TR France October 2025 (Bayeux, Rouen, Paris)

Tuesday – first full day
How lovely to awaken to the sight of Notre Dame de Bayeux! I had heard the bells Monday night and was really hoping they wouldn’t keep me up all night, and they didn’t. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast and met a lovely couple who were exploring France with a car, which gave them more independence. Their children were all out of the house but they shared some stories about when their children were young and traveled with them. I could just imagine one of my children refusing to enter the Colosseum like they said a son of theirs did.

Since the cathedral wasn’t open as early as their website indicated, we walked to the statue of Rollo’s wife, Poppa (an ancestor of mine). There wasn’t a lot else to see in that park so kept walking to the Bayeux War Cemetery. The grass was very dewy and we soaked our feet. Over four thousand people are buried here. It was sad enough seeing all the graves, but reading the families’ inscriptions on many of the markers just made it all the more touching. For example, “The dearest daddy and husband in the world. We will love you forever darling.” “Treasured memories none can steal, Death a heartbreak none can heal – loving wife.” “God took him home, it was His will, but why so young, we wonder still.” After about two hours of walking and reading many of the graves’ inscriptions, we headed to The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy. Some highlights included photos of liberated French children (“thanks you American”), a child’s wooden toy from the time of the Liberation, representing a soldier from the American military police, a diorama of a bombed area in Normandy, and notices to German soldiers advising them to surrender.

I knew my husband needed to try crepes during his Norman vacation so we enjoyed delicious Norman cheeses melted onto the buckwheat gallettes, then split an apple caramel crepe for dessert (lots of apple trees in the region so apple desserts were plentiful).

We explored the cathedral next. It was a little less enjoyable because a man was cleaning with very loud equipment but I do understand that it needs to be cleaned (much louder than a vacuum cleaner and he was high up on scaffolding). We took our time looking at each stained glass panel including one with pictures from the middle ages, and one donated by Queen Elizabeth, the pipe organ, and the statues. Then we explored the crypt containing 11th century frescoes of angels playing musical instruments. On the cathedral’s exterior, we found the little house used as a lookout during the hundred years’ war. Behind the cathedral, we admired the very large Liberty Tree planted after the Revolution.

Much to my delight on our walk we found a sign saying “Rue du Louvre” so of course I had to take a picture for our oldest daughter. We spent a couple of hours that afternoon exploring the Le Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Baron Gérard . Highlights included a 1st century Domus with wall paintings and even pheasants painted above the door, recumbent statues of the Lord of Ryes and his spouse, as well as funerarie monuments.

We next visited the Lace Conservatory. Since it was so small, it did not take us very long, but the lady making lace and working at the desk visited with me for a few minutes about the history of their lace industry in Bayeux. Machines in a different city in France make lace much less expensive now but this conservatory stays open by teaching lace-making.

On our way to the Reporters’ Memorial we saw two gendarmes on horses. That was interesting especially since we don’t have mounted police at home. We walked through the memorial observing which years were especially fatal to reporters in the line of duty. By this time, it was getting later and we were ready for pizza from the same restaurant, different variety, but still enjoyable as we rested our feet. First full day of vacation!

Wednesday October 7

The train took us to Caen in the morning and we had a decent walk to Museum of Fine Arts. I enjoyed knowing enough French to buy our tickets and also tell the lady working there our ages, and thank her for thinking we could possibly be 26 or younger. My favorite painting here was by Pieter Brueghel the Younger – the Census at Bethelem. There were so many details from blue icicles, children skating, a couple butchering a cow in the painting which depicted Bethlehem set in a Brabant village. The entire museum was easy to navigate and not crowded. We spent several hours there before exploring William the Conqueror’s Castle.

We quite enjoyed our time at the castle. It was interesting that the angles change in the holes for arrows. It didn’t hurt that it was lovely and cool out and the leaves were changing to lovely golds and oranges. We saw the ruins of the Donjon and its moat. There were even sheep grazing or napping, yet we were right in the middle of a large city. The architecture, history, scenery, lack of crowds, and beautiful weather all combined to give us quite the lovely afternoon.

