Halfway To Beef Tartare
Posted by ScarlettApr 27th, 2009 | No Comments
After eating bad food in Rouen, Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer, and Mont-Saint-Michel, we resorted back to eating at McDonald’s for our past few meals – I know it’s horrible for you, but at least the food is consistent! Tonight, however, we tried the restaurant at the Holiday Inn (because Paul needed Internet and our hotel’s wasn’t working), and we were happily reminded of how good French food can be! I think it’s been a week since a meal made me go “mmmm…” like this! (more…)
Crêpes in Saint Malo
Posted by ScarlettApr 26th, 2009 | No Comments
After our morning in Mont-Saint-Michel, we drove 30 km to Saint-Malo, a walled port city in the Brittany region of northwest France,. Although it’s just as touristy, the scenery is beautiful and there’s more stuff to see and do (and the shops are open on Sunday!). Sightseeing aside, if there’s one reason to come to Saint Malo, it’s for the crêpes! The dessert crêpes we had today were better than any sweets we’ve had so far, including the portugese tarts Pasties de Belem. (more…)
Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Posted by ScarlettApr 26th, 2009 | No Comments
After touring the D-Day beaches yesterday, we spent the night in Mont-Saint-Michel, a rocky tidal island just south of the beaches. We had timed out our driving schedule to overnight in Mont-Saint-Michel because I had read that it’s really pretty at night (and I must say, it did not disappoint!), but we had to stay at a rather crummy hotel about 2km off the island, on the mainland, because it’s a very touristy destination and rates on the island are through the roof. (more…)
Driving & The D-Day Beaches
Posted by ScarlettApr 25th, 2009 | 2 Comments
Today we picked up a rental car to go see the D-Day beaches, which aren’t reachable by train or bus unless you join a tour group, but it’s really expensive (like 80 euros per person). This was our first time driving in France and there’s only one way we can describe it – it’s all about the roundabout! I don’t think you can drive more than 10km without going through a roundabout. I know they”re supposed to improve the flow of traffic and reduce the number of crashes, but is it really better to have this many roundabouts? We’re not convinced… (more…)
Sushi Attempt #1
Posted by ScarlettApr 24th, 2009 | 2 Comments
Sushi is my favourite type of food and back home in Vancouver I can get great sushi at good prices, so I’ve been hesitant to try it while in Europe, but it’s been almost two months since I last had sushi so tonight we indulged my cravings and tried a sushi restaurant we found while searching for dinner. All we can say is, we wish we hadn’t bothered! (more…)
Rouen France
Posted by ScarlettApr 24th, 2009 | No Comments
Paul flew back from Edmonton yesterday and met up with me in Strasbourg, where we caught a train to Rouen, a small city in the Normandy region of France. Because of the change in travel plans, we had to take a late afternoon train and didn’t arrive till close to 9 pm. By the time we found our hotel (the Ibis Rouen City Center, which isn’t really in city center, more like 1 km out!), most places were closed so we ate at the hotel and spent the rest of the evening getting settled and mapping out our sightseeing for today, which was now the only day here before heading to the D-Day beaches tomorrow. (more…)
Baeckoffe Stew and Eau de Vie
Posted by ScarlettApr 22nd, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today, my last day in Strasbourg, I headed to an area called la Petit France, known for its half-timbered houses and cobblestone roads, to find a restaurant called Le Baeckeoffe d’Alsace. While planning this trip, I had read about two things unique to this region – Baeckoffe stew and Eau de Vie – and I had been looking forward to trying both, but somehow three days had gone by and I hadn’t managed to get either! So, when I saw an ad for this restaurant saying they have traditional Baeckoffe stew and are a winstub, it seemed like the perfect place to have both and I decided to go try it. (more…)
A Day At The Zoo and European Institutions
Posted by ScarlettApr 21st, 2009 | 1 Comment
As previously mentioned, Strasbourg is the capital of the EU, and home to the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the Human Rights Building. Although visits inside these buildings aren’t allowed, you can’t really go to Strasbourg and not check out this “European Quarter,” so I made a plan to slowly walk over to the North-West side of the city where these buildings are located today. When I asked the guy at reception how long this would take, he laughed and suggested I take a tram because it’s quite far, but there were a few things I wanted to see along the way so I decided to walk there and tram back. (more…)
Lonely Tourist
Posted by ScarlettApr 20th, 2009 | No Comments
Apart from grabbing some McDonald’s for dinner, I didn’t bother to go out yesterday so today was effectively my first day as a solo traveller. So far my conclusion is: I prefer not to be alone! Everyone needs their space now and then, but when travelling, I prefer to have someone with me! The only thing I enjoy more when Paul isn’t around is shopping, but I can’t really fit stuff into my backpack or use it for the next year or two, so I’m not really inclined to do much shopping! (more…)
Hotel Le Grillon – Ugh!
Posted by ScarlettApr 19th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Strasbourg is the capital of the European Union and home to several important institutions, such as the European Parliament. When we made our schedule, I had no idea there would be a big parliament session here this week, which made finding accommodations kind of difficult. After lots of searching (and we did this back in January!) we booked at Hotel Le Grillon, which looked decent and had ok rates. Now that I’ve arrived, I see why they were one of the few places with vacancy – this is almost as bad as Barbieri Hostel in Madrid! (more…)
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