Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt



Wednesday 27th of December

05.45 I´ve had a snowy and nice Christmas holiday with parents, brothers and their families. I am now stationed at the railway station in Örnsköldsvik ready for yet another journey where an old year ends and a new begins.

06.12 We are being informed about delayed trains. Unfortunately my train is one of them, however, is only ten minutes late. It is funny to hear the information in English. The destinations are pronounced with an English touch. It is just odd. Why don't they say the names in Swedish instead? It will be less confusing.

06.22 The train is here, just a bit delayed. Out on the platform I met a confused small vole or mouse. I am on board but the rodent remains outside. There are some computer problems here on board and we will be further delayed.

07.01 I have been enjoying a healthy breakfast. It is slow today. The railroad switches are blocked by the snow and we, and the train before us stands completely still.

08.04 We have left Härnösand and are about an hour delayed, snow mess things up today. Hopefully it will be better further south.

09.24 If it isn't snow on the tracks it is animals. There has been a suspected accident with a wild animal at Tjärnvik before Gnarp further south. We are standing in Sundsvall. Things are getting complicated.

10.09 Finally, we are on the road/rails again. I wondered for a while if it was the 13th of July today? That is the date a lot of bad things usually happen during our travels.

12.17 Good Bye Gävle! Christer has already reached the airport. He has travelled from the Christmas celebrations in Oxelösund/Nyköping and he has, via Södertälje and Stockholm reached Arlanda airport. We will meet by the two Christmas trees. It is a tradition.

12.50 Now it seems as smooth as it should with the train. I hope that I do not say too much now.

We are starting the trip by the Christmas trees at Arlanda airport.

Peter is having coffee at Fika.

13.17 The rendezvous by the Christmas trees has been done. Now we have some chores to take care off before we depart from here.

15.04 Most of the chores are taken care of. We have consumed pizzas at Alfredo's, arranged with baggage tags and boarding cards. In addition we also made the check-in of the baggage. The only thing we did not do ourselves was the security control.

15.18 There will be no visits to Starbucks today. Where once Starbucks was is now a place simply called Fika, the Swedish word for having coffee. We'll see if we find a Starbucks in France instead.

16.05 The boarding through gate 4A went well. We sit on row 10, and each side of the aisle. Next to me I have two Finnish heavy metal fans. We will fly with SAS to Charles de Gaulle airport just north of Paris.

17.05 Now we have finished the coffee. It was not the best I had drunk but it didn't cost so why should it taste?

18.27 We are slowly lowering us down to the Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris. It will actually be a comeback for us. Our last visit here was in August 2007 when we flew home from here after a summer in the Caribbean with a finish in Paris.

FRANCE

19.03 It went smoothly to get off the aircraft. Now we have walked around a little. We have just seen a Starbucks. For the moment, we are waiting at luggage carousel 3 in terminal 1. We don't know how to make it to Starbucks.

19.19 Our luggage is back in our control. Christer is checking if the "blaupunkt", our name on the Google Maps feature with blue dots, can take us to our hotel. It is located near terminal 3. We will not go to Starbucks. It seems to be only for departures, or?

19.24 We do not need to blaupunkt. We don't even require a driver. A train without a driver will take us and the others to the right terminal to begin with.

19.53 From the station before terminal 3 it was a short walk to the hotel Ibis Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. We had to queue up to check-in. It was a lot of people who intended to sleep here. Once there we got room 452. We thanked for the room but said no to breakfast. We shall be able to arrange with that on our own. We stayed at Ibis on last year's New Year trip as well. Then it was in Morocco. This time it is in Roissy-en-France, a small town north of Paris. It is where the airport is located. There is plenty of time to be in the room. Now we need to find out a few things. The time has come to go out.

In our room at Ibis Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

A French Christmas tree.

Peter is waiting for this evening´s dinner.

20.27 We switched from indoors to outdoors. There is no weather to enjoy. The wind blows sharply and it is just a few degrees on the plus side. We are just walking around with hopes of getting something useful done.