Next, William the Conquerors’ grave. Except before we found his grave, we stopped at the Abbey and bought tickets to the Abbey de Hommes. I felt complimented that the man asked if I wanted the explanation in French or English. Apparently my French practice paid off! They had quite a sad display regarding the bombing of Caen including how the nuns helped the orphans, and a 1744 oak board with monks’ prayer schedule and service schedule. Finally we found William the Conqueror’s grave in the Abbey de Hommes. I needed a few minutes just to sit and absorb that I was actually by his grave then before we left the Abbey I stopped again. Then we trekked on over to the Abbey de Femmes to see Queen Mathilde’s grave. They both had beautiful gothic abbeys. We walked along the river for part of our walk back to the train station and before long were back in Bayeux for the night. I joked with my husband that we weren’t really resting up to prepare for our 2 days of Overlord touring but at least we were getting used to the time change?

Thursday October 8

Overlord Omaha/Utah beach tour day

We had a misty cool morning to begin our van ride with Thierry from Overlord Tours. Our first stop, he explained the armored gun emplacements and my husband and I climbed on top. My knees weren’t happy with that decision but that was the worst thing I did for my knees all day and during our van rides I could stretch a little and I managed. Thierry pointed out the bullet holes in the gun and explained how far they could shoot. After a bit of time to explore we headed to Omaha Beach. The tide was pretty high but there was some beach exposed. Of course we figured out how to safely get down the rocks to actually be on the beach. I collected sand in my jacket pocket so that I could keep the tradition of rubbing sand from Omaha Beach in the graves at the Normandy American cemetery we would stop at next. At the cemetery, the first two graves I chose to rub sand in belonged to privates in the 101st airborne, which my grandpa was also a part of. Then I found a comrade in arms, known but to God, and several others. We had a little time to walk around but overall, this visit went pretty fast, especially compared to the hours we had at the cemetery in Bayeux. From there we went to Pointe du Hoc. Unlike the weather the rangers had, it was beautiful and sunny and even a seagull was perched on the very tip. It was hard to imagine anyone scaling those cliffs, let alone with Germans shooting them. Before we left, we climbed downstairs to the lookout.

Next stop was Saint Mere Eglise. Of course the John Steele model (hanging on the church by his parachute) caught my eye right away. My husband and I decided to explore the cathedral before eating lunch and I am glad we did because after lunch they had a funeral there and we wouldn’t have been able to. They had a large stained glass window with paratroopers on either side of Mary who is holding Jesus. Another stained glass window was dedicated “to the memory of those who have through their sacrifice liberated Ste Mere Eglise.” Even the altar had a fresh flower arrangement to American veterans. Within the city square, there was a monument to General Eisenhower and a memorial in remembrance of the 82nd and 101st airborne.

Thierry told us about the Battle for La Fiere Bridgehead and showed us pictures of how the area floods regularly though this day cows contentedly grazed. From there we visited Utah Beach and saw the Higgins Boat Monument, interestingly enough donated by people from Columbus, Nebraska, the birthplace of Andrew Jackson Higgins. I wasn’t expecting to see Nebraska mentioned anywhere during our vacation, much less on Utah Beach. Our last stop, and one of my favorites, was to Angoville Au Plain to the church that Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore, medics in the 101st, turned into an aid station on June 6, 1944, caring for 80 combatants both Americans and German and one civilian child. The church is very small and I believe they hold only Easter, Christmas, and D Day services now. The pews remain blood stained and they have memorials to Wright and Moore both inside and outside the church.

We had a full day with Thierry and the 13 fellow tourists and then wanted to find something not pizza in Bayeux. I was a little wary of going somewhere with an employee standing just outside to attract customers but after walking up and down the streets, we found a good menu with Norman apples in cider, a hamburger and fries, roast beef and potatoes, salad, and crème brulee and shared our main dishes with each other for variety. Then we had a walk back to Manoir Sainte Victoire with the Cathedral lit up in the dark. This was my first time in Europe in the fall, and the days were noticeably shorter than in April but it was fine.

