Sunday Morning in Rouen

Rouen, a small city located in the Normandy region of France, felt almost like a step back in time. We took our trip there on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning, and were absolutely charmed.

The town is small enough that, for our purposes, one morning there was enough to hit the sights. It's a perfect place to observe the half-timbered architectural style that the region is known for.

We started with a trip to a small coffee shop, followed by a quick tour of the highlights. Going to a French city on a Sunday, particularly up in the northern part of France, means that many of the shops will be closed. However, most restaurants will be open, and Rouen was also bustling with the town market, with stalls filled with everything you can imagine, from Camembert cheese to specialty wines and honey.

One of the things Rouen is most well-known for is We took a quick peek into the Eglise Jeanne d'arc (The Church of Joan of Arc). The stained glass windows were so detailed. It was hard to tear your eyes away, or even to know where to look. This church is one of the most modern that I have been into while in France, built in the 1970s.

We walked under The Tour de Gros Horloge (The Great Clocktower)

The Cathedrale Notre-Dame was exquisite both outside and in. The gothic style, with its intricate details and skeletal-like structure was my favorite thing we saw in Rouen. It strongly contrasts the modern church of Eglise Jeanne d'arc. It's always interesting to compare the differences and similarities between the various cathedrals and churches in each French town.  These buildings, though today often associated with past grandeur and history, also used to be at the very heart and center of life.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame

Rouen was a wonderful place for a quick visit. Tons of history, delicious food, beautiful architecture, and a different atmosphere from the hustle and bustle of Paris.

Toulouse: La Ville en Rose

Toulouse, la ville en rose... this charming city has been one of my favorites in France so far! While bustling, it is several levels calmer than the streets of Paris. Located down south, it's slightly warmer too, and the brown and pink buildings (which give Toulouse its nickname) add to that feeling of warmth. It very French but with Spanish culture mixed in.

 Luckily, I have a wonderful friend who grew up in Toulouse, and she was an amazing guide during my few days there!

 Our first day we toured the city center, taking in the shops, the Christmas market, and a local tea salon. I was already in love!

One of the things I really enjoyed about Toulouse was the variety of cute, kitchy, local shops filled with all sorts of beautiful bits and bobs. I got more Christmas shopping done there than in Paris! 

Le Capitol (The Town Hall) was lit up for the Holidays 

I loved the lights at the Christmas market

Day 2: The second day we made our way to a few of the more touristy cites. It was great being able to walk absolutely everywhere. We took a quick trip inside of the Couvent de Jacobins, looked at St. Sernin and Le Capitol from the outside, and then had dinner with some of Emma's French friends. We walked everywhere. Toulouse is a relatively small city, though there is a metro line if you are looking to get across quickly from one side to the other.

Inside the Couvent des Jacobins 

 One of my favorite photos. 

The Japanese Garden 

The Garonne runs through the center of Toulouse much like La Seine does in Paris. Even in December there were plenty of people still sitting along the sides of the banks enjoying lunch and a bottle of wine. 

I've developed a love for flower shops. 

Day 3:

My third day in Toulouse coincided with one of the protests by the Gilet Jeunes, so we weren't entirely sure how the day would be disrupted.

After a lay in, a pleasant stroll through the Jardin des Plantes and a quick burger and pastry for lunch, we walked across the river, away from the city center and towards the other side of Toulouse to one of the art galleries where they were having a Christmas market. The gallery was quite unique,  and the exhibits were certainly modern. However, while we were there, we started hearing whispers about the protest beginning, so we made our way back to Emma's apartment, and took the metro to meet her parents slightly outside of Toulouse.

Side-note on the Gilet Jeunes, being in Paris and then in Toulouse, I have been lucky enough not to have been too directly impacted by their protests. If something similar happens to you in France, or anywhere for that matter, just be smart about it. Try to be aware of your surroundings, and if you're concerned or feel unsafe, it's okay to have a quiet day at home.. or maybe check out something away from the city center or government buildings, that's usually where protests take place.

Emma's family home was incredibly charming. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet her parents and spend time with them. It was good French practice for me too, though there was a hiccup with my French when I mixed up the words for snow and clouds. I ended up asking whether there were clouds in the sky (as it was currently raining) while I was trying to ask if it ever snowed. They made me feel like part of the family - I even got to help put up all of the Christmas decorations! Each meal they cooked something traditionally French. It was amazing, and such a treat. Honestly my friends and their families have been incredibly welcoming to me the past few months. I hope one day I can return the favor!

Day 4: My last day down South, we took a short drive to the Medieval castle of Carcasonne. It was like stepping back in time. They were even having a special festival for the holidays that included people dressing up and re-enacting medieval jousts and the like. We toured the castle and the winding streets of the town. If you have access to a car its certainly a great day trip!

Some views from inside the castle 

My proudest moment was being able to understand when someone explained to me that they used to throw pots of hot oil from the top of the castle walls to the invaders below. 

The people there in character were really into their roles! 

Toulouse was incredible, and I hope you'll be able to make your way down there one day! One of my favorite places I've had the opportunity to visit so far. If you buy your train tickets early, they can be  as little as 15 euros each way. My train tickets were actually cheaper than bus tickets! Toulouse seems beautiful anytime of year.  Make sure if you while you're there that if you want a pain au chocolat  you call it a chocolattine instead!