21.13 Our walk has not been successful. Anyway, we managed to find where the bus departs tomorrow morning (we think, anyway). To buy breakfast from a kiosk has failed. We have not even found any kiosk. It will in all cases be a dinner at Café Rendezvous. It is a part of our hotel.

21.28 Just as we had ordered food Christer discovered that he had no wallet. He thought he might have forgotten it in the room and it turned out to be so. We are a little dizzy and rusty in our heads when we are going to travel immediately after the Christmas holiday.

22.18 Lasagne and beer was just what we needed. In addition, I needed that customary coffee. I paid for the food and ordered coffee. I was asked espresso or americano? I choose the latter. An older French woman at the bar asked about the difference and I explained. With my poor French and her weak English we came to the conclusion that her son-in-law was American. Now we are considering if we should order breakfast at the hotel after all. We have not found anything to eat on our evening walk.

22.45 It will be buffet breakfast in the morning. At the time of ordering, we got the information that it is served in the room, oh no, in the breakfast dining room from 04.00. The information woman messed things up. I long for the pillow now.

23.57 Ahead of us is yet another hotel night. In the morning we will head to new areas.


Thursday 28th of December

07.00 Bon jour! The night escapes, a new travel day dawns. The shower was a good continuation of a good sleep here at the Ibis Hotel.

07.54 Goodbye room. We are about to have a morning date with the breakfast room.

08.42 It probably was a wise decision to start our day with a hearty breakfast. It was not cheap but we had not many other options. Here at the hotel, it is a steady stream of people who are going to fly or has just arrived with a flight. There is probably very few staying more than night here. Christer just checked up our seat numbers in the bus we shall go with. They are released one hour before departure. We have seats 17 and 18.

09.00 It is convenient with a bus stop right next to the hotel. Now we just hope that it is the right one.

09.16 We were of course standing at the wrong bus stop. The bus from Ouibus stopped at the one next to it. Now, we are on board and soon we are off to an a historic city. It is the city where France's most famous teenager ended her days.

Peter is getting ready for today´s bus trip.

We are on our way with Ouibus.

Today´s route from Charles de Gaulle-flygplatsen to Rouen.

The bus has left us in Rouen. Here a picture of Peter at Place Carnot.

10.40 The bus has taken us back to the airport in Beauvais. Last time we were here was 10½ years ago. Then it was the beginning of the first trip to the Caribbean. We made a short stop here today to drop off passengers. The airport here in Beauvais airport is used by budget airlines such as Ryanair.

11.02 The journey has started again. Towards new goals!

11.47 The landscape is rural again. We travel past green fields and through groves.

12.11 The nice comfortable coach journey is over. We are in Rouen and got off at Avenue Champlain. Next is a short foot march to our next hotel.

12.56 We walked through a nice part of town and arrived at Hotel Rouen St-Sever (http://www.hotel-rouen-saint-sever.com). Now we are sitting on a bed each in room 419. The room has no key but a hard plastic card which is swiped in front of the door. The hotel has an interesting "bubbly" appearance and is situated adjacent to a shopping mall called the Centre Commercial Saint-Sever, Rouen.

13.35 It has become time for us to embark on our tour of our new city.

Église Catholique de Rouen.

Hôtel Rouen St-Sever.

Christmas atmosphere inside Centre Commercial Saint-Sever Rouen.

Jeanne d´Arc (Joan of Arc) has given her name to many things in Rouen, like this bridge across Seine.

Seine, a river that runs through more cities than Paris.

Christer is having a light meal at Square Coffee.

13.48 We started the city tour by walking indoors to explore the range in the nearby shopping mall. We found among others a restaurant where we will probably eat dinner tonight.

14.03 In front of us is the river Seine. Soon we´ll walk across the Pont Jeanne d'Arc. We are on the way to the older parts of the city. There is also a tram and a number of city-dwellers who walk just like we do.

