Today we went to Normandy

We had to wake up at around 5:30 in order to make it to the train station by 7 and we are sure glad we had the extra time. We pre-ordered the tickets online but had extreme difficulties getting the tickets from the Kiosk but finally got them. If you come to Paris, you will learn to hate the big yellow machines that ask you if you have an e-ticket three different ways and you have to guess which one is correct. We did make on the train with croissant in hand- is there any other breakfast item here?

Tsana who loves getting up early, at 6am in the train station. Beauty eh?

Tsana of course slept the entire way, she falls asleep on an escalator if you let her (that’s totally true); maybe she has a condition. I was able to get in 20-30 minutes of sleep out of the 2 hour ride out to Bayeux.

When we arrived in Bayeaux we were not greeted with the same amazing weather was have seen over the past week, it was miserable there. We later learned, through our guide, that they don’t refer to the weather in Bayeaux, they just say the “W” – and for good reason considering the overcast, rainy, almost-Seattle-like weather. We had to walk a few minutes to meet the group and were soon on our way.

The first major stop was Omaha Beach. I think it was a combination of being so early with the cold rain pounding down on us and the lack of desire for our tour guide’s dramaticism, but this portion of the tour was horrible. We were standing on Omaha beach while our tour guide talked and talked and talked. I couldn’t pay attention because it was freezing and the rain was soaking us and there was no reprieve at all. I know it may sound like we are babies during this really important moment, but I think in this situation the tour guide should have gave his speech in the car and offered the opportunity for the walk on the beach.

The tour lasted 8 hours and it gladly got better, both in substance and in weather. It was actually funny because during our “picnic” lunch, the guide actually pulled up to a picnic table in the pouring rain and of course, Tsana, with her big mouth, is the only one in the van that calls out “can we eat in the car?” Luckily, Roel obliged and we all ate dryly in the van. The change in weather came later and definitely changed all of our moods and we were in much better spirits by the end. I think the tour was aimed at history buffs but I think in the end we all learned a lot. The hardest part was understanding the guide – he spoke Engl-ish as he knows Dutch, German, French, and English – just imagine all those accents put together – you have no idea!

We finally made it home by 9pm and desperately wanted dinner. We let Yelp lead our way and found a highly rated restaurant in our area and decided to give it a try.

Let me explain what is in the photo: duck, duck, duck, duck - GOOSE!

Before I go into details, I ordered the Duck Plate and Tsana ordered snails and shellfish au gratin. Now the duck plate is something special, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Needless to say that the next time the waiter says “that’s very rich” in France, I will think again before ordering. The HUGE plate came with 3 types of fois gras: traditional french, peppered, and pan fried. None were as good as I hoped but the peppered was my favorite. I also had duck breast which was very good, but not spectacular. I had duck gizzard on salad which was amazing! The meat was so tender and really delicious. The last thing on the plate was a duck leg confit which was AMAZING! It just fell off the bone and was really great. I am glad I ordered this but I think I am done with Duck for awhile.

MMMM! Snails! Can’t you just imagine them scooting along the dish? SOOO GOOD

Tsana’s meal was amazing. She started off with snails with goat cheese ravioli, this alone was worthy of a meal by itself. She the had shellfish au gratin which was really good but too much food to handle in the end.

Needless to say we had to take turns rolling each other home tonight. We also decided against talking about food for the rest of the night due to our stomachs being weak from us abusing them terribly.