Normandy 1: Blasts from the Distant Past

In the days leading up to our September 4 departure for Normandy, we spent most of our time working on boat projects--Lon dealing primarily with hull preparation for touch-up paint, and me working on re-staining our aft access door and the frames of our deck chairs. We were definitely ready for a break afterwards.

Lon uses our dinghy to get around to the hard-to-reach 

parts of the hull. He is also trying to learn how to "drive"

the boat with the single oar--he's still working on his

coordination, but at least he hasn't fallen in the water.

On Fridays the Auxonne tourist office opens the clock

tower of the cathedral to guided tours. In late August

we finally took advantage and climbed to the top for a

bird's eye view of Auxonne's narrow old streets and steep roofs.

A Sunday afternoon bike ride outside of Auxonne 

took me by this stand of trees playing host to what

I believe is mistletoe. 

The early autumn sunsets are wonderful in Auxonne

As we (i.e., mostly me) were making our travel plans for Normandy, we realized more than ever the truth of the saying, "so many places, so little time." One would think that a week would be more than enough time to see what needed to be seen in a single region of France. It quickly became evident that Normandy was so chock full of places of historical or cultural interest that some difficult choices would have to be made, especially since we refused to: 1) move to a different hotel each night, 2) sightsee from sun-up to sundown, and 3) drive crazy distances each day. (We don't know how the "6 countries in 8 days" tourists do it and maintain their sanity.)

Our only "must sees" for the trip were the American D-Day landing site at Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery nearby, and Mont-Saint-Michel. The itinerary evolved from that, and we continued to fine-tune it even while we were there.

Getting to Normandy by train was a breeze. It involved a couple of changes of train--once in Dijon and once in Paris--but it was SO relaxing not to have to drive 300 miles by car, or to have to deal with airport security.  Public transportation can do only so much however, particularly in rural France. Taking guided tours everywhere held no appeal, so we really needed the flexibility afforded by a car. We've found that it's fairly easy to rent a car at or near railway stations in the bigger towns, and the city of Caen was no exception.

Our base for the first 4 nights was an Airbnb apartment in the village of Commes, just a few kilometers from the water at about the midway point between the American landing zones to the west and the British and Canadian sectors to the east. Although you can't really move in this part of Normandy without "tripping" over World War II sites, we focused our first couple of days on some of the older history of the area.

The Notre Dame church in Commes-not on anyone's

"must see" lists, but very old.  The church tower dates from

the 11th century.

Our next door neighbor at the Airbnb.  The apartment we 

 were in was in a converted stable building that at one time
 served this chateau. There are lots of chateaux in Normandy. 

Our first stop was the town of Bayeux, about a 15 minute drive from where we were staying. A Roman settlement existed in the area from about the 1st century B.C., but the Vikings managed to destroy the existing settlements during their raids in the late 9th century. After being rebuilt, it might have remained just another of France's old towns, except for the fact that in 1066 it was the town from which William the Conqueror--the Duke of Normandy at that time, and cousin to the English king Edward the Confessor--launched his conquest of England after Edward's death. The crowning of the first Norman king marked a turning point in English history, although I suspect that what most Americans know about the Normans in England is derived from watching various depictions of the "Robin Hood" legend (where put-upon Saxons fight against Norman oppressors). Bayeux was the first French town (of significant size) liberated from Nazi occupation during World War II. Its rapid liberation so quickly after D-Day meant that Bayeux was largely spared from the physical destruction that decimated so many towns and villages in this part of Normandy.

Downtown Bayeux. The town contains many

original buildings from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Neighborhood of former tanneries (pre-15th C) and

dye works.

The Bayeux Cathedral, consecrated in 1077

in the presence of William the Conqueror by

Bishop Odo, half brother of William. It's still a

working church and is absolutely huge.