14.17 Emergency vehicles honk and the people walk. We, however, enjoy coffee and sandwich at the minor café Square Coffee. This might be considered as today's lunch.

14.59 "Let it snow" is being played and a huge Christmas tree with Christmas bulbs that people are sitting as the bulbs spin around. We have reached the older parts of the city. The Christmas tree stands in the small square of the Place de la Pucelle. Here is also Bar Jeanne d'Arc. The theme continues!

15.07 Right here and right then, on 30 may 1431. France's national saint, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Here on the square, the Place du Vieux Marché is now a Ferris wheel, an ice skating rink and a very ugly church, Église Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc.

15.32 Recently we were at our third "horloge". They have earlier been seen in three countries and two continents. It is a bell tower. Now we are at the Palais de Justice. This is yet another country where we got to see people ice skating on an outside rink. In the past we have seen them in to mention some Greece, Finland, Spain and Italy.

15.47 It is really a rich variety of delicacy shops here in the city. You become a little depressed when you think that all this variety is only found here and not at home. At Christmas time there are also lots of small stalls selling everything from sweets to cheeses. We have been enjoying "Vin Chaud", spiced warm red wine, very good in the cold.

16.05 We are now arriving at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Rouen. Around the amazing church there are small stalls with culinary selection from various French-speaking regions and areas. We have seen food from such as the Basque country and Canadian Quebec.

Saint André tower in Rouen.

A revolving Christmas tree at Place de la Pucelle.

Jeanne d´Arc has given her name to many things in Rouen.

Enthusiastic skaters at Place du Vieux Marché.

A Ferris wheel entertains.

Lots of people on the Rouen streets.

17.06 We decided that it was enough with impressions for a while. In addition, it starts to get really cold here in the afternoon. On the way home we learned about where we can shop and eat food. In addition, we have learned how to buy tickets to the tram. It will be good to know tomorrow morning.

18.27 It is tough to find out where we should eat dinner. The thoughts takes time, are slow. We haven't found any perfect place. We can't go on with the simple meals

19.06 The time has come to try your luck in a nearby restaurant. Will it be in a castle or a cottage?

19.25 There were a lot of people at "the Castle", the Palais de la Bière, so we went to the cottage, Le Chalet (http://lechaletrouen.com). It was also the restaurant we had seen earlier today. Here, we have ordered beers to drink, two glasses of Belgian Grimbergen and we will eat Gorgonzola pizzas. The restaurant is well attended and is located in the mall Saint-Sever right next to our hotel.

20.46 The pizzas were OK and the beer was good, with a high amount of alcohol. We bought candy and beverages in, E Leclerc, a major grocery store in the mall, before heading home. Both of us managed to grab two baskets instead of one and both extra baskets fell to the floor with a bang.

21.30 In Liberia, the former football player George Weah has won the president elections. Our TV broadcast biathlon, indoors. It can be from the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Normally, this is the home of the football team Schalke 04. Tonight it will be a different kind of shots there.

22.45 It was a German victory in the race. We have been drinking our evening beers. On the TV it is news coverage from the Philippines. It has also been a report about the protests against the government in Iran.

Market stalls at Place du Vieux Marché.

Le Gros-Horloge, the famous medieval clock in Rouen.

Palais de Justice, Rouen.

Christer is enjoying Vin Chaud (hot wine).

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen.

Christer is having dinner at Le Chalet, crowded but nice.


Friday 29th of December

07.16 It is lovely with vacation. Then you can sleep for as long as you want. It is also wonderful to travel. But then you have to get up earlier of course.

08.42 Today's petit déjeuner (breakfast) is over. It was very quiet in the breakfast dining room. The time has come to get our things together.

09.05 Everything is now in place. Now, the project begins to make it to the railway station. It is located in the northern part of the city centre. We could, theoretically, walk there but the time it will take make it feels like a less good option.

09.17 The journey to the station Gare de Rouen will be by tram. First, we bought a single ticket each in a machine. Then we validated them before we finally boarded. It's a bit windy today.

