Sunday, November 13, 2016 (Travel to Hotel Peyris Opera, Paris, France)

With our suitcases packed, we took them downstairs and said goodbye to Elizabeth. Thank you so much for your hospitality...particularly allowing me to use your washer and dryer to do a couple of loads of laundry while here.

Steve took one last picture of the Cathedral from our room and unfortunately we forgot to take a picture of that room  ...

We loaded our luggage into the car and then set out on foot to find somewhere for breakfast...we were hoping to at least find coffee and a pastry this early on a Sunday morning. To our surprise the restaurant at the Hotel Reine Mathilde, just a short distance down the street was open. Their restaurant, Le Garde Manger, was serving a breakfast buffet...perfect!

After breakfast, we returned for our car and headed off.
There was one more thing we wanted to fit in before leaving Bayeux...the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy. We had purchased our combo tickets the other day when we visited the Tapistry. We arrived in time for their 9:30 opening time listed on their website...the only problem...they didn't open until 10:00 and close again for lunch at 11:30. So Steve wandered around the grounds taking a few pictures of the outside displays while I waited in the car.

We were waiting at the door when they opened...we needed to leave by 11:00 to drop off the rental car, so this was going to be a pretty quick tour through the museum. There was a 25 minute movie that started at 10:30 so Steve quickly walked through snapping pictures and read nothing. In fact when editing the pictures he found a few of them with descriptions of the display had no English just French. LOL!

Tank turret...

Inside of radio truck above...

Shortly after 11:00, we left the museum and dropped the car off. A taxi was called for us...and we arrived at the train station about a half hour later. We probably could have stayed at the museum another half hour because we had to wait about 45 minutes for the train.

Unfortunately our short time here didn't allow for visits to some of the other Normandy museums or the city of Caen, a major objective that didn't go well. With many buildings dating back to the middle ages it was virtually destroyed by allied bombings trying to dislodge the Germans. Many civilians were also killed. Located in the city is the Caen-Normandy Memorial Centre for History and Peace. It is the most thorough WWII museum in France.

Steve also wanted to visit the memorial site of the Ardenne Abbaye massacre where 20 Canadian POW's were murdered by Kurt Meyer's Waffen SS. He was later captured and sentenced to death for not only this massacre, but other war crimes as well. His sentence was commuted to life in prison and after only serving 9 years in prison in Canada he was set free on September 7th 1954. Unbelievable!
What an experience visiting this beautiful area that has had so much tragedy.

Finally some sunshine with a little heat to it today...

 The train was already packed when we got on...so we had to stand, however, this was just a local commuter train...we would have to change trains in Caen. On the way to Caen, we struck up a conversation with a great group of fellows from Scotland. They too, were on their way to Bayeux (to the airport to catch a flight home)...so by the end of our train ride, we decided we would all stick together to find the train to Bayeux. "The blind leading the blind" LOL. But with the help of a local fellow, he lead the way and pointed out our train. We found our reserved seats and then waited...and waited. There were a lot of people standing outside the train but no one was getting on...we eventually learned that the train was having problems (we couldn't understand any of the announcements), oh wonderful. But then people started boarding...obviously the problem was fixed. We were about a half hour late leaving the station.

Reflection on the window...

 We arrived at Paris Saint-Lazare train station to find it absolutely packed...folks heading home I guess after the long Armistice Day weekend. After battling our way through the crowds, many of them running, we hopped into a taxi...who took us to Hotel Peyris Opera. Wow...what a ride! Drivers in Paris are absolutely crazy!

Hotel Peyris Opera is a small charming boutique 3-Star hotel...it was very cool! We were greeted by a very friendly gentleman at reception and given keys to room 23...two floors up. We found the elevator and had to laugh...it is the tiniest elevator we have ever seen...barely big enough for one person and one small suitcase. We took these pictures later, but it seemed fitting to add them here.







There is a lovely spiral staircase (that we used) that winds around the elevator shaft...

The room was very small...but very cute. The hallway into the room is behind the striped wall...

That is the door to the bathroom...a good size considering the size of the room. There is also another french-doors window in there.

And the smallest pottie room (it's along the hallway into the room)! We had to take this picture just to show you how small...good thing Steve and I aren't any bigger than we are. You almost had to open the door to complete the job!

 The view from the french-doors in the bathroom...

We unpacked and got settled in and then decided to walk down the street to find a spot to eat. We ended  up in a bar/restaurant across Folies Bergere, a cabaret music hall. We had a drink and dinner (burger for Steve and chicken pasta for me)...very good!

Let our 3 days of exploring Paris begin!