Mile 29: No French Connection

Ok, maybe a little, but not much unfortunately. We were in France for three days; we docked in Le Havre and then many of us headed to Paris and the surrounding the beach areas of Normandy. On the first day, I had bought a half-day trip to FeCamp and Étretat from one of my students. I thought it would be nice way to see the north coast of France, a place I may not get to return to again.

FeCamp is a small fishing town in Normandy, about 30 mins away from Le Havre, that houses the famous Bénédictine distillery. Bénédictine, a liquor developed by Dom Bernando Vincelli, is a magical elixir infused with some 27 different herbs and spices (including cloves, vanilla, orange peel, thyme, saffron, juniper, honey, etc). After the renaissance, the recipe for this liquor was lost until Alexander LeGrand rediscovered it in the 19^th century. In FeCamp, there is a Palace that serves as a distillery for the liquor and inside, tourists can see the production process and do a tasting.

We took at tour of the Palace, with its grand windows, gigantic chandeliers and gorgeous ceiling woodwork. Its many influences – Renaissance, gothic and art nouveau – were very apparent and quite beautiful. The entire place smelled like an old church filled with flowers and smoke. We walked through the small museum, saw some of the old machinery and bottles used to in the early years of Bénédictine production and then entered a small courtyard for our tasting. 

I took a sip of the liquor and felt like I swallowed a bag of brown sugar; this may be the reason so many drink it with brandy (B&B). The liquor was much sweeter than I imagined but the herbs and spices were nicely balanced so that no one element overpowered another. Overall, the distillery was nice but seemed to be a small attraction since we were not able to go into the larger museum area.

Following the distillery, we headed to the coast of Normandy to a town called Étretat. On the way, we rode up tiny streets of French homes and saw many cows in the distance. Étretat is a clear visitor destination for two reasons: the beautiful cliffs made of alabaster and the seaside beach resort feel of the place. We headed straight for the beach but the rocky shoreline (literally made of large stones!) made it very difficult to walk to the water’s edge. On the beach, we could see one of the three natural arches that have formed on this coastline. There were tons of sunbathers wearing very little clothing on these rocks. So this is where France comes to tan! We snapped some photos, gave our feet a rest and then headed back into town for a crepe lunch. My lemon crepe, which I thought would have lemon curd in it, was less than satisfactory. Still, Étretat was my favorite of all France locations.

Skipping to the third day (the 2nd will be in another post), our final one in France, I had plans to get some work done but I ran into some friends heading out to the 2^nd largest impressionist museum in Le Havre so I tagged along. I saw some really great works by Monet, Matisse, Renoir and Boudin (now my favorite!) that depicted FeCamp and Étretat! I really do enjoy impressionist art and it was a treat to see them. We followed up museum time with a serendipitous find – a cute French creperie that had the best egg and tomato crepe. We had sweet and savory ones (how can we not!) and then meandered back to the MV Explorer to make on ship time.

All in all, France did not meet my expectations but I had only spent three days there and I look forward to many more adventures in Paris someday soon. I think the word that comes to mind for France is Difficult. It was hard to speak to the locals (many who spoke English at first stated that they did not), get around the area (with loads of traffic) or even really experience the traditional cafes and atmosphere (because we lacked time). C’est la vie.