Normandy
Photo dump alert.
This is what happens when I don’t blog every day. Gah.
Okay, so yesterday morning we left Paris. Had some hair raising experiences getting out of Paris, but we’re all alive and that is a good thing. Once out of this city, we bumped up against some pretty serious French countryside, which is an entirely different deal than Paris. I might note.
We headed toward Giverny, land of Monet. It was very floral, which is appealing to me and some of mine. Exceptional. After a picnic lunch in a random and beautiful park in Giverny, and some French village time in same, we headed toward the coastal town of Lagrune-sur-mer, where we’ll be for a couple of days.
This adorable little town is on the very eastern edge of Juno beach, Canadian D-day site. Not even kidding. What all the people don’t tell you about the Normandy D-day beaches is how exceptionally beautifully they are. So, there is this remarkable incongruence between the beauty of the holiday towns along
the coast, and the profound drama that they experienced here 75 years ago. In fact, it was almost exactly that amount of years ago, as the D-day towns gear up for a massive event next week to celebrate the anniversary.
Heading into our little town, we realized we were in for a real treat. Tiny stone houses, draped in rambling roses and ivy, sandy lanes to the beaches and little outdoor cafes.
Today we had a tour at Juno Beach, and the artificial harbour built at Arromanches to create a safe landing site with a breakwater made of sunken ships and large (I mean REALLY large) blocks of concrete. The remains of the brilliant idea are there today...absolutely fascinating.
As we were close to Bayeaux, we went to see the tapestry, 1000 years old, celebrating the victory of William the Conquerer. The church in Bayeaux is the same vintage, a medieval wonder the same size as Notre Dame in Paris.
Ice cream remains remarkable in France.
It was a slow day, meandering from interest to interest, but after a late Mass, a later dinner and a late excursion home (we’re talking about 10 pm now), we were pretty giddy. But the fields and sunset on our 40 minute ride home were so spectacular that we were compelled to stop by the roadside for a frolic, and happened across a little park with a neolithic burial mound. What the heck.
I didn’t even know Neolithics buried their loved ones.
This is what happens when I don’t blog every day. Gah.
Okay, so yesterday morning we left Paris. Had some hair raising experiences getting out of Paris, but we’re all alive and that is a good thing. Once out of this city, we bumped up against some pretty serious French countryside, which is an entirely different deal than Paris. I might note.
We headed toward Giverny, land of Monet. It was very floral, which is appealing to me and some of mine. Exceptional. After a picnic lunch in a random and beautiful park in Giverny, and some French village time in same, we headed toward the coastal town of Lagrune-sur-mer, where we’ll be for a couple of days.
This adorable little town is on the very eastern edge of Juno beach, Canadian D-day site. Not even kidding. What all the people don’t tell you about the Normandy D-day beaches is how exceptionally beautifully they are. So, there is this remarkable incongruence between the beauty of the holiday towns along
the coast, and the profound drama that they experienced here 75 years ago. In fact, it was almost exactly that amount of years ago, as the D-day towns gear up for a massive event next week to celebrate the anniversary.
Heading into our little town, we realized we were in for a real treat. Tiny stone houses, draped in rambling roses and ivy, sandy lanes to the beaches and little outdoor cafes.
Today we had a tour at Juno Beach, and the artificial harbour built at Arromanches to create a safe landing site with a breakwater made of sunken ships and large (I mean REALLY large) blocks of concrete. The remains of the brilliant idea are there today...absolutely fascinating.
As we were close to Bayeaux, we went to see the tapestry, 1000 years old, celebrating the victory of William the Conquerer. The church in Bayeaux is the same vintage, a medieval wonder the same size as Notre Dame in Paris.
Ice cream remains remarkable in France.
It was a slow day, meandering from interest to interest, but after a late Mass, a later dinner and a late excursion home (we’re talking about 10 pm now), we were pretty giddy. But the fields and sunset on our 40 minute ride home were so spectacular that we were compelled to stop by the roadside for a frolic, and happened across a little park with a neolithic burial mound. What the heck.
I didn’t even know Neolithics buried their loved ones.
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