Arrival in Normandy France

I've been looking forward to this trip for months!  I decided to take advantage of October break at school and plan a trip with Delaney.  We picked the Normandy coast of France.  She took the ferry across from Poole to Cherbourg and then took a train to Caen.  I flew into Paris, rented a car and met her he Caen.

I was worried about the drive without a navigator at my side, but google maps got me where I needed to be without any fuss.  I literally did not hit a roundabout, stop sign, or stoplight from the rental car lot to the outskirts of Caen.  Straight highway driving.  There was traffic in Paris, but not too bad.  I only came to a stop once and mostly went 70 kph until I made it to the outskirts.  Then the speed limit was mostly 130 kph.  I was worried about speeding because its all done by automatic radar and they are very strict.

I was surprised to find a lot of little picnic pullout every 15 km or so.  Very clean restrooms and picnic tables.  I was thankful for my very tiny car (Fiat 500 2 door) when I got to Caen.  We are in the center of the old city and the roads are tiny.  My first parking job was up on the sidewalk in a non parking spot just so I could get checked in. Street parking is limited to 2 hours by the BnB (at 33E!), so I had to go find a parking garage.

Delaney got delayed in Cherbourg.  We didn't take into account that France had already gone on daylight savings time, so she missed her original train connection.  I decided to take the tram over to the Caen train station and meet her there.  We returned to the BnB and then wandered around the old town looking for a good dinner place.  It was about 6:30 and everyone at tables on the sidewalks were just drinking (not eating).  We weren't sure when dinner started, but we were hungry!  We finally found an Italian restaurant that looked good.  The server said they start serving dinner at 7:00, so we were in luck.

I had tortelli with prochuito and Delaney had four cheese pizza.  We both indulged in dessert:  creme brulee and tirimisu.  We returned to the BnB, showered and crashed.