09.32 We wonder if we went by tram or metro. Sometimes we were underground and sometimes above ground. The line is called Metro, but the vehicle is similar to a tram. We are now, whatever it was, at the railway station. Christer has fetched our pre-booked and paid train tickets from a vending machine.

10.22 There has been a lot of travelling by train through the years, not least last summer. However, it is only now that we seriously go by train in France. The only time we travelled by train in this country is from Italy to Nice on the French Riviera and then along the way, even to Monaco. Here in France the rail company is called, SNCF, Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français.

10.53 We are on a journey in our comfortable trains. Now, we roll out from the station in Bernay. I think I'll take a small walk through the train. Out there the sun is shining again.

Peter is attacking the breakfast at Hotel Rouen St-Sever.

Gare de Rouen.

Peter is waiting inside Rouen railway station.

A wet Peter is having lunch at Café de Saint Jean.

Christer is getting ready for the final walk to our hotel.

The leaning church Église Saint Jean.

11.09 During the train walk I decided to visit the toilet. A man was already waiting for his turn. We heard a flushing sound from within. The door continued to be locked. It was simply not possible to open. Another passenger is looking for help. The waiting man and I sought out a different toilet. We made a visit each there. We are now in Lisieux. The journey is soon over.

11.43 A lone empty beer can rolls away in the wind. The sky is overcast over Caen. We will now by foot move to the next hotel.

12.17 We passed over the river Orne on our way towards the centre. Then we were taken by surprise, washed and drained by the heavy rain. We have now sought shelter in the Café de Saint-Jean. We will not just get dry here. We will take the opportunity to get us some coffee also.

13.12 What was meant as a coffee stop ended up as lunch. We asked what they offered. The answer and lunch was Croque monsieur with strips and vegetables followed by coffee. Then we went to the Royal Hôtel Caen Centre (http://www.hotel-caen-centre.com). The check-in went well. To get into the room was much more difficult. A small badge should be placed at the handle, the knob. Then the knob should be turned. We tried, again and again, without any success. In the end we got help from an older American who stays diagonally across from us. He also had problems but we got indoors. We got another surprise as we got inside. We have managed to book a double bed. Now it's raining again.

14.55 The rain, the thunder and the sunshine fight over heaven and sky here in Caen. We have amused ourselves by watching movies from our earlier travels on the in-room TV. We are able to access the internet with the TV as a screen and we enjoyed a few movies from Tanzania from our YouTube channel. It has been set an end time for our rest. At half past three we go out whatever the weather.

15.20 Pacta sunt servanda, agreements must be kept. It is time to go out to see what we can do in Caen.

15.42 Christer is filming Caen in general and the castle and Saint Pierre church in particular. I am having a first Caenian bench break. It is really windy today.

Royal Hôtel Caen Centre.

A tram has stopped near Caen castle.

You need a bench break in wintertime too.

Peter and Caen.

Église Saint-Pierre, Caen.

This evening´s tasty beer at Brasserie Les Touristes.

16.04 We tourists are for the moment here inside the castle area, Le Château de Caen. This area, as well as the city at large was severely bombed during the Second World War but there are still some older buildings remain. Something that struck us is that Caen is quite beige and gray in colour. It is not very colourful here. To some extent it might depend on the season but we've both reacted to it.

16.55 After more walks in the area around the castle, we are now at one of the city's streets. We are looking for a restaurant, grocery store and also hot wine.

17.35 Our missions didn't go that well. Three Euros for a mug of hot wine seemed expensive. We have not found any interesting restaurant for dinner. We have, however, bought something for breakfast at the small Casino Shop. The city centre of Caen is really cozy with many small bars and shops.

19.13 Not much remains of this day. There are, however, small hopes to be able to dine.

19.42 Brasserie Les Touristes has a cute waitress and a nice interior. Affligem beer from Belgium is good and is served in a funnel similar glass on foot. The upper diameter is 8-10 centimetres.

