Slow Life in French Countryside | Weeks Spent in Normandy
One day in September, he took me me away from Paris - where we were visiting for a few days. The noise and all its people. A few hours later we arrived in Normandy, one of those old, beautiful regions where a lot less of people live. We walked for a while along the water, without seeing anyone.
We explored small old towns which are covered with timbered houses, narrow alleys and beautiful river running through the center.
Here, one of the most peaceful places I know.
When I say I love the silence, I'm not being entirely truthful.
What I actually love are the abundant, delicate sounds that amplify when I'm silent. A beautiful symphony.
The sound of nature.
The sound of people I love.
Chapter I: Waking up in Normandy
Anaïs Nin said it best, “There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
So it's one thing to find write our story, it's even more important to enjoy it. While we can. While it’s still here. So get out there and spend time with our loved ones, explore the forests, climb the mountains, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and fresh air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness. Enjoy ourselves, keep our brain in your head and the body active and alive.
And that alone is a story worth telling.
Even if it's just waking up in an unknown village in Normandy and cooking a simple breakfast. Because it comes straight from our heart.
Chapter II: Tatihou Island
Just a 30-minute drive from the port of Cherbourg, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is a picturesque fishing and sailing village, located at the north-east tip of the Cotentin peninsula. And Tatihou island is just off the coast of the port. At low tide, you can walk to it. Otherwise the island can be reached by a cute amphibious boat.
Only 500 visitors are allowed to visit each day.
Crossings are available to the general public from April to November from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
We stayed here for the night, and it was so amazing having the whole island for ourselves.
On 28 hectares of surface, nature has regained its rights thanks to its isolation.
The walks on the beach will undoubtedly be a privileged moment.
With the waves as a backdrop, you will see in Tatihou Island a magical place to find yourself.
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Chapter III: Flight of the Inner Bird
After 10 years of traveling, I come to realize that, sometimes wandering without a plan makes the best experience.
That sometimes instead of trying to go where we want, to cross something off the list, I can spend the whole morning on an unknown hill, just so that my child can run freely in the meadow, watch the sheep, cows and horses...
Living fast is slow, and slow is fast. I brought some macarons and we sat down to eat by the cliff, watching the gentle sun glowing in the coast of Normandy. Watching the birds flying. Hearing my inner bird flying.
Chapter IV: Etretat by the Sea
When we were kids, everything was an adventure, every thing was a game and our biggest concern was when we can next do something fun. Then we reached adulthood and it’s just supposed to end, just like that.
We finished our education, got a job. Well time’s up , time for the real-world.
And here she is. My child had the most fun in the world with a tiny puddle.
We don’t know anything else so we stop playing, join the crowds, and forget the carefree joy of youth. Never to regain it again and it's all about the grind and the endless rat race.
Having Alexia taught me the biggest lesson in life.
That the days of playing are over only because we’ve chosen them to be over.
She taught us to enjoy life more.
So we can continue to play, continue to smile more than we frown, continue to treat the world like the playground it is.
Chapter V: The Trouts of Veules les Roses
Veules-les-Roses is one of the most famous villages in Normandy.
It is known for being home to the smallest sea-bound river in France.
A charming, beautiful village with well-preserved half-timbered houses & thatched roofs.
Many artists came here to be inspired.
But funny enough, my most vivid memory of this place is the trouts swimming upstream in the river through the village.
Trouts will spend most of their adult life in the cooler lakes, rivers, and open ocean before returning to the cool headwaters to spawn.
Alexia found it fascinating.
And we spent an hour observing the trouts, teaching her everything we know about them, watching her joyfully cheering for them.
Then we visited a cute boutique bookstore.
I bought a linen apron, and Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" poetry collection.
It's atmospheric, ephemeral, transcendental.
It’s like going on a long walk during a misty rain.
And it started raining as well :)
Chapter VI: The Moving Tides
Mont Saint-Michel is an iconic commune and tidal island that has been listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
With 2.5 millions annual visitors, it's the most famous tourist locations of France.
So it is prudent to expect crowds most days.
I'm so happy that we chose to stay at the hotel on the island.
In the early morning before the tourists pouring in, and after 6pm when they are all gone,
the narrow streets are almost empty.
That's when you can experience Mont Saint Michel to the fullest.
It's so quiet that I can hear the moving tides.
Waking up, going to bed and having the whole place for ourselves is truly magical.
Chapter VII: The Shape of Silence
Here in Honfleur, the old harbor basin is the most famous motif: small, colorful ships are anchored here, reflecting in the water of the harbor, which was created in 1685. Framed by narrow, pretty half-timbered houses.
This romantic sight makes the small town very popular with tourists.
Unfortunately, that's also a bit of Honfleur's dilemma: Many people think that if they saw the harbor basin, they would already know everything about the place and have seen everything.
There are so many amazing things to discover just a few meters away from the harbor.
I've fallen in love with this antique shop.
Even bought a chair for my study room :P
This is the beauty of spontaneous travel.
We didn't plan to visit Honfleur.
Actually It was decided on a highway, ten minutes before arriving.
But the day spent in this charming little town was so exciting and rewarding.
Like silence, it's always there, constantly trying to fill in the blank. We just have to stop and look for it, in the middle of chaos.
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