A trip to Normandy (April 27 - April 30)

With a cool spring we finally got a few days of good weather in late April and I headed off to Normandy to visit my friends Roy and Sylvia.  Roy has been working on restoring a house in the small French village of Montbray for the past several years and finally made the move from the UK at his retirement.  

Roy is a fellow motorcycle enthusiast and has three motorcycles in his garage.  Roy helped me through the French process of purchasing a motorcycle from a private owner and registering it in France.  Could not have done it without him.

Roy invited me to stay with him for the Normandy visit for which I am eternally grateful.  We visited another friend Simon who lives nearby, not retired, and is an artisan who for the past 20 years restores antiques.  He showed me his portfolio of before and after pictures and his work is fantastic.  The day I arrived at Roy’s house, we all got together in the evening and had a tasty barbeque.  Perfect ending of the day.

The previous evening we had coerced Simon to play hooky for a day and come out with us for a days ride in the country along the coast.  We headed west on our bikes with an eventual goal of reaching Mont St. Michel that through the past 1500 years has been a famous stronghold, Abby and prison.  Much history for this location can be reviewed here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel

Here is our route: View Map

We stopped for a quick picture opportunity once we reached the coast.  And here is a picture of all three of our bikes.

We arrived at low tide so boats in a channel were high and dry.

Another stop by a sea wall in a village showing Roy and Simon.

Here we are at a walled entrance to a village.  The drawbridge to the village still works. This time Roy and I get the pose.

Along the coast there are many old German compounds and bunkers where artillery was manned during World War II.  Here is one facing the ocean.  Note the gouges near the top where American shells fired from ships far off to sea, hit and skittered off the concrete.

Finally we get to the Mont St Michel area.  Still far off, I stop and take a picture of it along with another island now exposed at low tide.  

Many like to hike out to the islands at low tide and they do get wet doing this as they have to cross numerous channels still holding water.  A friend who is scoutmaster is taking some boys out here this weekend for a 10 mile hike across to the islands. 

Here we stopped on the causeway and took a closer picture of Mont St Michel.  An imposing and beautiful structure where people still live to this day.  This is a very famous visitor’s location so there are many parking lots on the mainland where you can park and walk to the island.  After you get there then you proceed to walk UP to the top.  You need to be in shape to make the journey. 

On the way back, we passed another town with part of the old town wall still standing. 

All in all, the days ride-out was very interesting.  I plan to spend a lot more time in the Normandy area in the upcoming weeks as there is much to see and explore.  Some areas still have many bunkers with guns still in place.  You can walk among them and it is very eerie.  And there is the American cemetery where thousands of Americans who lost their life in WWII rest overlooking the ocean.  A very beautiful and historic region. 

A ride to the country...

Off to the country…

On the weekend of the 24^th, the weather was still holding so we decided to take a short trip south of Paris .  I located an old church (11^th century) in a town called Gometz-le-châtel.  There used to be a medieval castle here in 1091 but it was destroyed in 1118 by King Louis VI leaving only this church.  We saw the chapel atop the main hill in the middle of the village and wound our way up a back road that would be hard pressed to allow one car up.  It looked more like a path.  I parked the bike when I could go no further.  

Here is Fran posing by the bike as we collected our thoughts on how to get to the church.  Fran returned to the US after two months in the Spring and I continued staying at the Paris apartment for another 4 months reveling in all the trips that were to come.

A path led the way up. Then up some wooden steps into the woods.   

Finally we made it to the area near the church.  Small gardens were laid out by locals near the old cemetery that adjoined the church. 

The church has recently (past 20 years), made a monument and had undergone renovation.  It is still a functioning church after almost 1000 years.

 

Near the  church is a villa that is finished in yellow ocher.  Probably the home of the priest.  

This location is only about  25 miles south of Paris and easy to get to using back roads.  It was a little chilly as you see Fran bundled up.  After the visit, we headed back to Paris for a dinner at our favorite local Thai restaurant.  

A few short rides

April 17th, 18th...

It is time to start reporting on what has happened in the past few weeks since I bought my bike.  I have gotten behind in the Blog and with cool rainy weather that has been prevalent for the past two weeks, this gives me an opportunity catch up.

Saturday, the 17^th, I got my license plate installed.  This was done at a key maker’s shop at the edge of Paris.  Strangely, at least for us in the U.S, license plates are installed at dealers and other shops that are licensed to do so.  They inserted a blank in a press and cut the letters and numbers given to me on my certificate.  All in all it took 10 minutes and cost me 29 euro.  Got this done before noon and when I got back, Fran and I drove out to the eastern part of Paris, actually just outside the city limit to an area near Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes woods) in an area called Parc Floral de Paris.  It is a beautiful park  with lots of areas and pavilions where different flowers and plants are maintained.  We had a nice walk and enjoyed the beautiful day and sun.












On the 18^th, we drove to a lake in Bois de Vincennes and had a picnic.  Lovely setting along the lake and many were out on row boats.  It is very easy to pack all we need on the Honda NT700 (Deauville).

We set out blanket by the lake had our lunch and read our books.