21.02 Milanese schnitzel and grilled rump steaks are more delicate dinners than lasagne and pizza. This was what we needed. Christer has received a report that it was a beautiful wedding for our travel companion at Easter 2016, Björn. He is right now in Canada and has been married to his Leslie. We are now home again. Christer was able, without any problems, to get us inside the room.

22.51 One of the year's last evening beers will be the French Jenlain. On our TV is a program with animals. We have seen a happy little rhino and a little alpaca who did not want to eat. There were also a few felines and hamsters in the program.


Saturday 30th of December

08.29 We have woken up at the Royal Hôtel here in Caen. It gets lighter outside. We've just finished a simple breakfast which we bought by ourselves. We did not think that the offer regarding the hotel breakfast had any good value.

08.56 We will, within half an hour, head out on an excursion. Today a lot is planned.

09.23 The next stop is being called out. We go again by tram, this time from the centre to the railway station here in Caen. This is the initial phase today.

09.32 It is overcast today. We have arrived at the railway station Gare de Caen, bought two train tickets to the small nearby town of Bayeux.

09.55 We located where the bus station was. It is right next to the railway station. We'll go on from there tomorrow. Then we went back to the railway station. The tickets were validated before we went out to the platform.

10.07 The locomotive has begun its move and we just tag along. This will be a short trip and considering the distance is surprising expensive.

Gare de Caen.

Our train is waiting for us.

After a short trip we have reached Bayeux.

In Bayeux there is a lot of tourism revolving around the World War II landing beaches.

Bayeux.

It´s not only World War II that attracts visitors here. The medieval tapestry is also famous.

10.30 The train departed from the station without us. It continues towards Cherbourg. Instead we are now walking towards the town centre here in Bayeux.

10.51 The stone bench we are seated on is a bit cold but not damp. It is windy today. We are sitting in front of the majestic cathedral (Cathédrale de Bayeux). Here in Bayeux is a tapestry which shows/illustrates William of Normandy (William the Conqueror's) assault on England in 1066. We unfortunately don't have time to see it, we have other plans.

11.15 When it comes to the age of the houses here in Bayeux it is variable and such is nice. One thing they have in common is less pleasant. They are wet from the rain. Bayeux was spared from destruction during the Second World War. The town is therefore really old-fashioned and has a great atmosphere.

11.49 We have walked through the central parts of the town. It is a relatively small town with about 14 000 inhabitants. The restaurant Pizza Milano has no ravioli. However, they will serve us cheese pizza and lasagne. As we were about to enter I opened the wrong door and paid a short visit to the neighbours.

12.35 It was a tasty lunch. Now it will be coffee and pastries at the patisserie Chez Karl's. The visit here has several purposes. We are fans of coffee, tired of the rain and need to kill some time. Soon it is time for our planned excursion.

Cathédrale de Bayeux.

A big Christmas bauble outside the cathedral.

Rue Saint-Martin, Bayeux.

Rue Saint-Jean, Bayeux.

Peter is eating his lunch at Pizza Milano.

There was time for a quick coffee stop at Karl´s.

12.57 It is finally time. We are at the rendezvous point at the Place Québec in the centre of Bayeux. Here is also a car from the company we have been in contact with, Normandy Sightseeing Tours (http://www.normandy-sightseeing-tours.com). However, there is no driver yet.

13.04 The driver, Adrien, has arrived. The tour has begun. Now we just have to pick up more passengers at the railway station.

13.09 Adrien has picked up a couple from Washington DC and three women from Chicago. Now the D-day trip will start. Unfortunately we do not have the weather with us today. It varies between drizzle and rain.

13.28 We get information about a crucial battle in the hundred years' war, which stood near here and calvados. Calvados after the main course makes way for the dessert. For those of you who don't know, calvados is an alcoholic drink made from apples. It is made here in the department of Calvados.

14.00 Now we have stopped at the first place with a link to the allied landing in 1944, the Pointe de Hoc. The guide tells us broadly about the Second World War so that those who are not teachers in history have a little bit of background information.

