France Top Ten

France was super fun. Paris was full of interesting things and outside of Paris was absolutely stunning. Here is a list of the top ten favorite/most memorable things from our trip.

1. The Food (duh). I quickly grew accustomed to the healthy, rich (but not too sweet) and delicious food we regularly consumed. There were a few awkward food moments; first when Megan mistakenly ordered tripe (cow intestine) and escargot. Or, just after Megan finished extolling on the virtues of green salad, she found a larva crawling on her lettuce.

[caption id="attachment_1741" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Breakfast at the Chateau de Villiers[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1751" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Can you spot the larva from Megan's salad?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1754" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Megan in heaven at a fromagerie (we picked up some cheeses for Tate).[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Megan contemplates eating escargot (but didn't)[/caption]

2. Château de Villiers: This was such a quaint, charming, place to stay.

[caption id="attachment_1745" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This is the quaint Chateau we stayed at.[/caption]

3. Etreta: If I'm not mistaken, this means elephant in French, because these arches resember elephant trunks.



[caption id="attachment_1752" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Funny enough, here is Megan looking at an impressionist painting of Etretat[/caption]

4. Hanging with the Roberts: Not only did they allow us to crash their trip, they were super fun to hang out with. They are some of our favorite people.




5. Mont Saint-Michel: regardless of how touristy it is, it is amazing.




6. Biking in Paris: while slightly dangerous, it was fun to rove all over the city.



7. Abbaye de Jumièges: These abby ruin are called the most beautiful ruins in France. I think I agree.


8. Pont Du Hoc: of all the Normandy stops, this was my favorite. It was so humbling to read about the courage and sacrifice that took place here.


9. Luxembourg Garden: I loved hanging out in this garden and watching the Parisians being Parisians.




10. French Oddities: Weird Signs, Weird toilets, and weirdly labeled food.

[caption id="attachment_1755" align="aligncenter" width="225"] I believe this means "sour patch kids"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1753" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Still not sure if I can go #2 in here or not[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1750" align="aligncenter" width="300"] took me a minute, but apparently if you pee, they'll upload the video of it to youtube[/caption]

11. (bonus) Driving in France: While I did like that the French adhere strictly to the 'passing lane is for passing' practice, there were a few stessful moments like when we drove into a toll booth line that only accepted coins (and we didn't have any). But by far, the worst moment was attempting to return the car back to the rental stop before 6 PM, and having to drive around then Arc de Triumph in rush hour traffic (insane!).