Friday Oct 10 – full day with Antoine focusing on the 101st airborne

There were five of us ready to learn more about the 101st airborne from Antoine. I showed our tour mates Grandpa’s picture in uniform from WWII in the 101st airborne and also Grandma’s recent picture from her 99th birthday (“God bless her” was our tour mates’ response). Antoine said he really enjoys this tour because people usually come in with a lot of background knowledge and he asked if we had already taken the Omaha/Utah tour. First he took us to the Airborne Museum in Sainte Mere Eglise after asking if we were all OK with that substitution for Carentan. He said there wasn’t a lot to see in Carentan and he’d guide us through the museum. Highlights for me were the Rupert paratrooper to confuse the Germans (some with recordings to confuse them, and also with firecrackers), and the airplane we climbed into complete with vibrations and sounds and paratroopers ready to jump. After this we visited Marmion’s Farm and Antoine told us about not only the D-Day significant but about an older lady who hired him for a private tour but didn’t know where her dad served, but she identified him in a photo that he showed her at Marmion’s Farm. We returned the Le Fiere Bridgehead, visited a site that once held a prison camp for Nazi soldiers (built incredibly quickly, I believe he said it took four months), General Pratt Memorial, WYXZ Les Mézières, Brécourt manor (with a very nice memorial to the 101st), and finished at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.

As we got out of the van, Antoine said he had a story for us, and if we didn’t think it was good, he’d eat his hat. He then showed us a plaque on the church wall reading “From this spot, on June 6, 1944, Sergeant Joseph Beryle began his war for the liberation of Europe.” Then he told us the story of Joseph Beryle, son of German immigrants living in Michigan. He joined the parachute infantry, earning the nickname “Jumpin’ Joe” for his parachute jumps. When he jumped on D-Day, he landed on the church steeple, and was taken as a POW by German Paratroopers, where his clothing was taken from him. This led to his parents receiving a telegram informing them of his death, although it was the Nazi wearing his clothing and dog tags that had died. He was transferred among prison camps and made numerous attempts to escape, finally escaping and using an American cigarette to prove that his citizenship. He fought with the Soviets, liberated Stalag IIIC and after being wounded, he eventually came home where the priest who had officiated his funeral officiated his wedding.
Due to Antoine’s kindness, we stopped at Omaha beach at the end of the tour since one tour member regretted that during his Omaha and Utah beach day the tide was high enough that he didn’t really get to see the beach. We had 10-15 minutes there before returning to Bayeux after 5:30 p.m. And we had pizza again for supper.

Saturday October 11 – Mont St Michel

We took the shuttle van service from Hotel Churchill to Mont St Michel along with five others. Once we arrived (about an hour and a half from Bayeux), we walked to the Abbey. We would have otherwise had to wait for the shuttle bus and we wanted to enjoy the view as we approached the Abbey. It really was quite something to behold. We walked about 20 minutes to get to the abbey. I liked seeing the sheep graze and we noted the tides. The walk up to the Abbey was not oppressively crowded but not sparse either. Inside the abbey we had adequate time to explore and walk through each of the rooms but I would have to say I enjoyed the outside much more. There were enough tour groups crowding together and taking selfies to detract from my time there. We walked back to our meeting place and once we returned to Bayeux (about an hour and a half drive) we rested a little before walking back to the cemetery before dinner.
I took my time reading aloud many of the names on the grave markers. our son told me after a wreath-laying cemetery for a military section at our local cemetery that they touched each grave and said the person’s name because every person dies once physically but dies again when no one says their name again. Towards the end of our visit, I heard a rustling and learned that I startled a European rabbit in one of the shrubs. It was quite a bit larger than our cottontails.

