France Day 1

We arrived to Paris De Gaulle March 17th at 11;30 am after an 11 hour flight from Salt Lake City. Of course we were both fighting jet lag as it was 3:30 am back home but our goal was to stay awake as long as we could to get on France's time schedule. We navigated the airport, refreshed ourselves, and found the rental car company fairly fast. Once we got our car we drove out of Paris through the countryside towards Rouen. We found a cool old graveyard in a small town and stopped by a grocery store to get some snacks- baguette, cheese (Camembert), apples, pastrys, chips, and a much needed coke, Driving through the countryside reminded us of WWII movies with the old stone walls, winding narrow roads, acres of farm fields, and small villages with church steeples. It was incredible to realize this land has been farm land for thousands of years. We drove to Chateau Guillard- the ruins of a castle built by Richard the Lionheart. The chateau looked over the Seine and the little town Les Andeilys. Brad said a lot of the crusaders came from that town. It was fun for him to see the historical places he has learned about and is now teaching. We arrived in Rouen next and explored the city known for the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. After being in the countryside most of the day it was a change of pace to get some pastries and take a walking tour of Rouen. I found the most charming used book store and got Angie an actual antique postcard even with the original stamp on it. Joan of Arc is memorialized in much of this old city and the open squares by the Cathedrals and historic buildings were filled with pigeons and people enjoying the afternoon sun. The narrow cobblestone roads were fun to meander and we were amazed to find an LDS church on one of them. I especially loved the brightly painted doors and the flower market. We found a Napoleon statue- Brad said these are all over France.  A crazy experience was trying to find a public restroom in this city, None could be found until we stumbled across an Irish Pub having a big St Patricks day celebration. We drove to our nearby hotel in Honfleaur enjoying the sunset and country views while snacking for dinner and then crashed at our hotel.