On the road (2) – beaches, castles and chateaux COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM About This Page:

[OhToodles!]

Another great update!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Cheryl, what amazing pictures! It always strikes me how much the "real" structures in Europe look so much like the "fake" structures at the Disney parks...well, vice versa really! Thanks so much for all the wonderful pictures and stories you always provide for your trips!

I noticed what I think is a Disney connection in one of your pictures. In the left part of the plaque/map of Utah Beach is the town of Isigny. Isn't that where Walt Disney's family was from! His original family name was D'Isigny, right? I hope I'm not confusing that with something else!

Oh, I've not heard that before - anyone else?

[Dlandmom2]

Here's something from Wikipedia, which I know is not 100% reliable, but it does summarize a lot of the same information I've seen on other sites:

"Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 to Elias Disney, of Irish-Canadian descent, and Flora Call Disney, of German-American descent, in Chicago's Hermosa community area at 2156 N. Tripp Ave.[3][4] Walt Disney's ancestors had emigrated from Gowran, County Kilkenny in Ireland. Arundel Elias Disney, great-grandfather of Walt Disney, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1801 and was a descendant of Robert d'Isigny, originally of France but who travelled to England with William the Conqueror in 1066.[5]. The d'Isigny name became Anglicised as Disney and the family settled in the village now known as Norton Disney, south of the city of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire."

I guess in my original post I should've been more specific and said Isigny is where Walt's ancestors came from, not him personally, hehe.

[BeckiO5]

Wonderful update and pictures Cheryl.

[pamcarey]

Great update with so many fascinating pictures!

Also, great piece of trivia, Dlandmom2!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Here's something from Wikipedia, which I know is not 100% reliable, but it does summarize a lot of the same information I've seen on other sites:

"Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 to Elias Disney, of Irish-Canadian descent, and Flora Call Disney, of German-American descent, in Chicago's Hermosa community area at 2156 N. Tripp Ave.[3][4] Walt Disney's ancestors had emigrated from Gowran, County Kilkenny in Ireland. Arundel Elias Disney, great-grandfather of Walt Disney, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1801 and was a descendant of Robert d'Isigny, originally of France but who travelled to England with William the Conqueror in 1066.[5]. The d'Isigny name became Anglicised as Disney and the family settled in the village now known as Norton Disney, south of the city of Lincoln, in the county of Lincolnshire."

I guess in my original post I should've been more specific and said Isigny is where Walt's ancestors came from, not him personally, hehe.

That is so cool - thanks for sharing that.

[chezp]

Saturday 5 June – part seven: fun with our French dining partners....

We eventually found our way to our hotel, the Ibis in Port-en-Bessin, although we did manage to miss the huge sign for it first time around. It was literally overlooking the harbour and looked to be in a beautiful spot. I was a bit concerned when we arrived and saw that it only appeared to be rated two star, but from the minute we got inside, I really couldn’t work that one out. It seemed to be a lovely place and I have no idea what on earth it takes to get three stars here, as it felt like a three star hotel.

We dropped the luggage in our room, which was a decent size, with a lovely view out.


The carpet outside our room – a lovely touch

Then we headed down to move the car, as the Ibis has its own parking. It took some finding, as even though it’s right behind the hotel, you do have to go on quite a tour to get there. Finally we found it and unloaded some of our food.

Once in the room, there was only one thing I wanted to do (well, outside uploading photos and seeing if the free wi-fi worked, which it did... ) and that was to grab a shower. I just felt so hot and uncomfortable by now and the shower really helped to make me feel human again.

We had talked about going to see Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetery, but we decided that could wait until the morning, so instead we set out to explore Port-en-Bessin and get some dinner. We toyed with the idea of walking, but all the restaurants were on the other side of the harbour and we didn’t know how far it would be before we could cross over. Just as well we did drive, as there was no crossing until literally right by the opening to the sea, which was some way up.

We first drove up to the car park on our side, but there was no nearby parking for the harbour side, so we grabbed some photos of the various memories of World War II there, including their memorial.



From there, we backtracked and found our way to the other side of the harbour. We quickly found some parking, but it was only for 15 minutes, so we parked up there and explored the town a bit, getting some photos, before heading back to the car to move on. I didn’t fancy trying to get out of a parking ticket – or worse – in French! :



We headed back to the car park we’d started from and managed to find a nearby space this time and walked back to the other side. We’d already browsed some restaurants and found one, Fleur de Sel, that we liked the look of. Their €16.50 set menu looked fine for us, so we went for that.