14.22 Our group is inside an old German bunker. The landing began here at the Pointe du Hoc. It was to quickly knock out the positions that were here. Unless this was done all would have been in vain. One of the girls from Chicago is very similar to the American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin. However, we are pretty sure she is not her because Mikaela was third in the giant slalom competition in Lienz, Austria yesterday.

14.40 We have been given a little private time in the humid weather. Christer and I have chosen to go to the commemorative monument which looks out over the English Channel.

15.10 The tour continues. We get mixed information from our guide. Of the around 7000 tourists that Adrien guided through the years only three have been Germans. We are getting closer to Omaha Beach now.

The car from Normandy Sightseeing Tours is waiting for us.

Adrien starts his guiding at Pointe du Hoc.

Our small group walk on historic ground.

Ruins from the events 73 years ago.

Here is where the Germa soldiers went for protection.

The coast west of Pointe du Hoc.

15.33 Now we are truly on historic ground, Omaha Beach. Here the troops from two American infantries landed on June 6, 1944. Everything being said is illustrated with lines in the sand. We really get to learn the right version of these events today. We get to know all about the failed efforts, plans that went awry, the success of which only depended on luck and chance and so on. It is interesting to get to know what really happened, not the official version which the world has fed.

15.55 The tour continues. The next stop will be an American war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. It feels fitting to end it all in a graveyard.

16.03 We arrived at the American cemetery just in time for the tattoo. A tattoo is a military performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks, and is unrelated to the Tahitian origins of an ink tattoo. Two American flags were hauled in the rain, the last to the sound of a trumpet.

16.40 We walk around among the long rows of beautiful, white marble cross. There is also a small chapel. People are still being buried here. They found a dead man at a building site a couple of years ago. On the crosses, you can see the name, rank, and from what state they were in. Age is not specified. One reason is that some who died were very young.

17.03 Adrien told us about his grandmother and grandfather. They were both involved in the war. Grandpa sat for five years in the prison camp Stalag 17 in Austria. His grandmother who was left behind in occupied France, tried, together with her daughter, Adrien's aunt, to escape on a donkey. A grenade fell near them and the donkey died. Granny survived and has just turned 103.

Christer and the Normandy coast.

A detailed explanation about all the events on Omaha Beach.

The flag is being taken down at the American War Cemetery..

Normandy American Cemetery.

A map showing what happened on the landing beaches.

The Second World War in Western Europe.

17.30 It's raining in Bayeux. We have returned to town, paid for the trip and said goodbye to Adrien. Now we are going to look for a café with tables, chairs, coffee and pastries. We hope that it will be a successful hunt.

18.28 There were a few establishments that offered all the elements of what we were looking for. If they had everything they were crowded. Instead, we have chosen to take the train back to Caen earlier than expected.

18.53 We are back in Caen. Now we go with the tram towards the city centre.

19.53 We made a small walk here in the city. We got to see another cow statue. Statues of cows seem to follow us wherever we go. In addition, we have shopped at Carrefour, a grocery chain we have visited on previous trips. We bought some beverages for tomorrow evening (New Year celebrations). Now we will have dinner at Café/Brasserie Le Royal (http://leroyalbrasserie.strikingly.com). The restaurant is a part of the hotel we are staying at.

20.51 The restaurant closed around us during the meal. Outside an ambulance took care of an elderly from an underground parking garage. Now we are back in room 311 again.

22.06 We relax and watch the French version of Fort Boyard. There are, according to the internet, continued turbulence in Iran.

23.46 Soon there is just one day left of this year. The TV channel C STAR shows a documentary about the rock band U2.

Some things get even more interesting in the dark.

Dinner at Café/Brasserie Le Royal.


VIDEOS


You can see 16 photos from December 27 in this photoalbum.
You can see 69 photos from December 28 in this photoalbum.
You can see 57 photos from December 29 in this photoalbum.
You can see 151 photos from December 30 in this photoalbum.


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