Normandy to Paris: 3 Weeks, 3 Ways to Travel France

Normandy

I chose to stay at La Ferme Saint Simeon, as the Relais & Chateaux hotel brand has been a personal favorite for decades. It was perfect. Monet painted here, and it’s located on the estuary but close enough to Honfleur to easily get to other cities. Dining was a highlight. For the first night, I recommend a reservation at La Boucane Bistro for a special occasion—ours was an anniversary. We dined at Les Impressionists in the main building, which had wonderful cuisine, excellent service, and a beautiful dining room!

Deauville is a wonderful day trip—there is a beach and a casino, it’s the site of the annual American Film Festival, and it has a horse lineage. Another wonderful day trip was to Etretat—made famous by Lupin on Netflix—which has gorgeous white cliffs, Porte d’Aval, and a great lunch at Le Clos Lupin.

Ama Waterways cruise

Moving to the second week, we easily dropped our vehicle off in Le Havre, which is where we boarded the Ama Dante, which, as always with Ama Waterways, welcomed us like a floating hotel. Our favorite city this trip was Rouen, as we had not been before and we could walk into town from the ship, which is always preferred. We did “A Taste of Normandy” with local cheeses and Calvados, and we watched different chocolates being made. We loved the Historical Jeanne D’Arc museum, located in the Archbishop’s Palace, where she was put to death in 1431 at only 19. She was an incredibly intelligent and brave young woman! We had lunch (I recommend the Dover sole meuniere) at La Couronne, Julia Child’s favorite restaurant—she called it the most exciting meal of her life. Then, we were back on the boat by 3 p.m. for a couples’ massage—a pretty perfect travel day!

Paris

There were so many favorite moments on this trip, but ending in Paris and spending the final seven days on foot was the perfect way to walk off calories and enjoy the perfect fall Paris weather! I always stay in different hotels in Saint-Germain-des-Prés as research for client trips, as I do in most cities. There are too many highlights to mention, but I’ll list a few I put in every client’s itinerary, as well as my own:

• A small-group, three-hour WWII walking tour with a historian, followed by dinner that evening at Le Procope, where the French Resistance used to meet

• Musée d’Orsay with lunch in a beautiful dining room

• Breakfast at Les Deux Magots

• A picnic on the lawn in the Luxembourg Gardens

• Thursday night with locals at the gorgeous, reopened Notre-Dame. Enjoy the light through the windows

• Lunch and ice cream at the famous Berthillon on Ile Saint Louis

Overall, wheels gave us freedom, water gave us ease, and feet gave us immersion!

La Ferme Saint Siméon (Honfleur)

I recommend both La Boucane Bistro and Les Impressionnistes. The thatched-cottage bistro serves Norman-style seafood, and Les Impressionnistes is a spectacular, memorable, romantic special-occasion restaurant with a great cheese and butter cart.

Le Drakkar (Deauville)

A dark dining room with equestrian history and wonderful steak and ambiance.

La Couronne (Rouen)

Julia Child made it famous. It has been in business since 1345 and is the oldest inn in France, with wonderful small dining rooms and food, great for lunch or dinner.

Paris

There are too many restaurants to mention, but here are a few of my not-fancy, just-perfect choices:

• Le Procope: The oldest café in Paris, this was a gathering place for Voltaire, Rousseau, and other Enlightenment intellectuals. Order the coq au vin and the French onion soup.

• Polidor: In the heart of the Latin Quarter since 1845, this was a favorite haunt of Hemingway, James Joyce, and many other famous writers, and is mentioned in Hemingway’s book A Moveable Feast. Order the boeuf bourguignon with mashed potatoes, and, for dessert, tarte tatin or chocolate mousse.

• Lastly, to make your visit to the Eiffel Tower more memorable without breaking the bank, do the summit, then make a lunch reservation for Madame Brasserie to dine on the first floor of the tower. There are panoramic views toward the Seine and Trocadero. Dinner is available as well to enjoy the lights of Paris—just magical!