City Break in Amsterdam

My friend Mayra and I had our "spring break" right at the end of February, and so decided to take a quick city break to the beautiful city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Luckily, spring seems to have come super early this year, and we were treated to warm days and gorgeous weather the whole trip!

The first thing we did once we left the train station was take a picturesque walk along the Damtrak and grab lunch at a cute little cafe called Piqniq. Their menu was unique in that all of their portions were super small, and the idea was that you chose two or three little things, so that you could have a taste of each! We also had a delicious juice to go with. I had a salmon sandwich and a chicken curry quiche! It was delicious, and an excellent start to the trip.

We spent the afternoon walking through the narrow streets, almost getting run over by bicycles too many times to count. They seem to have the right of way in Amsterdam, rather than pedestrians. However, there were hardly any cars driving around the city compared to Paris! And the streets were much calmer. It was certainly a nice change.

In the early evening, we visited the Anne Frank House. It's something I have always wanted to do, and as soon as we decided to take a trip to Amsterdam, I bought tickets for the two of us online. If you can book ahead, you should. I've heard many stories from friends about having to wait in line for hours to get a ticket on the day.

The museum and the house itself was very thought-provoking. It is difficult to believe that in a city that is so calm, so beautiful and so friendly, atrocities such as what happened to Anne Frank and her family occurred just behind one of the beautiful houses along the canal. Once we left the house, we sat out on a bench outside to reflect, and we heard one of the church bells ringing, announcing the hour. We wondered if Anne Frank had heard the same bell when she was in hiding all those years ago. It's still difficult to comprehend that humanity allowed something such as the Holocaust to occur.  With the way things are going today, it makes me fearful that something similar could even happen again in the future.


Moving on to a lighter note...

Dinner was a huge delicious Indian meal. Then we then headed back to our hostel, where we had planned to chill for a bit and then go out for a drink in the city. However, we ended up spending the evening playing games with some of the other hostel visitors.

The next morning, after maybe 3 collective hours of sleep (thanks to some shockingly loud snoring), we walked over to the Bloemenmarkt, or the flower market, where we were regaled with hundreds of colorful, beautiful flowers.

Then, we walked to about three different cheese shops, and The Amsterdam Cheese Museum. We were able to try  at least 20 different types of cheese, mostly variations of Dutch Gouda, and also some goat's cheese.  My favorite was definitely the truffle flavored one, although there was also a lavender flavored goat's cheese that I found surprisingly delicious.

These flavors were all amazing. 

We had lunch up at the chic cafe Blue Amsterdam, and were treated to some delicious fresh lemonade and views looking down upon the city.

The rest of our time was spent wandering the streets and along the canal again, drinking coffee and soaking up some sunshine. Amsterdam was so peaceful, and felt like a break from the hustle and bustle of Paris. It's also a friendly place for any English speaker. I already can't wait to go back again!

Useful information

Train and bus tickets were fairly inexpensive, the difference between them being that the train was about a 3.5 hours journey, and the bus about 7 hours. We decided to pay a little more for less travel time.

We felt like two days was the perfect amount of time to see what we really wanted, but there's definitely more left to explore!

We stayed in The Flying Pig hostel right downtown. It was a short and easy walk from the train station, and the staff and the other hostel-stayers were incredibly nice and friendly. However, I probably had my worst night of sleep ever here. Next time, I'm definitely bringing ear plugs! It's great for the location though, and definitely a good hostel if you want to spend time meeting other travelers.

A Seaside Escape, Étretat

As soon as I realized what Étretat was, I knew I had to make my way there this semester. You know those stock photos they have for the background of your laptop? The cliffs of Étretat are one of those images, and they are as breathtaking in person as they are on your computer.

Étretat is located along the coast of the Normandy region of France. It’s a quiet and beautiful region, known especially for its delicious, savory, creamy cuisine. Unfortunately, our tour bus hit some traffic, so we only had about 2 hours available to explore. I wish we’d had the whole day to hike and look around. However, from what I saw, Étretat is a sweet and charming sea-side village with lots of great places to eat and shop.

We had been in Paris the last few months, so we ran to the hills, as they say - quickly making our way to the beach and sitting down to enjoy breathing in the sea air. The sound of the waves, the soft crush of the pebbly sand under our shoes, the squawks of the birds – they made a wonderful change to the hustle and bustle of the city. I think our little group exhaled many collective sighs of relief, it was nice to take a break.

We made our way to the tops of the cliffs. The trail was just next to the beach, past the remains of German bunkers from their “Atlantic Wall” in the Second World War. 

It felt like the gorgeous views would never end. Each time we made our way over one cliff, the next one looked just as amazing.

It’s a bit difficult to get to Étretat if you don’t have a car. There is no direct train from Paris. We took a tour bus through We Discover Paris. Although there were some issues with the timing, overall the trip was well priced, and we were able to explore Étretat and another city, Rouen, in one day.

There’s much more for me to explore in Étretat, and I can’t wait to go back. If the views were spectacular in cloudy weather,  I can’t wait to see them on a sunny day!