Last summer, my wife, nine-month-old son, and I spent 17 days in France. Instead of visiting Paris or Provence, we decided to spend our time in Northwest France, specifically the Loire Valley, Brittany, and Normandy. I studied French in high school, and had always wanted to see the Chateaus of the Loire Valley, the village of Mont Saint-Michel, and the D-Day beaches at Normandy. It was a spectacular trip. Here are some thoughts.
The Loire Valley may be the most underrated destination of Western Europe. Who do you know that’s been there? The Loire Valley is overlooked in favor of the more famous French destinations, but it is incredible. There are dozens of Chateaus big and small that can be visited, scores of postcard-worthy towns and small cities, and god knows how many villages right out of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a sensational place that I urge anyone who loves Europe to visit. The largest city in the Loire Valley, Tours, is less than a two-hour train ride from Paris.
The upshot of this was that although there is a good amount of tourists in the Loire Valley, almost all are French. It was refreshing to be walking the streets of beautiful European cities and rarely hear an American accent, or for that matter, any foreign language. The Loire Valley is well-known among the French, so don’t visit expecting to have attractions to yourself. Instead, expect moderately crowded destinations filled with French families.
Mont Saint-Michel was stunning. I’ve wanted to visit since I first saw a photo in my French 1 book, and it did not disappoint. A special place that I’ll never forget:
In contrast to the Loire Valley and Brittany, Normandy and the town of Bayeux were packed with Americans. It was exciting to see so many people interested in history. I found the Normandy beaches and war cemeteries to be deeply meaningful. I was surprised to see German graves in the British cemetery - how did that come about? The town of Bayeux and especially the cathedral were magnificent:
This trip was the first time I had ever rented a car in Europe. It took some getting used to. French roads may not be as narrow or terrifying as their English counterparts, and they have the good sense to drive on the right, but it was still intimidating as an American driver. The French have some truly bizarre driving rules and customs, notably the “priorité à droite”, or yield to the right rule. Unless otherwise marked, traffic coming from the right has priority. So if you’re approaching a T-intersection on the through road, and another car is approaching the T-intersection on the road that dead ends from the right, the car that’s going straight has to stop and let the other car proceed with their left or right turn. This also means that at roundabouts, cars in the roundabout have to give way to cars entering the roundabout. This makes no sense. To make it even more confusing, priorité à droite may be the default, but in reality, it rarely applies. Over 90% of the intersections I saw had signage indicating that priorité à droite did not apply. To sum up, there is a senseless French driving rule that could result in a serious accident if disregarded, but over 90% of the time there is an additional rule canceling the senseless rule. It seems to me it would be better to just get rid of the rule entirely.
Speed limits are also taken very seriously. There are automatic speed cameras all over France. Not just on main roads either, you’ll see them from highways to rural streets in the middle of nowhere. The general rule is that a ticket is given for anyone driving six km/h over the speed limit. That’s less than 4 mph. The fine can exceed over €100, so it’s not to be trifled with. It also means that unlike America, speed limits in France are true limits. It took a lot of time to get used to seeing 80 km/h as a maximum, rather than a general guideline.
I can’t believe I spent over two weeks in Europe and never got on a single train or bus. I tried convince my wife we should train around the Loire Valley for a day as a “When in Rome” thing, but that was quickly shot down. Once you have a car, you realize how much more convenient it is to not worry about train schedules or luggage constraints. Now having tasted the forbidden fruit of travel by car in Europe it will be hard to go back, at least outside of the major cities.
Although we were fortunate to not be adversely affected by any protests while traveling, we did see some minor acts of civil disobedience the French are so famous for. Those ubiquitous automatic speed cameras would occasionally be wrapped in webbing. My personal favorite is the ongoing farmer’s protest the includes turning road signs upside down. It’s an odd thing but kind of hilarious.
The opening hours for many stores are beyond parody. Some would have a literal three hour lunch break and be closed all day Sunday and Monday. Hours would sometimes be 10AM-12PM; 3PM-8PM, Tuesday through Saturday. And they stuck to it - by 11:50AM they would already be closing down for their three hour lunch. Walking around smaller towns on Sundays were surreal. If you ever need to film a zombie movie or dream sequence where the character is walking around an entirely empty civilization, France on a Sunday would be a breeze!
We were in France during their snap legislative election called for by President Emmanuel Macron. The predominant narrative was whether the far-right National Rally party would take a majority of seats in the French National Assembly for the first time. The general sense of the French I talked to was one of disheartenment. The French had to decide whether to vote for a center-right party that’s perceived to be out of touch and in the pocket of elites, a socialist group whose last turn at power was most notable for it’s breathtaking unpopularity, and the far-right party that is popular in rural areas but hated by most others. Sound familiar?
Overall, I found the locals difficult to decipher. I didn’t have many opportunities to talk to locals, the main limitation being my horrendous French that I haven’t used in over 15 years. I’ve never agreed with the stereotype that the French are haughty, as that is usually based on tourists’ experiences with Parisians (would you want foreigners to base their opinion of Americans on New Yorkers?). One thing I had to get used to was the neutral expressions everyone has. In the United States, if you make eye contact with someone, you smile. Not in France. Given that we were usually pushing a stroller with a baby in it, lots of people looked our way, especially when my son was in his striped shirt and beret. They would maintain a neutral expression and keep on walking as if they hadn’t seen a thing.
Traveling abroad with a baby was a change. Gone were the late-night repasts and even later-night revelries. Instead we were on a baby’s schedule. We were usually awake and moving before stores opened and asleep as French dinners were in full swing. This meant a lot of opportunities to walk quiet streets and visit attractions before the bus tours arrived. Thankfully, France is a great place to live life in a more relaxed gear. Because lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day in France, we still got to enjoy the food. Also, being in smaller cities and villages meant there wasn’t a ton going on at 1AM anyway.
The food. Oh my god. I knew that French food would be good, but I was totally unprepared for just how good. Many French restaurants would have a three course fixed menu for lunch that cost under €30. That includes tax and you generally don’t tip in France, so €30 was the true cost. Each course would have beautiful presentation and be delicious. Amazing sauces, meats, fish, vegetables, and bread. Even the butter was the best I’ve ever had. It was fine dining on a mid-range budget. Spending our afternoons working our way through a two hour lunch made the trip something special. Of the top 100 meals I’ve ever had, four or five were on this trip.
Leave Paris. Forget Nice. Visit Northwest France.