Day 112, 24 October 2012, Saint Lo - We have been such busy bees that today was a rest day - more so for me than James who went to check out Lee's boat and summer home. However before I took the most massive afternoon nap, we all spent an hour or two just down the road at the local Brocante. This is the shop a level or two under an antique dealer. Magical mixed boxes of glass and china abound. Furniture older than Australia and New Zealand is priced very re...

Day 111, 23 October 2012, Mont-Saint Michel Abbey - An Island that was, then wasn't and is almost an island again. This glorious location in Normandy dates to 708 when a Bishop had a vision and a sanctuary was built in honour of the Archangel Michael. By the 10th century the Benedictines (poverty + silence) settled in the Abbey and a village grew around it - in fact all the way down to the base of the rock by the 14th century. Remember - it was an island. The...

Day 110, 22 October 2012. Saint Lo - Bayeux village and Cathedral - Aromanche Beach - Batterie de Longues - American War Cemetery, Omaha Beach - Port-en-Bessin - Point D'hoc - Home! Our first full day in Normandy was quite overwhelming. To see so many places so vital in history and to the outcome of WWII in Europe was an education for me and James. We started out in Bayeux and visited the glorious Cathedral and the crypt dating back to the Romans. This gorge...

Day 109, 21 October 2012. Paris to Normandy - We left Gare Saint Lazare this morning (pictured) and experienced yet more of France's excellent public transport system. It took just 2 hours to zoom north through lush green countryside, past gorgeous stone farmhouses and into the town of Caen - population 100,000. We came to visit (and to meet for the first time) my accidental penpal and American/French 'other' dad - Lee and his gorgeous wife Annie. Having been...

Day 108, 20 October 2012, Versailles - A first trip to Paris wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Palace of Versailles. And despite it being the very end of the high season and a cold drizzly day, just us and a few 1000 other visitors made the pilgrimage. It's amazing that this huge complex is only 45 minutes on the train from central Paris and gee - we are getting so good at zipping around on the metros and trains. The utter luxury and decadence of V...