Route
We had 16 days for this autotravel. Of the four people, only one spoke French.
What they wanted to see: Paris – Upper Normandy – Brittany – Lower Normandy – Provence region.
We built a route for almost a week. They chose places by poking, and literally they poked randomly on Google Maps and took their breath away: seriously, everywhere you look, there will be something beautiful everywhere: either a mill, then a picturesque field, then rocks, then a gorge, or a farm.As a result, we spent a week in the north and a week in the south – but without a lazy beach holiday. The main refuge in the south we chose Marseille – it is convenient to get to nearby cities from it.
Transport
We flew to Paris from Kiev with a transfer in Frankfurt, and back – from Marseille to Kiev. About € 170 per person for a round-trip flight.
For the north of France, they decided to rent a car. This is the best option to see a lot and not depend on anyone. Important: it is better to rent a car on the outskirts of Paris. We took it at Lyonsky train station – and this was a fatal mistake: Parisian traffic jams and poor terrain orientation led to the fact that we missed the train on the way back, and we had to buy new tickets to Marseilles at an exorbitant price.
After traveling by car in the north, we headed south: as mentioned above, we arrived by train from Paris to Marseille. If you take tickets in advance, will cost € 15 per person. Trains are fast and comfortable – you can travel the whole country in three hours. Further along Provence we also traveled by train.
Weather
Before the trip, we heard about the changeable weather in the region. We were told: get ready not to see the sun for days, it will rain, slush and cold. But either luck or Normandy took pity on us – we never got caught in the rain, and in Lower Normandy we even had to put on light things. Even managed to burn out in the first days. But in general, it is better to bring clothes for all occasions, even in the summer it is cool.
Paris
The first three days we went to Paris. It seems better not to come up with a first acquaintance with France. For the first time to see the Seine, along which the rest of the trip will run, Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower – no matter how poppy it is, but when the lights come on in the evening, you quickly wipe away the tears of admiration so that no one witnesses your sentimentality. And yes, if you decide to sit on the Champ de Mars – be extremely attentive (s): pickpockets here are on the alert.
In Paris, we rode the subway and took Lime electric scooters. Download the application and look for them around the city. We came out at € 8 per person per hour. In general, in Paris, a lot of people ride scooters, even more often than bicycles.
North of france
On the fourth day, we rented a car and set off to explore Normandy. There were no expectations, but as soon as we broke out of the Paris traffic jam and drove several tens of kilometers along the highway, completely different views opened in the windows. Fields with flowers, a soft blue sky – it seems that you are getting from Paris directly to the canvas of the French impressionist. It is no coincidence that Giverny became our first destination. This village is an hour’s drive from Paris, where Claude Monet lived, worked and died. It was here that his famous water lilies and not only were written. The artist created the lily pond near his house himself, and Matisse, Renoir and Cezanne helped him in this, who often looked at Monet for a visit. To see these pond and house you have to pay € 16.
The next stop is Les Andelys – a small but very picturesque village with a touch of the Middle Ages. Here, near the ruins of the Chateau-Gaillard, in the castle once erected by Richard the Lionheart, we settled for a picnic and first tasted Norman cider – and it is very tasty! Cider, local L’Evec cheese, a view of the Seine and its banks, lavishly dotted with greens – this is how our French road trip began.
Then we were waited by Rouen – one of the largest cities in the region, its historical capital. It seemed that we had fooled time and found ourselves somewhere in the 16th century: old half-timbered houses, stone, Norman Gothic in the guise of Notre Dame, which impresses even more than its Parisian brother. And another sad fact: it was here on the market square that Jeanne Dark was burnt.
In Rouen, it is very pleasant to spend time: there are croissants with coffee, walking along churches and abbeys. And in the evening we looked into the Peruvian restaurant Yugo , which then just opened and worked in test mode. I recommend that all lovers of ceviche go there.
The next day we went to Etretat. And on the way we still dropped into the village of Notre-Dame-de-Bliquetuyt – this is exactly the case when you see something beautiful along the way, but unplanned by the route. The silence was diluted with distant children’s voices, beauty and peace reigned around. Picnic tables seemed to be waiting specifically for us, the old mill, the bulls and the poppy field strewn with a cloudy sky – perfect! We took baguette, cheese and cider – and enjoyed the beauty. This was the second day in Normandy, and it was still difficult to get used to these species: it seemed as if everything was fake, as if it did not happen. Further Etretat is probably the most popular city in the region. Here they complain about the abundance of tourists, but when we arrived, the city seemed to have died out. What can we say about the slopes over the English Channel – we were lucky because the rain had just ended, there was only a gentle wind. And only we admired the picturesque rocks, no crowds of tourists were noticed.
