Paris to Aramanche Normandy - 4/23/2024
- sridgway38
- Apr 22, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 30, 2024
We left our Paris hotel in a cab headed back to the airport to pick up a rental car. Shawn watched videos of how to interpret the road signs in france. The cab driver was able to drop us quite close to the rental agencies and we headed over to Avis to pick up a car. Initially they tried to give us an upgrade which was a fairly large partially electric SUV but we asked for a sedan which we had reserved. They then gave us a BMW which had some cosmetic damage to the drivers side but not enough to impact driving it so we took it. We headed away from Paris and towards Normandy. The road signs were confusing and the tolls were even more confusing but we eventually got the hang of it and got comfortable. Tractor Trailers in France have a lower speed limit than cars and have to remain in the right lane. They also have their allowed speed limits posted in little circles on the back of their trailers. It really made the traffic flow pretty well. We had to stop several times at rest areas and we managed to order food, navigate the exits which had traffic circles on them, and also to get gas on our way.
Eventually we arrived in a little seaside town called Arromanches-les-Bains or as the locals call it Arromanches. Arromanches is the harbor where the British troops built their port during WW2. We tried to find a parking spot in a little public parking lot but couldn't figure out how to use the pay station. We called the hotel proprietor and she directed us to a parking lot where we had a free spot during our stay and then headed over to the hotel.
We had reserved a room on the 3rd floor of a large house turned hotel. It was an attic room with slanted ceilings, there was no elevator so it took a bit to get our bags up the stairs. The room was small and basic but had lovely views. You can still see some of the equipment that the British used to come onshore and build the harbor.
We walked along the little beach town after we got settled in the hotel. There were little shops and several really nice bakeries. We had a little snack and then saw a nice restaurant at the Hotel de la Marine which we made a reservation at. We at there overlooking the beach for dinner. The food and the wine were very good. We headed back to the hotel after grabbing some pastries for breakfast because we needed to leave for our Normandy tour before breakfast was served.