Europe Trip Part 11: First day in Bayeux, Normandy

June 29, Thursday

Our goal was to check out of the hotel today by 9 AM and we did a pretty good job. I set my alarm for 6 AM and got ready for the day and did some packing. Emily got up with me and I let Jonny sleep until about 7:20 AM. I had done quite a bit of organizing last night so I wasn't too worried. By 8 AM, we all went to breakfast at Colisee Gourmet, the same bakery we went to on Tuesday morning. We came back to the hotel and finished packing, checked the rooms, left a tip, and checked out. I spent a lot of money on that hotel and I never once got a hot shower. I told them about it at the front desk but all they said was that the maintenance person tried to fix it and that they can't let the water in the shower get too hot but that was a lame excuse when the sink water was scalding hot. Anyway, I had Michael call an Uber but we were having trouble again. It always looks like they can get us a van but then it will say there are no vans available. So, we all walked to the corner with all of our suitcases. Pretty quickly, a lady taxi driver pulled up. Emily noticed her first but I didn't think it was going to work because her car was really small. However, she seemed game to fit as much as she could in there and she got four suitcases in the back, two in the front seat and one on Jonny’s lap. Michael and Emily and Jonny all went in that one and I stayed behind with the other boys. I was hoping another one would come quickly but it didn't so I tried Uber. While we were waiting for the Uber driver to be assigned, a van pulled up. The man didn't have a meter and when I said I was going to the train station and not the airport he said he couldn't take me and left. Then the next guy pulled up and he also didn't have a meter and he asked if I was going to the airport and I said no I'm going to the train station. And he kept asking me a couple more times if I was going to the airport and I said no I'm not, then I said never mind because Daniel said that the Uber driver information popped up so I went with that. Unfortunately, the Uber driver took forever. He must've been stuck in traffic or something because it said five minutes for quite a while. I was tempted to hire another taxi driver but the third one that pulled up also didn't have a meter so we just waited for the Uber. By the time I got in the Uber and called Michael, they were already at the other hotel. There was a line at the hotel so it's good that he was already there. It took us forever to get to the hotel. The time kept extending on the arrival time. By the time we got to the hotel at 10:08 AM, Michael already had the suitcases figured out. She had already stored three of them for us and we gave her the other three. She put them in a big closet that locks up and gave us the tickets and we all went on our way to the train station. It took us a minute to figure out which direction to go and it was confusing to know where the entrance was, but we figured it out. We weren't sure where to go because the number of the track wasn't even available yet but a nice German lady told us which way to go. We were pretty surprised that there was no security. We stood there waiting for them to tell us what track the train would be on. We had a little bathroom stop. It's so annoying that you always have to pay for the bathrooms even at the train station. As soon as they announced the track, it was a mad dash through the turnstiles. Luckily, I had printed off all the tickets to make it easier for us. We were easily able to find our coach and our seats and put our bags up. We had a similar configuration to what we had before. Emily and Michael sat across from me and Andrew and then Daniel and Jonny were across the aisle but on the same side. A teenage boy was across from them and eventually his friend joined them. 

It took us about two hours and 20 minutes to get to Bayeux. There was one stop in Caen and then next was Bayeux. The guy came by to check our tickets and warned us that it only stops for one minute in Bayeux so I'm so glad he told us that. We all relaxed and played on our phones and talked a little bit. It was a really nice train. At one point, when the train stopped in Caen, I tried to find the bathrooms but it was confusing because there was an arrow pointed one way and so I went looking for the bathroom and there was none but then the arrow was pointing the opposite way and there was nothing in between them so I just went back to my seat and waited until it was almost time for us to get off. We gathered our suitcases and waited in plenty of time so we could get right off the train. We had to take an elevator up to go across the tracks and then take another one down. Michael figured out where we needed to go and led us to the hotel. It wasn't that long of a walk. We passed the tapestry museum on the way and we also saw where we needed to meet tomorrow morning for our tour. Bayeux is amazing! Emily and I both agree that it's like a little fairytale town, from Beauty and the Beast or something. 

I saw a cute little candy store I wanted to stop in that I was eventually able to go into later. Then I saw another patisserie shop right next to the hotel. It was about 1:45 PM and check-in was at 2 PM so I thought they would be able to get us into our room but they said that we would have to store our luggage and come back because check-in is at 3 PM, so Hotels.com had the wrong information for both the check in and check out time, but check out doesn't matter because we're going to leave in the morning anyway. Anyway, then the guy said no just kidding, your rooms are ready and we all went to our rooms. They are so nice! They are so much more spacious than the other hotel and there was plenty of room to put our stuff and our toiletries and everything. There was a weird canvas print above our beds that's lit up in the back and it was a picture of a Jeep. We could see the cathedral from our window so that was cool. Michael and the boys were right above us. 

