Tracy’s Letters from France: Etretat, Normandy & Friendships

Tracy’s Letters from France: Etretat, Normandy & Friendships

Dear Ma Mere,

Every day of this vacation is an adventure – a gift! And so different from the day before.

After the full day and fun tour of Versailles on Friday, Margaret, Henry and I had a low-key day on Saturday. We began with a tour of the gem (no admission fee) Museum of Paris. (It presents a spectacular history of the city.) Margaret discovered it from a gal she follows in Instagram who lives in Paris writes about her travels and fun finds!

The museum is housed in two side-by-side mansions in The Marais District. The tour begins with adorable, colorful and cleverly placed signs that were hung outside of shops of all kinds in the 1600’s. The streets were poorly marked and there we no numbers for businesses, so the vendors crafted color and graphic signs that drew customers inside, even for people who could not read. I’ll share photos later of an eye glasses shops, a butcher, a restaurant etc. The are delightful. Life was much simpler then.

Afterwards, we decided to walk to Saint Chapelle rather than take the subway. (Henry & Margaret are quickly becoming our master subway navigators!)

We meandered along the streets marveling at the designs of the shop windows. Simple, elegant, creative designs. As I pointed out an especially beautiful window dressing of a jewelry shop, I spotted a unique bracelet! Of course, we stepped inside and I asked to see the bracelet in the window! It was designed by a Japanese artist and it looked so cool on me! Henry inspected it, Margaret approved and voila, we bought it!

Henry said, “It would have been much cheaper if we had taken the subway to Saint Chapelle!”

It was a long line to enter Saint Chapelle, but I’ll always remember Margaret’s awe when she walked up the winding stairs to the upper chapel, “Oh, wow!”

Afterwards, we walked across the street for a long, relaxed lunch. The French know how to dine. I love it!

On Sunday, we packed up very early from our AirBnb (with a beautiful view of Paris & the Eiffel Tower, but limited amenities.) We picked up Dominique Geulin’s niece, Lucy, at her apartment in the western arrondissement, and drove to Etretat, Dominique’s home town. It’s about two hours from Paris to this coastal town in Normandie. You would remember Dominique of St. Honoré in Portland. He kindly arranged for us to meet his parents and extended family. We looked forward to enjoying an afternoon with them.

To our great surprise, Etretat is an absolutely darling coastal town that literally took our breath away with spectacular white cliffs that jut out over the Atlantic! Its narrow streets are lined with the kinds of small shops and businesses you and Bro know and love: patisserie, fromage, charcuterie, vin, antiques, les fleurs, jewelry and dress shops… and of course, cafes and restaurants! There are about a thousand year-round residents but Etretat swells in the summer with people coming to their summer homes and tourists!

At our request, Lucy kindly whisked all of us around town to shop for pastries, pâté, baguettes and other assorted goodies to take for dinner with our Yale friends, later that evening. When we saw the town, we wish we’d planned a full day+ there! One thrill was seeing and purchasing beautiful breads, quiche and pastries from the Geulin’s bakery that Hubert & Genevieve, Dominique’s parents, had owned for 25 years. Dominique has told us that he “grew up crawling on the floor of the bakery with flour on his hands and knees.” He claims to have learned the art of baking from his dad. He went on to study in Paris and became a master baker. Lucy told us he won many culinary awards at national competitions. His baking was famously known for his craft and artistry.

After shopping and seeing the gorgeous cliffs, Hubert, Dominique’s father picked us up and drove us to their modest home about 6 miles from town. The house is on an acre or so with a large lawn. Hubert has a small veggie garden, beautiful roses and other flower gardens he tends to and maintains. He and Genevieve love to cook and they made a beautiful lunch for us. They gathered 6 of their 11 darling grandchildren, between college & post-college working life. The kids speak very good English; the grandparents, not at all, but spoke to us like we knew exactly what they were talking about! It was adorable!

You can imagine the meal. Hors d’oeuvres, Coquilles St. Jacques, fromage course, gorgeous petite tartelette de citron and black coffee! By then, it was 3pm. No matter!