Well, we are on the road again. Yesterday we drove from our gîte up north near Belgium to Caen. It was a great drive through stunning Normandy countryside. We stopped at Le Tréport along the way, and drove through the city of Le Havre. Le Tréport was a very nice seaside town but Le Havre was more interesting. Le Havre was nearly completely destroyed by Allied bombs during WWII so they hired a Belgian architect to rebuild the city, and he did so in a modern and utilitarian way with row upon row of rectangular apartment blocks. Although the city centre may have been well…ugly…the beach was packed and very inviting. Despite being October, it was a warm and sunny day.
On the final leg of the journey we had to cross the Pont de Normandie, over the Seine estuary. The bridge was huge: a long, high bridge that touched down on an island then another bridge.
When we got to Caen, we quickly found a hotel, although the closest parking space was 750 meters away. Caen was an important city where much was destroyed during the war, but luckily not everything. Since our hotel was right in the old town, we walked a bit and visited the castle. The castle was built by William the Conqueror, and there was no admission fee. The inside of the castle was really cool. From the ramparts we had a great view of the Caen. One of the best things about the castle was that the moat was empty, so you could see how deep it would have been.
Since we arrived in Caen on a Friday night, the streets were packed with people, students mainly.
The next morning, we woke at 8:00 am, I went out and bought two baguettes while my mom went to get milk and we ate our cereal and baguette in the hotel. Our first stop of the day was Juno beach where the Canadians landed on D-Day, or as they say in French Jour-J. The beach was interesting because you could see where the German bunkers and machine guns had been; the concrete bases were still there. We went into one bunker with a guide. We walked along the beach a bit too. Dad and I went into the Canadian museum. One of the most interesting things in the museum was the collection of war propaganda posters. My favourite was one that showed a lion with a crown, representing Britain, charging into battle with a sword, and beside it a beaver, representing Canada, with a spear. After Juno Beach we took a fabulous route along the coast where we could see remains of the Atlantic Wall.
Later, when we got to Bayeux, we ate our picnic lunch, (our Camembert was getting really smelly, I didn’t like sitting beside the cool bag during this, our second day of travel), and then we went straight to see the Bayeux tapestry. Despite how boring the name sounds it was really great. The tapestry is from 1077 AD and shows William the conqueror’s conquest of England in 1066 AD in a comic strip style. It is 68.3 meters long and better than any “Pearls Before Swine”. The way that they can tell the story with simple pictures is amazing. Since it is done with thread instead of paint, it seems almost 3-D.
Photos: Juno Beach, Carved timber on a house in Caen, Beautiful Le Havre, Caen Castle
Great travelogue Sam. I am thoroughly enjoying your writing. All that talk of the Bayeux Tapestry reminds me of the great T shirt they had at Battle Abbey in Sussex (built in thanks to God for the Norman Victory). Picture the Tapestry illustration of King Harold with a Norman Arrow engorged in his eye socket. Below, the Caption "I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with A..."
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