Day 13 – Part 1: Normandy
The next day was a very early departure for a very long day-trip to Normandy. Despite the rain and wind, it was a wonderful and very sobering tour that visited Point du Hoc (my favorite), the American cemetery, the Overlord museum, drove past the beaches, included lunch in a little cafe (not the best but not bad), and also had a Calvados tasting at a farm that had been part of La Résistance. Calvados and ciders are a specialty of the region, since apples are grown instead of grapes due to the wet climate. Our guide and drivers were amazing – here is the Viator link if you’re looking for a good Normandy day trip from Paris. I learned SO much about WWII and the region as a whole during the drive – much more than in my very American-focused history classes in high school…
I would have loved to have stayed longer in Normandy because Mont Saint Michel is on my list and it is so close…
Day 13 – Part 2: Paris
I didn’t fully capture how heavy an experience it was to visit Normandy, but it was kind of nice to have the long drive back. The days were pretty short (November) so it was dark most of the drive back, and I think most of the bus fell asleep. After a bit of terrible traffic, we got back in Paris around 8pm.
The rendezvous point for this tour is very near the Trocadero, and late-ish in the evening is perfect for the Eiffel tower if you didn’t reserve tickets in advance and don’t want to wait in outrageous lines… It only took about 10 minutes to get our tickets, and then about 45 minutes to get through security and up to the Summit. It was windy and freezing and so worth it 
It was so beautiful and amazing to watch all the moving lights of Paris… There is a little machine at the top where you can get a token with the year on it to commemorate your trip to the Summit, which is a nice little €2 souvenir.
We stayed for a while inside, and then took a cab back to the hotel – since it was after 10pm, we were very ripped off – the official cabs (green globe light on top) can charge any fare after 10pm… next time I would just get an uber or Bolt, which is the European version of Uber and typically cheaper than both.
In a truly European fashion, we had dinner at like 11pm at a little Korean hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Rue Mouffetard near our hotel, and it was perfect. Most restaurants seemed to close in this area between 10-11pm, but there were a few greek and kebab places that stayed open until 1 or 2am. (On a week night, in November.)
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