We had the best dinner of our vacation this evening at La Rapier. I checked their website several times waiting for this date to open up for reservations then made one right away. They take limited reservations every half hour so that none of their guests have to wait much for service. The server seemed surprised that we were ready to order so quickly but we had checked their menu online. My husband had oysters from Gold Beach, I had soup with fresh vegetables and trout that had been sliced. It was cooked in front of me after my server poured hot broth on it. Each of our dishes had incredible presentation. I had mashed potatoes with beef and mushrooms, and several of the small mushrooms stood up in the mashed potatoes as if they were in the forest. My husband had pork. He had a dark chocolate dessert and I had mango. We left quite satisfied and enjoyed our walk back to the manoir in the dark.

Sunday October 12- onto Rouen

We caught the morning train to Rouen and saw three people from our Mont St Michel shuttle bus from the day before! We said good bye to the Bayeux Cathedral and of course good bye to Monsieur Bunel who had made us such delicious omelets every morning. I told him in French “we are taking the train to Rouen this morning” and he was surprised I could speak more than just a little French (well, I still can’t speak that much, but learning more French this year definitely added to my trip experience). We had an uneventful train ride to Rouen, walked to our hotel. We had a frustrating time trying to get anyone to let us in the gate and that took an hour of our Sunday, unfortunately. Then we had a very interesting visit at the Joan of Arc museum told in video presentation moving from room to room (and climbing spiral stairs- I was impressed that one man in our group could carry a baby stroller with a baby in it up all those stairs). It ended in the courtroom where Joan’s trial was held and this museum ended up being my husband’s highlight of our Rouen stay. We visited the Gros Horloge (big clock) which came with an audioguide. I think I enjoyed the views from the top more than the audioguide. We visited the Plague Cemetery including the petrified cat, and walked around Rouen looking at the half-timbered houses. Oh, and of course we visited the Cathedral! I was excited to see Rollo’s and Richard the Lionhearted’s graves (even if they’re mostly not there anymore) and looking at the facade of the cathedral, figuring out the Bible stories they illustrated.
Before dinner we looked at the equestrian statue of Napoleon and took lots of pictures for our oldest daughter. It seemed a little disrespectful that his statue makes such a good launching point for young adults skate boarding.
We had dinner reservations at Brasserie Paul. My husband had fish and I had a salad with toast and Norman cheese. My husband had his snails he had wanted so much and chocolate mousse and I had a delicious crepe with chocolate, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream.

Monday October 13

We began the day with a walk through a park then walked to the Seine River since we had a little while before the art museum opened. The river was beautiful of course, although I think we were walking in a not so great area.
We visited Joan of Arc’s church and also the cross that stands where she was burned to death. Later we saw the tower that remains of where she was held (though not the tower she was kept prisoner in).

The art museum was very nice. I was happy to see the Impressionist art, I think I enjoyed that the most although I would have liked to see the Northern European art (my favorite). They said I would need to come back after renovations. That would be nice. But I had wanted to see Monet’s Rue St Denis 30th June, 1878 and I got my wish. A few school groups had a hard time listening to their teachers’ shushing but overall it was easy to find a gallery that they hadn’t gotten to and work my way backwards at times.

We found sandwiches for lunch and looked at the cathedral more, using the Internet a bit to help us figure out what some of the facades depicted. We walked around town more, getting more pictures of the half timbered houses (I thought they were very cool). We even stumbled upon a statue of Monet, painter of the cathedral in a little grassy area.

Then I remembered that we still had the Iron works museum to visit (I thought we were really running out of things on our list; I guess we saw too much on Sunday that I thought would take more time). We easily spent 2 hours there, there was so much to see- weights, measures, keys, signs, beds, a saw for amputating limbs, and no admission charge.

We rested a bit at our hotel before our dinner reservations at In Situ. We had a good meal (I was thankful I had been practicing my French, they really didn’t speak any English) and then packed anything we could for an early train to Paris the next morning.

Tues October 14 onto Paris

We were up early enough to catch a 6-something train to Paris. It was a dark walk to the train station but we made it just in time to confirm that my tickets were OK for this train and hop on. It was dark for most of our trip and soon we were in the very crowded Gare St Lazare walking to the Metro station that it connects to. We had an easy time finding Hotel Left Bank in the St Germaine neighborhood and they were happy to keep our luggage until our room was ready.

