More in Northern France

After some heavy historical sites, we decided to head to some beach towns. Honfleur was a neat stop. The town was much cooler than the windy beach. It was busy here, and I had to be really cool, calm, and collected while driving. Have you seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I when the GPS guides Tom Cruise over a mountain to meet a train? This is how I felt when Apple GPS took me on all the back roads where it was crazy to be driving. Still, it did get us to see some of the less traveled roads and I guess that was fun. . . sometimes, so we changed to Google Maps and it was a lot better.  Honfleur and Etretat were the hardest spots to drive in because they were full of tourists and I got yelled at once when I had to do a five point turn. Luckily, I hadn't the foggiest notion of what they were saying, so I finished the fifth and final turn and went on my merry way as did the motorbike and Audi that I had inconvenienced. But I digress, onto Honfleur.

Once we were there, it was a neat spot, especially all of those buildings lined up! 

This place was one of Elsie's favorites because of the double decker carousel. I must admit, it really was quite the sight to see. There is something magical about carousels, don't you think? Or is it just Elsie and me?

We got in our Ferris Wheel fix too, and the views were incredible! Afterward, we ate at a very good Galette (a buckwheat crepe that is usually filled with savory offerings and, dare I say it, better than a crepe) place in Honfleur that was probably my favorite meal in France. I spoke a little, horribly pronounced French here, which made me feel dumb and proud of myself all at the same time. Ha!

Then we were off to Etreat, a beautiful spot on the northeast coast of France. Here the boys stand at the edge of the cliffs with rock formations on the right and a golf course on the left.

We then went down to the very rocky, but smooth rocky, beach. 

And then stopped at the playground. It was fun to see the younger kiddos play with the French kiddos.

Here the older kids are, relaxing at our Airbnb, which was down this very long, very narrow road, only wide enough for one car. It was an adventure every time we went back and forth. 

This place was a fun stop and it felt like we were really living in the country. There was only one other (very grand) house on this same road so it was very secluded. We walked near the creek and picked blackberries in the afternoons. It was like the double decker carousel, magical.

 Up next, a stop at a very cheap hotel and then onto Switzerland!