A Driving Day Turn More Sightseeing

The next morning we hit the road again, but this time we were moving cities and "apartments."  On the way, we stopped in two different cities.  The first one was William the Conqueror's birth place in Falaise.  It had a castle up on a hill that we could park right at the bottom of.  The kids all enjoyed running around inside the walls and running off some energy.

The next place we stopped was in Rouen where St. Joan of arc was burned at the stake.  Her church right by where she died was pretty modern and ugly on the outside, but it had these redeeming stained glass windows from a 16th century church implanted into this modern (forgive me!) eyesore.  

The whole group is right next to where St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake; the sign marks the spot.

Right across the street from this church we ate lunch and it was my favorite meal of the whole trip.  I had a big salad with tons of stuff on it and it was perfect!  Before loading back up in the van we looked in the Kathedral von Rouen, a Gothic cathedral which was huge and gorgeous, especially the outside.

Judah with St. Jude Thaddeus

Isaac Thomas with St. Thomas

When we arrived at our next rental we were a little surprised to find that it was not attached to the owner's house, but right in the owner's house. I mean we walk in and they are all looking at us and come to find out that we are renting three bedrooms upstairs next to their grown daughters' two bedrooms.  The information on AirBnB was that the hosts live downstairs and breakfast was included and prepared by them.  It also had many reviews saying how lovely the family was and how much they love children.  So I was semi-prepared for them being around and for the possibility that the dining room would be in their part of the house, but this was a little shocking to me.  We had planned to eat sandwiches for dinner since we'd had a late lunch.  We had all the stuff in our cooler, but I wasn't sure how that was going to work once I saw the set up.  In addition to that, the following day my dad was going to just stay at the house while the rest of us went to EuroDisney.  

It turned out to be fine, even better than fine.  The couple had six children of their own and a slew of grandchildren now.  They were super sweet and the breakfast was delicious.  They were quiet when we were sleeping and had toys for our kids to play with when we were there.  We had full access to our own dining room and a mini fridge.  It all worked out just great, but I wish it had been on the site that they would be in the same areas because I feel much better about renting a place with a lock and separate area when you don't know the people.  God took care of us and they were wonderful people though.