Oct 11thπŸ“Paris, France 

BOARD SHIP

⭐️ TOUR FRANCE - 

$12 ice cream A: praline & PB crunch D: praline 

$7 coke

After arriving to the beautiful Seine River, we boarded our cruise. Our minds were a little blown as our boat was docked right near the Eiffel Tower. 


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Day 3: Thursday, October 12th

πŸ“Paris, France

⭐️PANORAMIC PARIS:

$20 tip tour guide 

$100 north face jacket 


We spent the first few hours seeing the major sights in Paris 

  • Charles de Gaulle - Etoile
  • the Champs-Γ‰lysΓ©es, 
  • Grand Palais 
  • The Louvre Museum
  • The Hotel de Ville
  • He square Rene-Viviani
  • the Arc de Triomphe, 
  • the Palais Garnier opera house, 
  • and the Paris Town Hall. 





⭐️FLAVORS OF PARIS: 2:15-5:45pm

$10 tip 

$4 baguette + croissant

And the afternoon tastings of some of France’s sweet and savory (even sweaty & stinky) treats. 





It has been a long 3 weeks and getting on this trip has been emotional and stressful - especially for Aaron.  He was so worried about me.  He's exhausted!

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Day 4: Friday, October 13th 

πŸ“ Vernon, France

⭐️MONET FOUNDATION GIVERNY

We stopped to roam a little town called La Roche-Guyon before moving on to Vernon France. 





πŸ–Ό️ We visited Claude Monet pink house with Green shutter & of course his gardens in Giverny, France. Monet lived and painted for 43 years. Unfortunately his estate has no original Monets paintings there. 





Of course I managed to Fall down a flight of stairs before leaving AND decided to try RUM cake. Dry heaved at the table! I don’t have true friends and I Was NOT prepared for that bite!! 



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Day 5: Saturday, October 14th 

πŸ“ Rouen, France

⭐️ROUEN WALKING TOUR:

πŸ”₯


We arrived to rain πŸŒ§ in the city of Rouen but we still walked the city seeing the charming buildings, of course the Notre Dame Cathedral, the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and the gold Gros Horloge Astronomical Clock. 







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Day 6: Sunday, October 15th 

πŸ“Rouen, France

⭐️NORMANDY - All Day! 


🌊πŸͺ¦


Today was a day for the books. I am married to someone who loves history and patriotism. He was in awe of the sights today. 

It was an early morning drive to the Caen Memorial Museum, where we learned about the invasion of Normandy.

After lunch we drove to the Normandy American Cemetery that is located on a cliff over Omaha Beach, it is the final resting place of nearly 9,400 American service personnel. We had a short but very sweet service placing a wreath at the memorial. 

After we went to Omaha beach and stood where the United States, British, and Canadian forces simultaneously landed on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. 











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Day 7: Monday, October 16th 

πŸ“Les Andelys, France

⭐️CHATEAU GAILLARD WALK TOUR:

🏰


Today we leisurely walked the city of Les Andelys, France and saw the ChΓ’teau Gaillard which is a medieval castle.  








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Day 8: Tuesday, October 17th 

πŸ“Paris, France 


⭐️Today we toured the beautiful NAPOLEONS CHATEAU! I loved the textiles on the inside and the florals and black swans on the out.

🏠JosΓ©phine de Beauharnais bought the manor house in April 1799 for herself and her husband, General NapolΓ©on Bonaparte who was one of the most successful generals during frnch evolution. This was the Emperor’s Final Residence Before His Exile







🚫Due to a bomb threat we didn't get to visit the ⭐️PALACE OF VERSAILLES. Instead we roamed the Champs des Elysees.





We celebrated my 51 birthday on the last day of our trip!
It was one to remember!!


Debark / Travel home 


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