After the beautiful tour in the Loire Valley last year, four MRCers drove to Paris this year to take part in the tour to Brittany & Normandy.
This year, too, the focus was not on rowing, but rather on French culture. We had a lot of fun again in the international group (tour guide by rowers of the Société Nautique du Perreux (SNP) / France; Participants from the USA, Germany, Norway and Canada).
On the way from Paris to the coast, there were already first cultural highlights: the ‘petite Venice’ Bonneval, a small medieval town with canals, and the Chateaux de Fougères, a medieval castle in Brittany.
An overnight stay in a 15th-century manor house in the countryside and dinner in the old hall were unique experiences – beer and cider in the sunny courtyard on arrival, the dining table in the somewhat dusty hall in the evening magnificently covered with small knife banks.
Another highlight were the port town of Saint Malo, a trip there in coastal boats and the fresh oysters in the evening in the old town. One of the French tour guides was a winemaker himself and provided us with a good selection of wines in the restaurants during the trip.
This was followed by a visit to Mont Saint-Michel. Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in France. It includes the rocky island of Mont Saint-Michel with the abbey of the same name and the surrounding bay in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.
In Normandy we lived directly on the coast in Luc sur Mer with a view of the sea. Here, too, we enjoyed the French cuisine: among others sea snails (bulots) with mayonnaise, flaming lobsters and later Calvados.
This was followed by a visit to the impressive memorial/museum in Caen. The Mémorial de Caen documents Operation Neptune with the landing of the Allies on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) in Normandy and the subsequent struggles for the liberation of Normandy from the German occupation, and embeds this in the European history of the 20th century. The museum is built on an old Nazi command bunker, which was also on display.
The rowing on the canal in Caen to the famous Pegasus Bridge was unfortunately cancelled due to the strong wind, but we then visited the bridge from land. Since the D-day sewed there were many veterans on the way. On the coast, historic warplanes flew over the beach in the evening.
On the way back to Paris, we visited Claude Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, a place of inspiration for the painter's famous water lilies.
We also had a nice rowing trip on the Seine and finally stopped in Versailles for a visit to the castle.
A thousand thanks to the organizers and the nice group who made the trip a very special experience.
Constance of Steinheimer-Breitkreutz
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