Evreux

So it is no secret that Natali LOVES France. It might be the Eiffel Tower, the romantic feel to the city, or maybe just the language that she loves. She was so happy on our trip from London to Paris because she loves being in France. As much as she loves Paris, she actually loves Evreux even more. She loves the cute, charming town with all of the people in it. She loves just going to the store and buying things in French. She loves walking on the streets with a baguette in each hand. She loves the guy at the Kebab place that still remember her even after 5 years of being away. And she may be the only one in the world that would rather shop in Evreux than in Paris.
We were able to stay in Evreux with the Lemarchands from Thursday evening until Tuesday morning early. During that time we went to the beach, visited a castle, saw the "sluice gates," and just lounged around with the kids. It was super fun to stay with the Lemarchands and see their family. It can get a little crazy around the house with the kids but they also make life very entertaining.
It may not be as popular to go to small towns in France, but we highly recommend that if you travel to France you get out of the touristy Paris for a part of your trip. Parisians are known for being rude and not liking american tourists very much. We have had some experiences in Paris that prove this to be true at times. Leaving the tourist areas gives you the chance to see and feel what a day in the life of a real French person might feel like. Normandy is a beautiful place with many small towns. Renting a car in Paris would be the best way to see the beautiful Normandy countryside. Evreux holds a special place for us but we would also recommend visiting Honfleur, Deauville, Treauville, and Etretat (although these are towns we have visited, each French town is unique and charming so just go wherever you want).
Things we would recommend doing in the small towns; Walk down the cobblestone streets in the morning and buy a freshly-baked baguette at the Boulangerie. While you are there, try an eclair or any other pastry and you will not be disappointed. Do something "normal" like go to the store and browse around or buy something while talking (or try to communicate in any way possible like me ;) to the locals. Find a quiet place like a park, the ocean, or by a river and just relax or read. Walk down the streets and admire the French architecture on the houses. We also have enjoyed seeing a movie in French at the local cinema. And if you really want to feel French and have some spare time, go to a cafe anywhere and just get a drink at one of the outside tables and sit and talk for hours. We are not very good at this because we usually have a full meal with drinks, taking as long as we can and we are usually there for about an hour. The French can sit for 3 or more hours at a table with a friend or two so when you get a table, there is no expectation to hurry (Note: Many cafes close for a couple hours in the middle of the day after lunch and many are closed on Mondays so be aware of this when making plans to go out in small towns).
Well we did exactly that during our stay in Evreux and it was just what we needed. We went to the beach by Honfleur one day with Thomas, Audrey, Ines, and Julien. Julien and I had a fun time playing on the beach. We played soccer for a bit and then tried our hand at badminton. Thomas and Ines joined us later.

Natali and Audrey sat on the beach and watched while the rest of us played. Natali was also able to relax and read some of her book while at the beach.

We got to visit a unique castle in Martainville. It was a brick castle and had a lot of history around it. We brought our Gorillapod (LINK) so we were able to take some pictures of the whole family. Clemence was in Paris where she attends ballerina school for the first part of our stay there but was able to go on this trip with us (We were going to go swimming in a lake so we wore our swimming suits).

I learned on this trip what a sluice gate was and we went to go see one. There is a dam to create electricity about an hour from Evreux. The water on one side of the dam is higher than the other side. The sluice gate makes it possible for boats to travel up or down the river by having a section they can lower or raise the water level. We didn't see any boats go in it but it was cool nonetheless.

It was really cool and while others were checking out the scenery and the water, the engineer in me looked at all the structural elements that I am sure other people missed (like the driven sheet piles that are probably anchored back to a massive piece of concrete).

Natali was able to read quite a bit while in Evreux and on our little day trips. She hasn't had a lot of time lately to just sit and read so she loved the time in Evreux being able to read.

There were other highlights to our stay as well: Natali and Clemence eating a chocolate eclair.

The "stairs of death" we had to climb to get up and down to our room. The very upstairs of the Lemarchands house is a work in progress and these are the stairs up to the room we stayed in. The room was really nice but the way up was a little scary and narrow.

Eating Confit de Canard. Natali couldn't believe that the food she LOVES and craves so much comes from a can. Hopefully we can bring some back to the states when we go back.

And of course, the crazy kids.

Posted with Blogsy