Leaving Paris:

All packed and ready to go, we took our luggage with us to breakfast near our car rental place, which just so happened to be right by the Arc de Triomphe. So we sat down for a delicious real Paris cafe breakfast with a huge historical monument at our backs. Wow. What a way to end our stay in Paris!
Getting our car went smoothly and then we were on our way out of the city but we had one more important site before we truly left the Paris area...Versailles.
The most elegant and extravagant of all palaces, built by Louis XIV. He valued beauty and pleasure and luxury. That is what you see when you visit Versailles.
The grounds are expansive. They are huge! The gardens go on forever and we didn't even try to explore them. Apparently some areas are just like a park. People come with bikes and picnic.
We visited the queen's grand trianton, a smaller palace on the other end of the grounds from the main palace. It was built for Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, who was shy and quiet. She didn't enjoy the hustle and excitement of the court at the main palace.
I don't even know what to say about the main palace. It is huge and extravagant. Full of the finest paintings and intricate designs.
The most famous and remarkable room is the Hall of Mirrors. I wish I could have seen this room while it was empty. I couldn't get any satisfactory pictures of the room because there is always a crowd.
When we finally saw enough of Versailles we truly got on the road!

I sleep easily in moving vehicles (car, train, plane, bus, metro, you name it) so I don't remember how long we were driving but we made a stop in Rouen, once the second biggest city in all of France and well known for the history of Joan of Arc. She was tried as a heretic and burned in Rouen. There is Tower museum to mark what remains of the old fortress.  We didn't spend much time in the city but we did walk around a little bit.  Rouen has a ton of churches. It's like Utah with its spires poking up all over the place.
I started to have bad congestion in the morning, I guess I got a traveling bug; so sleeping in the car was a good plan for me, and the next place I woke up was the memorial monument at the beaches of Normandy. There are still bunkers and cement structures that you can duck through. Dad and I had to hunch real low to get through some openings.
The sun was setting as we were there. The colors were impressive and beautiful but it was the first time it was cold outside. Also it was the first I had ever seen the English channel or the Atlantic Ocean from the east side.


Around 9 o'clock we pulled up to the house of our hosts in Caen.
Alain and Cecilia are the CUTEST little couple. Their kids are all grown and they have a baby grandchild. One of their sons works in Los Angeles in the film business. They were SO welcoming and had the most comfortable, adorable rooms ready for us. Cecilia asked if we were hungry she could make us some pasta (oh yeah, she's Italian) and we couldn't say no to that. First home-cooked meal in 4 days- and it was pasta prepared by an Italian! Need I say more?
A good day of traveling ended very well I would say.