Normandy, France - Part 3

I think I must enjoy torturing myself because I am currently a) starving, b) living off a student budget and c) in dire need of a food shop as I only have creme eggs and spaghetti in my cupboards.

I'm going to be honest - this wasn't my food.  Despite salad being the obvious choice for a boiling hot day in Rouen, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I'm on a seafood diet... I see food and I eat it. Badoom-tsh.

This wasn't mine either.  No, I went a little bit mad.

Big enough?

This is what I'm talking about, and it was all mine (needless to say, I didn't quite manage to finish it).  I know it seems silly going to France and having pizza, that well-known traditional French dish, but I like to think by ordering one with several French cheeses splodged on top, I was sampling their cuisine with a twist.

Unfortunately this photo doesn't really do these enormous meringues justice.  They were about the size of my hand, and we bought them in a bakery in Lyons-la-Forêt.  I have a major sweet tooth and also a weakness for huge meringues.  (Incidentally, the best ones I've had in the UK are from the cafe in the V&A Museum.)

This was just simple steak frites, which I happen to love. Weirdly this was fairly well-done, which I didn't expect in France!

Number one...

I worked out that I had four crème brûlées while I was in France.  As I said, I have a sweet tooth. 

Normandy, France - Part 2

We were staying relatively close to Rouen, so a few of us drove into the city for the day.  It's a really lovely place, with some gorgeous old buildings and a lot of history.

Place du Vieux Marché

This is the main market square in the centre of Rouen (where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake). There are streets leading off the square with lots of shops and restaurants, and they're all very picturesque.

Tick tock

This is the Gros Horloge astronomical clock which dates back to the 16th century.  It's situated over a shopping street and so there are always crowds of people wandering backwards trying to take a picture of it, which is a little bit awkward when you're trying to get past.  I was unfortunately one of those irritating photographers.

This is another of the narrow little streets in the city centre, with the cathedral in the background.  At the other end of this street I had an amazing ice-cream (which was much-needed thanks to the ridiculously hot weather).  I also couldn't help but get four giant macarons from one of the many sweet shops in Rouen.  Seriously, if you want macarons, Rouen is the place to go.

Rouen cathedral

Here is as full a picture as I could get of Rouen Cathedral - these pesky 13th century architects don't make things easy.  We had a look inside, which was a welcome shadowy relief from the sun, and the interior is just as stunning.

My next and final France post is dedicated solely to food, my one and only true love.

Normandy, France - Part 1

Right now I'm sitting in a freezing cold room in a student house listening to the rain and the wind battering the windows.  Understandably, I'm reminiscing about last summer, which I spent in Normandy in France.

Chateau Gaillard

Unfortunately, this was the weather on our first day there.  I had managed to convince myself that I would be leaving rainy Britain for gorgeous, sun-soaked France, and had packed accordingly.  That is how I found myself venturing out under the dark clouds in a vest top.

The view from Chateau Gaillard

The 'chateau' in question is actually a ruined mediaeval castle up on a hill, so it's not somewhere to ogle luxurious interiors and gorgeous ballrooms.  However the chateau looks down over the Seine, so it's worth going just for the view - just about, anyway.  We attempted to push a wheelchair up an immensely narrow, rocky path to get to the chateau.  Needless to say, it didn't work.

Blue sky!

Luckily the weather improved pretty soon, so we visited Lyons-la-Forêt, which is really pretty.  The photo above is of the main square which has lots of lovely half-timbered buildings and a market hall.  For such a picturesque place it wasn't at all busy or touristy either time we went there. 

Just the little cottage where we stayed... Er, no.

This is Parc de Clères, a zoo based around a 14th-century chateau, which itself was pretty stunning. The zoo part is nice because it's fairly open, with peacocks and wallabies wandering around on the grass.  Here I finally saw a peacock doing the proper tail-displaying thing, although as usual it was too late to take a picture. 

My France posts are fairly photo-heavy, so I'll spread them over several posts. Next up is Rouen!