Around the World in 180 Days: September 2013

We spent just under a month in France! We had an amazing time staying in Bernay which is in the Normandy region (even though we were only there for 3 full days.) Bernay is a very old French village and Edith Piaf the famous french singer lived there for a time as well. The 3 days we were in Bernay we hired a car and drove to Mont St Michel - an amazing historical monastery that is built on an island surrounded by a village. Also the island is surrounded in spots by quicksand. We also go to visit Claude Monet's garden in Giverny which was so inspiring and beautiful to see. Also one morning we woke to find that our entire street was lined with market stalls selling fresh produce, cheese, fruit, flowers, pasteries etc. We bought bits and pieces and has a picnic feast!

After Normandy we travelled south down through france to Aix-En-Provence which is not far from the southern border. We spent one night there before we travelled to Dommartine Les Quiseaux which is about an 1hr away from Lyon. We stayed for 2 weeks in Dommartine with a french family who we worked for. They were so friendly and hospitable and made us feel right at home. We worked on there farm doing gardening and cleaning. It was fun to be around 4 dogs, 4 cats, 2 horses and a very shy donkey. Marion our host took us into Lyon 2 times which was great as we were able to explore this great historical city.

After leaving our french family we headed to Paris where we spent a week exploring and seeing the sites - The Effiel tower, the Arch de Triomphe, Versailles (Marie-Antoinettes palace), Notre Dame Catheral, The louvre, and the Seine river. Paris is a very interesting city with so much to see. One day we ventured to Mont Martre the artsy part of Paris and walked past the Sacrecur, the moulin Rouge and looked at lots of art work! We got to catch up with our friend Annelise Demol that day as well which was a lot of fun!

Paris was our last stop before we left france, but I feel from our 3 and a half weeks we spent in the country we got a good taste of french culture, begets and Epoisses cheese!