For appetiser, I had the fish terrine, which was absolutely divine. Mark went for the mussels, and nice as they were, his verdict was that Belgians do them better and, having tasted one, I’d agree with that.


Mark enjoying the aroma from his mussels!


We had opted for a half bottle of rose wine from the Loire Valley – well, might as well stay local. When it arrived and I sampled it, I found it was drier than I expected, but having said that, not unpleasant either. It had a nice, fresh taste to it.

In between appetiser and main course, we got brought an amuse bouchee. I did ask in French what it was, but didn’t 100% catch the answer. I thought it had apple in it, which of course I’m allergic to, but as it was mashed up, I tried it and just made very sure that it didn’t touch my lips at all and fortunately, no allergic reaction. The reaction we had was to the sauce that it was in. It soon became apparent that it was calvados, which is Normandy’s famous cider brandy. We’d seen lots of farms on the way here advertising the stuff and, my goodness, this was potent! It tasted like neat alcohol. I can tell you that, after that, the whole meal became a lot more light hearted!


Sorry – we forgot to take a photo of it, until after we finished it...

For main course, I had the salmon with tartar sauce, which was nothing like the tartar sauce we get at him. This was much more pleasant and sweet tasting. Mark had the pork fillet. I’ll be honest, there didn’t seem to much pork when it arrived, but we both filled up on the never ending bread that turned up.



For dessert, I went for the chocolate mousse, which was beautifully light, while Mark had the crumble of the day, which he enjoyed, although it came dry without any sauce, which was a bit odd for us. As I went to photograph my dessert, Mark decided to have some fun with me and started to move the table to make it harder for me to photograph. The French guy next door to us (we were seated next to two French couples who were dining together) grabbed my dessert and started moving it for me to make it even harder, which gave Mark a great laugh. We had a few moments like that during dinner with them, which just goes to show that you don’t need to speak someone’s language to communicate with them. I personally really enjoyed seeing Mark laughing with the French, a language he has very little grasp of.



I have to say a word here about our server. I don’t think I saw her stop the whole time we were in there and we were there nearly two hours in total, as the French do not rush their meals. : We got in at 7.15 and they found us a seat, even though we didn’t have reservations. Not long after we arrived, they started putting people upstairs, and when I went outside to photograph the place, I realised that it was actually three storeys high. So much for us thinking earlier when we walked past that it looked deserted, as there weren’t many people sitting outside. By about 8.00, everyone who walked in was being told the place was full and the outside was full when we left.

The meal came to €45.50 ($54.60) in the end, plus a tip for our great server, who was always there when we needed here, which we thought was excellent value for such a superb quality meal.

Fleur du Sel

Appetiser 9½ 8½
Main course 9 9
Dessert 9 8½
Service 10 10
Atmosphere 9½ 9½
Value for money 9½ 9½

Average score: 9.29

We staggered back to the car, getting a couple more photos on the way back.

From there, it was a matter of a few hundred yards’ drive back to the hotel, where we headed to bed not long after getting back in. What a great first day we’ve enjoyed. If the rest is anywhere near as good, we’ll have an amazing time here.

Today we drove 284 miles.
The weather today was sunny and hot, with temperatures in the mid 80s.
The best thing today was seeing all the Normandy beaches and dinner.
The worst thing today was how hot it was.
Today we tried going to Rouen
And the result was it’s a city well worth seeing.
The most magical moment today was seeing all the Union flags proudly flying around the beaches of Normandy.

Next: will I ever be in a fit state to walk?

[Colexis Mom]

More great pictures! Dinner looked delicious, and your hotel room looks great!

[honeybee723]

What a great meal! It sounds like you had a wonderful time, and how nice that you were able to get along great with your neighborly table mates. Do you find it difficult to communicate with the waiters when you go to a restaurant? Or are they nice enough to work with you?

[KMB733]

Your meal looked wonderful!

[OhToodles!]

That sounded like a great dinner and a very reasonable price too!

[Principessa_di_Fata]

The food looked great! And YUMMMMMMMY on the French Bread thing! So cool! The room is really nice - looks like a 3 star to me!

Can't wait to read more!

[Russi01]

dinner looks yummy!!!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by honeybee723

What a great meal! It sounds like you had a wonderful time, and how nice that you were able to get along great with your neighborly table mates. Do you find it difficult to communicate with the waiters when you go to a restaurant? Or are they nice enough to work with you?

I have no problem communicating with them - mind you, I shouldn't, as I did study French to university entry level....

[MayraLR]

I'm finally all caught up now. Great updates! I love reading your TRs and especially seeing those wonderful pictures you take.