Normandy - Day 3

Our tour today was very war-centric, though I would have preferred to have seen Normandy's war sites in more detail.

We began by visiting the WWII Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery is located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel.

It covers 70 hectares, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead from the European arena. The graves face westward, towards the United States. The names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the conflict but could not be located or identified are inscribed on the walls of a semicircular garden at the east side of the memorial. At the center is a bronze statue entitled "Spirit of American Youth".

The view of the endless field of white crosses (and Stars of David) is very affecting.

One of two statues representing America and France:

From the circular chapel at the centre:

Although access was closed, I had to sneak down to Omaha beach to see where it all happened.

Next stop was the seaside resort of Arromanches-les-Bains. We visited the D-Day Museum, which was just how I remembered it from childhood. Unfortunately, I really don't think anything had changed, and the material was very dated and not particularly informative. We did, however, see a good video (from the 40s) about the manufacture and placement of the Mulberry Harbours.

This here is a "Rupert", one of the hundreds of dummy paratroopers that were dropped the night before D-Day so the Germans would believe that the invasion was coming elsewhere...

And this fellow is a member of the 101st Airborne Division, now known as the "Band of Brothers"...

Remainder of the Mulberry Harbour:

In the afternoon we travelled south, stopping at the largest Commonwealth cemetery in France, on the outskirts of Bayeux. According to online sources, the cemetery comprises 3,935 British, 17 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 25 Poles, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 7 Russians, 466 Germans and 1 unknown. Oddly, however, when I checked the onsite memorial books, they listed no New Zealand graves.

An inscription on the memorial reads “NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS” (“We, once conquered by William, have now set free the conqueror's native land”).

The cemetery is more poetic than at Omaha, in that each grave bears its own monumental inscription. These simple heartfelt messages from surviving family are easily able to move you to tears.

Afterwards we enjoyed the most rewarding part of our whole Normandy trip, the Bayeux Tapestry. Still on the theme of war, but moving back a millenium, this embroidered cloth tells the story of William the Conqueror's defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A linen "comic book", 231 feet long and 20 inches wide, depicting 58 scenes in eight colours. This exhibition is the best presented that we have come across yet. There's a lot of nice information that sets the scene beforehand, and a wonderfully narrative audioguide brings the tapestry alive (not to mention the fact that it gets everybody moving around the tapestry in time, instead of clogging up).

Unfortunately, I have no photographs of the tapestry! However, we did have a little wander, and saw the Norman-Romanesque cathedral, consecrated in 1077, which was the original home of the tapestry.

Plus this odd display:



Throughout the trip, we were staying in Caen; known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the Battle for Caen, heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the town.

Today we got back while there was still light, and set off to explore a little. We weren't able to visit the tombs of William the Conquerer or Queen Mathilda, but we climbed all over the castle he built in 1060, the Château de Caen, one of the largest medieval fortresses of Western Europe.

We also found a fun 'fountain square', some nice views of the city and Saint-Pierre Cathedral and - best of all - more good cider. Finished by having dinner with our bus driver!

Normandy - Day 2

Driving around Normandy for hours, one soon gets over the novelty of the landscape and realises that it is actually pretty tedious. There is very little variation, and it's not that pretty - but quite featureless. Having said that, I enjoyed seeing the parasitic mistletoe blighting the trees everywhere. Fetch my golden sickle!

Started the day at Giverny, best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home. The nymphaes in his famous water garden were brown and dead, but the house garden had a little bloom going and was quite pretty. It was interesting visiting his little house, but the trip would have benefited from more information about his life. Also, all the reproductions of his paintings were faded and should have been replaced. Never mind, we had another nice lunch with the obligatory bottle of Normandy nectar...

Moved on to Rouen next, the ancient capital of Normandy. This was another of Europe's delightful medieval cities, and we enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets, eating crepes and admiring the tottering and lopsided half-timbered buildings.

Particular sites of note were the Notre Dame cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre (butter tower), the tallest building in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880. The cathedral was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, and has a tomb for Richard the Lionheart which contains his heart.

The Gros Horloge (Great Clock) is an astronomical clock installed on the archway over a gate in the ancient Roman walls. On the two Renaissance clock faces, a single hand indicates the hour. Under the number VI, a divinity associated with the day of the week appears at noon on a chariot. Above the clock face, a globe indicates the phase of the moon. Many depictions of sheep show the importance of the wool trade in Rouen and the Paschal Lamb, which has been part of Rouen's coat of arms since the 14th century, is represented on the underside of the arch.

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (Old Market Place) is the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by the occupying English in 1431. There is a scrappy garden on the site, and an extremely tall crucifix (not easy to photograph). The nearby modern church of Saint Joan of Arc dominates the square. The form of the building represents the pyre on which Joan of Arc was burnt, and it contains some splendid modern stained glass.

Anna and I also stumbled on an odd square (Aître St. Maclou), where plague victims had been buried in mass graves in 1348. It is surrounded by ossuaries and charnel houses (now art galleries), decorated with skulls and crossbones and gravediggers' tools. A glass case near the entrance displays the skeleton of a cat found in one of the walls. It was most probably a black cat - thought to be an incarnation of the Devil - that was plastered into the masonry, alive, in order to ward off evil spirits.

On a happier note, I spotted this cute toy in a knitting shop. I thought mum might enjoy it!

That night, we made a bit of an effort to have dinner with some of our fellow tourists in Caen. I tried calvados (apple brandy), which was like drinking alcohol fumes, and pommeau (an aperitif produced by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy), which was delicious!


This is Caen's Joan of Arc statue:

Normandy - Day 1

Our trip to Normandy was a slightly budget affair, which meant doing a few things the long way. For instance, rather than flying, we took a bus down to just past Portsmouth and made our way across the Channel on an overnight ferry. I was expecting this to be terrible (like our ferry experience in Greece) but it actually wasn't too bad. We had big comfy chairs and plenty of room. I just slept on the floor. Note for next time to bring more warm clothes and a pillow!

We arrived in Cherbourg first thing on Saturday morning, and ate breakfast on the ferry. Here's a wee pic of the harbour:

Ours is the bus on the left, skilfully packed like a sardine below deck:

Welcome to France. Don't annoy the man with the machine gun.

First stop (after a punishing bus ride) was Mont Saint-Michel, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the most popular destination in Normandy. It is an abbey sitting atop of a small granite island, one kilometre from the coast, and which can be crossed to at low tide. It was very reminiscent of the hilltop cities we saw in Italy, in particular San Marino.

I was delighted to learn that this was the home of the omelette, invented by one Mdme Poulard. However, due to the touristy nature of the place, I didn't eat one here - but held out until lunchtime.

Instead, Anna and I had a walk through the 8th Century abbey, which was very atmospheric (as always) and had terrific views of the alluvial coastline. (FYI my first photograph is eerily similar to one featured in the Wikipedia article!)

Next we drove to Saint-Malo, a walled port city in Brittany. Once a fortified island, it is now fully connected to the mainland. It has always been fiercely independent, declaring itself a republic in 1590 with the motto: "not French, not Breton, but Malouins".

We had a fantastic lunch here, with delicious garlic mushrooms wrapped up in an omelette, and golden cider to die for. My previous omelette abstinence had paid off!

We contented ourselves with a leisurely stroll - around the city walls, admiring the views of the port (very clean)...

...the streets (very Parisian) and the beaches (very European, which is to say, not quite our cup of tea) - through the streets, eating nutella crepes and looking in the shop windows - and onto the beach.