We got a little bit settled and we were kind of lollygagging a little bit and I didn't know what Michael was doing so we finally texted them and said we're ready to go when they came down and we all went to find some food and go to the museums. We thought about a couple cafés but because of the time we decided to go to a little quick service shop called Snack King. Michael, Daniel, and Andrew all got burgers. Jonny and Emily got fries and Nutella crêpes. Michael also got a Nutella crêpe. I got a breakfast crêpe with ham and egg and cheese and also a caramel crêpe. I have to be honest, that's the best crêpe I have ever had! 

After that, we headed over to the Cathedral. It was beautiful! I loved all the stained glass. We thought it was interesting that somebody was buried in there as recently as 2018. We also went down into the crypt. 

After that, we headed over to the Cathedral. It was beautiful! I loved all the stained glass. We thought it was interesting that somebody was buried in there as recently as 2018. We also went down into the crypt.

We took tons of pictures and then headed out to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. We bought a ticket for the Tapestry Museum and the Museum of the Battle of Normandy. The kids didn't want to get the audio guides but they were included and they said there wasn’t any printed information or anything in there so we all got them. The tapestry is numbered so it would tell us about the different scenes as we walked around. It was really interesting. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there in order to protect the tapestry.

This was the side of the poppy shop on the way to the Bayeux Tapestry museum 

The entrance of the Bayeux Tapestry museum

After that, we went to the top level and there was a lot more information. 

I had to stop and get a magnet, of course. I also got one at the Cathedral. 

The front of the poppy shop

Then we had kind of a long walk over to the Museum of the Battle of Normandy.

We passed this field on the walk over to the museum.

Michael was excited about the tanks outside but we decided to look at those afterwards. The lady who took our tickets kind of scolded us a little bit that we didn't have enough time. She said it takes two hours to go through the museum but we only had half an hour. Well, little does she know that my husband is literally a history professor so we were good. In fact, we were through that place in about 15 minutes. I really liked the big diorama. There was a ton of information and you really could've spent a long time in there, but I just wanted Michael to be able to go in there and see what he wanted. 

I got one more magnet and then we went out front and took some pictures by the tanks. 

Then we headed back toward the hotel. I wanted to go into the patisserie and the candy shop so we walked as quickly as we could because by then it was about 6:45 PM and they were going to close at 7 PM. We went to the patisserie and chose a bunch of treats that ended up being a little bit disappointing, honestly. 

Then I went to the candy store and got some caramels and almond brittle and some hard candies. Michael and the boys wanted some marshmallow treats so they got those but I didn't really like them. We came back to the hotel to eat our treats. 

I figured that was a good time to read scriptures so we read two chapters and had a prayer. Then we decided we may as well go to dinner now. I had wanted to take a break but if we did that it would be too late for dinner because a lot of the places were closing at 9 PM and it was already 8 PM. I told the kids they could choose where they wanted to go.

This is the breakfast room at our hotel.  It was so nice! 

The restaurant they wanted was an Italian place called La Fringale. They seated us inside in the back right away. 

I really wanted to try something French and I have been wanting to try the beef bourginon so I ordered it but that was a mistake. Michael and Andrew both got a pizza. They got the same kind but Michael's had egg on it and Andrew asked for it without the egg. Jonny got steak, Emily got calamari, and Daniel got some chips fish and chips. 

Daniel also regretted his decision to try something new but I thought it looked amazing and he let me try a bite and he admitted he didn't like it. I asked him to try mine and he said it was pretty good and at first, he didn't want to eat it but it worked out perfectly for us to switch. It's kind of a bummer how the waiters here never check on you. In the US, if I had said I had taken a few bites and I didn't like it they probably would've offered to bring me something else but they don't care here. They just bring you your food and then don't pay attention to you again until you wave them down to bring you the check. They're also terrible about bringing us more water. Michael said he heard that it's rude to wave down the waiters but what else are you going to do? Apparently, this particular waitress was checking Andrew out. The girl who ended up bringing us the machine to pay the bill especially checked him out. I didn't notice but Michael told me about it as we left and Andrew kind of chuckled. He admitted that she stared at him quite a bit. Michael paid the bill and we all went back to the hotel and said good night. I spent a ridiculous amount of time writing this journal entry. I need to remember to start it halfway through the day so I don't have to do the whole thing at the end.