Around The World Without Flying: Les Andelys and Lyons-la-Foret

We boarded our river ship in Paris along a stretch of the river surrounded by apartment buildings. Unfortunately it was raining and we set sail at night, so we missed seeing some of the sights of Paris as we moved out of the city into the countryside.

I was struck by the colour of the Seine, which I can only describe as khaki. This most unattractive, inexplicable colour persisted right to the end of our journey, even when we neared the English Channel and the river became tidal. Fortunately we did not have to pass through many locks; most were near Paris so were passed through whilst we were asleep.

We glided along the river until early afternoon the next day. We saw occasional villages - some historic, some modern with local industry - and even spotted an old castle (or chateau) perched on a limestone outcrop. Behind the villages were low hills and trees, but this was not the lush kind of terrain and vegetation we saw in Bavaria and Austria. Nor were there any vineyards to be seen.

At least this time I had a cabin higher up in the ship, which had a balcony, albeit a very narrow one, so I could see the countryside from my room. On the last river cruise I had to settle for the last remaining cabin, which was on the lowest deck and only had a short window across the top of the room, well out of my reach.

Unfortunately it was very overcast and rained quite heavily during the morning, as is evident from my photos. Eventually we reached the historic town of Les Andelys, which is situated in Upper Normandy. Normandy apparently is so well-known for its heavy rainfall that a lot of the fridge magnets and so forth in tourist shops make a joke of it, with pictures of everyone huddling under umbrellas.

We were driven through the town and out into the countryside, where we saw large fields of wheat and other crops. We also saw parts of a very picturesque beech forest. On our long drive we visited the historic Chateau Fleury, which I will talk about in my next post, and a sleepy little village called Lyons-la-Foret, where most businesses were shut and there was hardly a soul about. During our 30 minutes free time though, just about everyone in our group made their way to the patisserie or to the cafe where they could buy a beer or a coffee, so I daresay those shopkeepers were very pleased they had opened up that day.

The oldest buildings in this little village were apparently built in the 1700s. Buildings in Normandy have their own style, which was evident as we travelled around. They are built very close to one another, from dark timber and stucco (I think). Window boxes and pots of flowers everywhere added colour and charm.

One claim to fame in this village, which apparently has won awards for its beauty, is that the composer Maurice Ravel lived and composed here for about three years. You will see that in my photos. Another is that the two films that have been made over the last 30 years or so that tell the classic story of ‘Madame Bovary’, were filmed here.

All-in-all, it was a delightful village, and very peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Paris. If it weren't for the occasional car, you would have thought you had been transported back to the time of Madame Bovary.

We also learned that the village was far older than the oldest buildings, as it had been completely destroyed by fire in the 1600s. Back before then, Richard the Lionheart had a castle above the village of Les Andelys, and apparently visited Lyons-la-Foret. So this region has some fascinating stories behind it. I only wish I knew more.

The first six photos were taken along the Seine before we reached Les Andelys. The remaining photos were taken in the village of Lyons-la-Foret. I have only captioned the last three photos.