We spent our morning at Pere Lachaise Cemetery. We had some difficulty finding several graves but Google Maps ended up helping. I unfortunately left my Pere Lachaise guide (from my RS guidebook) at the hotel but we used a pdf map as well. Our highest priorities were Chopin, Rossini, Jacques Louis David, Gericault, Denon, Heloise and Abelard. We stumbled upon Faure as well. We did visit Oscar Wilde’s grave for our oldest daughter’s sake, since she likes his writing. From there, we walked to the Metro and split ways for a few hours. My husband wanted to climb the Arc de Triomph and visit Napoleon’s Tomb, and since I had been there in April, I wanted to see a few things that I missed in April.

So I went to the Marais area to visit Anne Frank’s garden and the graft of her chestnut tree she could see from her hiding place, and then the Museum of Art and History of Judaism, really just around the corner. The man at the desk asked how many days I was staying in Paris and I said 3, we took this trip primarily to visit Normandy. He said every American visiting them says they’re visiting Normandy. I told him my grandpere was a parachutiste and he kissed his fingers and sent his love and thanks to my grandpere. The museum had very old Torahs, a Dutch illustrated book of Esther, a real Booth, paintings, photography, fabric art, gravestones, just so much. I used Google translate the whole time which was a little exhausting but very helpful. From there I visited the Deportation Martyrs memorial, so sad, and it had a few benches and a garden for people so I sat a bit. I then visited the Notre Dame Archeological Crypt and very much enjoyed that – the first ramparts in Paris (4th century), oldest Parisian hospital built in the mid 7th century, antique port, first Parisian orphanage, antique thermal baths, and all delightfully not crowded. I was planning on just walking back to our hotel from there because I was more than a little tired, but I was walking right by the church of Saint Severin and couldn’t resist stopping in for a little bit. I read names on their WWI memorial and looked the stained glass for a bit. Some I think were newer with just different colors and then others had stories or scenes.

I checked into our hotel and waited for My husband to return. He asked if we were free for the evening and I told him, no we had 6:30 Notre Dame Tower tickets and 8:30 concert at Notre Dame. We bought sandwiches to eat on our walk to Notre Dame and waited in line quite awhile for our Tower visit. The Tower visit was mostly good. The wooden double helix staircase was interesting and the view from the top of the tower (higher than the Arc de Triomph, and at night no less) was spectacular. They were still working out the details of how many people they could handle per time slot and there were just too many because at 7:30 we were still waiting inside the tower, waiting to go up the staircase. They limit how long a person can be on the top and limit how many people they let up at a time, and time all the letting people walk down vs go up the stairs because you can have people only going on direction at a time. Regardless, we made it on time to wait outside for the Gloria concert (Bach and Vivaldi). The concert was good, the Vivaldi part was better than the Bach, I think (and I overheard others saying the same on our walk back to the hotel that night) but it was all good and we were quite tired once it was all done.

Wednesday

Paris City Vision Fontainebleu and Vaux le Vicomte

We had an easy enough time getting to our meeting spot via the Metro. Fontainebleu was most interesting for their Napoleon museum and the historical aspects, in my opinion, but Vaux le Vicomte’s gardens were amazing. The gardens, the ponds, and geometry and the little forested area off to the side were delightful to walk around. The audioguide at Vaux le Vicomte told the interesting story of the man who built the chateau and neither were crowded, though there were a few school groups at Fontainebleu. Of course they both had aspects that reminded me of Versailles but definitely not crowded and I am glad I was able to visit them all. It was a long day but it wasn’t over because it was Day 1 of the Jacques Louis David exhibit at the Louvre so we visited that with My husband taking many pictures for our oldest daughter. I got My husband into the Louvre for free due to it being the first 14 days of an exhibition. There was a small Napoleon in his fuzzy robes (I really did like that one), so much information about David and the individual works in French, English, and Spanish on the walls. I kept thinking I wish our oldest daughter were here, she would have loved it so much. I gasped when I saw Brutus Returned Home After Condemning His Two Sons because we had just read about this event in Plutarch. One of my favorite paintings of Napoleon (if not my favorite), Napoleon Crossing the Saint Bernard Pass, how could we be so fortunate to see all of this in one evening? They had side by side portraits of Napoleon (nearly life sized, and one we had just seen in May at the National Gallery in DC). They had the Death of Marat but also a copy David had painted and a copy by his student. The paintings I had recently seen at the Louvre I didn’t spend as much time on, but to the ones brought to Paris just for this exhibit, I gave more attention. There was a huge Tennis Court Oath painting that he started but abandoned (apparently due to deteriorating relationships), sketches for many paintings, including for the Coronation. It was all so well put together.

