Not the Loire Valley. Normandy.

I didn’t clue in that Sir Renaissance hadn’t booked the Loire château vacation as planned until I realized that we had passed Versailles and were heading West.

Will you think me very spoilt if I tell you that my eyes pricked with disappointment? It’s okay, I think I’m spoilt too.

But he explained his reasoning.

He thought the Loire Valley would be much more fun to go to with the kids, tramping around all the chateaux. Plus he thought that I just wanted to go there for my blog anyway (blush), whereas he wanted to relax and enjoy our 10 year anniversary weekend with no other purpose in mind than that.

And he wanted to recreate our one year wedding anniversary where we took a night away from all the stress and hardship of our year in Africa to stay in a luxury spa hotel in Nairobi.

And he saw how tired and stressed I’d been lately and wanted to pamper me with a spa treatment, which would have been harder to find in the Loire.

And he thought I might love Deauville (doe-veal), which has the advantage of being both a harbor town on the coast of Normandy (I love the ocean), as well as the home of the American Film Festival held every September. Did you know that? Me neither!

And he was sure I’d appreciate staying in the five-star hotel (in a country that only goes up to 4 stars) where all the film stars stay during the festival.

And he wanted to show me a place that left an impression on him from his boyhood – to share that piece of himself with me.

When he finished explaining what was behind the change in plans, my eyes pricked for quite different reasons.

So here is Deauville, the hotel where we are staying.  The Normandie Barrière.

The room

The second room.

(There was a strong smell of paint in the first one with no ventilation. The hotel is 100 years old and they are only renovating it now to include ac and ventilation, which had us asking to change rooms almost as soon as we had arrived.  They were very gracious and this room seemed much cozier to us and was very fresh).

The toiletries.

Hermes? Wow! Must be 5-star, even if it is only eau de toilette, and not parfum.

The menu.

Only in France right? A menu for your dog?

I’ll introduce you to Deauville properly when we get back.

Until then, bisous! Ciao!

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