The Bayeux Cathedral crypt: columns from

the 11th C, paintings of angels from the 13th C

A main "claim to fame" of Bayeux is the Bayeux Tapestry, created in the late 11th century (and probably commissioned by the House of Norman) as a victor's chronicle of the events surrounding William the Conqueror's conquest of England. As such, it is essentially a work of propaganda to legitimize William's defeat of the English noble Harold (another relative of Edward the Confessor). Not truly a tapestry, in that it is embroidered and not woven, it is an astonishing piece of workmanship. The tapestry is 270 feet long and about 20 inches high. Its scenes include the preparation for invasion, the Channel crossing, the Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066), and even the appearance of Haley's Comet that year. It is a miracle that it has survived for nearly 1000 years. One of the events that might have led to its destruction was its confiscation in 1792 during the French Revolution for use as a cover for military wagons. It was rescued from one such wagon by a local lawyer who stored it in his house. It is now classified as a "UNESCO Memory of the World."

The Tapestry Museum displays the Bayeux Tapestry in continuous fashion along a curved wall.

The Channel crossing, complete with happy, smiling horses

Haley's Comet (mid-upper part of panel) was probably seen as a bad

omen by soon-to-be-deposed Harold

The battle scenes were rather graphic--dead bodies and chopped off heads are depicted in the lower

part of the panel under the active fighting.

We also explored some of Bayeux's WWII heritage, but that's a topic for the next blog posting, which will focus on World War II Normandy.

On Friday, September 6 we drove nearly 2 hours to the southwestern limits of Normandy to visit Le Mont-Saint-Michel. Anyone who has ever watched a program about travel in France will recognize the iconic profile of this site built on a rocky outcrop in a bay that experiences vast swings in tide.

The flat landscape makes Le Mont-Saint-Michel

visible for long distances. We walked on the pedestrian

path/bridge on our way to MSM; we took a shuttle bus back.

The history of MSM is thought to date back to the early 700's. Changed and extended throughout the centuries, the Mont contains a Benedictine Abbey--dedicated to Saint Michael--built on the top of the rock, a village laid out below, and fortifications surrounding it all. It became an important site of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. After a stint as a prison from 1793-1863, it reclaimed its religious heritage. The village currently has about 50 full-time inhabitants.

Part of the mystique and the fortress-like character of Mont-Saint-Michel derives from the fact that, in former times, land access to the Mont could only be made at times when the tides were low and the land exposed. The crossing on foot could be dangerous--high tide could come in quickly and powerfully, and at low tide the exposed clay could harbor pools of quicksand. However, in the 1870's a road to the Mont was constructed. Land reclamation projects, the construction of the causeway, and the creation of a dam with flood tide gates all contributed to the gradual silting in of the Mont, such that it lost much of its island-like character. In 2005 the French government began work on a major project to restore the bay. Among other things, the old causeway was removed and a lighter pedestrian bridge installed to allow the currents to flow more freely around the Mont. Restoration work is ongoing.

Modern-day pilgrimage: As one of the top 5 tourist 

destinations in France, MSM has nearly 3 million visitors

a year. 

Entering the lower gates of Mont-Saint-Michel

was a touristic nightmare for us. We knew to

expect crowds, but the reality was horrible

all the same. A bit too "Disney clean" and
too many souvenir shops for our taste.

The narrow streets of medieval MSM were

chockablock with souvenir shops and people. 

And this was September--I can't imagine what

it's like in July and August.

We could escape much of the crowd by

taking the physically more demanding 

"ramparts route" up to the abbey. Great views

up there as well.

Looking up at the Abbey. We went into the
Abbey, and could recognize that it was an
architectural wonder, but it was too crowded
for us to really enjoy the visit.

Looking down at the route into Mont-Saint-Michel.
 The pedestrian and shuttle bus bridge curves to the left,
 then right. The dam is in the distance to the right.

During the abbey's time as a prison, goods were hauled up the

exterior with this chain pulley system that was powered

by 6 prisoners walking inside a huge wheel.

View over the bay from the Abbey. The tide was starting

to come back in.

Mont-Saint-Michel is a UNESCO World Heritage site twice over: First, simply for being what it is and the uniqueness of its location, and second, for being part of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route.

We're glad we made the visit, but the best parts of the day were those where we could escape the full crush of the tourist crowds--the walk over from the mainland and the various views from the ramparts. Our experience and reaction to the crowds has made us reconsider our preliminary itinerary for our upcoming few days in Paris. We had intended to spend a day at Versailles, but in reading several accounts of crowds and long lines--even in September--we are having second (and third and fourth) thoughts about the wisdom of that plan.

Next up--Normandy's D-Day heritage.