Then before we left, and once my husband needed a break from taking pictures, I showed him some of the Louvre highlights while it wasn’t crowded. After being the only ones at The Winged Victory, it took us less than a minute to get to the front to see Mona Lisa. Then we saw the Madonna of the Rabbit, Napoleon’s Coronation, Michelangelo’s Slaves, and probably a few other things but we were tired and hungry and it was after 8:30 p.m. so we started walking back to our hotel looking for a place that was still open to grab something quick. Finally we found a place that was still selling desserts but my husband wanted more. So he found a gallette and I just walked to our hotel. I arranged our taxi for Friday morning with our hotel’s staff.

Thursday

We had a nice breakfast at our hotel and then walked to Notre Dame for morning mass and to light a candle for my neighbor. Some day I really will learn the Lord’s Prayer in French. It was a chillier morning but there were still young and old waiting outside for the doors to open. The priest said something about the history of Notre Dame and its restoration and then we sat for the mass. I do enjoy the regarding each other part of the service.
After this, we walked to d’Orsay. I was surprised that John Singer Sargent is largely unknown in Paris (or so their website said) but it was a great exhibit. From there, up to the 5th floor and to enjoy the impressionists. our oldest daughter and I visted d’Orsay in April but since we had timed tickets to the Orangerie, we weren’t able to linger after our tour and I felt like I had missed a lot (it was quite painful to walk right past Whistler’s Mother without stopping).
We had sandwiches for lunch and then I fell asleep for a little bit before we returned to the Louvre. With my friends of the Louvre card we got in quite quickly, we visited the David exhibit again and then found the Code of Hammurabi and the statue of Ebih-Il. our oldest daughter asked in an email how we found him. I replied “I found him..up stairs down a few stairs, hop on one foot, recite Latin backwards, twirl, climb 3 magic staircases and there he is, easy!” That’s how so many Louvre objects are to find… and unfortunately quite a few areas were closed (no northern Europe art for me).

We visited the Shoah Memorial Museum (which had been closed when I tried to visit on Monday) which now includes 2 walls full (behind glass) of identification cards and documents that the Vichy used when arresting Jews.
They had a memorial area with candles but it was unfortunate that a few teenagers were just on their phones and talking.

From there we walked back to our hotel and ventured out to find gelato for supper.

Friday

I woke up much earlier than I would have liked to and knew I wasn’t going back to sleep so just got all ready to go. We were in the lobby at 6:30 for our 6:45 taxi and he was already there waiting. He was pleased we were ready early and we had an uneventful ride to the airport and uneventful flight home with a layover in Minneapolis. By 7 p.m. or so we were exhausted but home. I was so excited to see our kids. Our son was waiting with a Walkie Talkie a couple of blocks from our house on his bike and the rest of the kids were waiting in the drive way. Our son made me a Welcome Home sign with perler beads (he designed it himself) and it was just good to be home.

I'm glad to see you mention the MAHJ and the Anne Frank mini-park -- they don't get enough mentions here in the RS Forum.

You're right that John Singer Sargent is just as important in France as he is here in the USA but it might be that a little bit of Anglo-Gallic rivalry tempts the French to downplay his work.

Naif that I was in years past, there in the Anne Frank mini park was the first place that I thought I had seen professionally homeless people in Paris; in the years since I have developed a better eye for spotting them (I'm assuming their numbers are not significantly higher now than they were then)