Les Plages de Normandie

A casemate

When we arrived at the Longues-sur-Mer battery overlooking Omaha and Gold Beaches, the weather was appropriately bleak. Again, we were almost the only people around, which was a little eerie.

The bunkers were in the middle of empty grass fields surrounded by farms. We saw four old German casemates, which are fortified concrete structures that hold guns. We could actually walk inside them, behind the guns and down a dark hallway to the exit in the back. Smaller rooms inside were fenced off. We also saw some old lookout spots and a larger two-story bunker. They are all pretty much in their original form, except for the rust on the guns and the moss on the bunkers. My dad pointed out that it was really impressive how there was almost no graffiti. We didn't go down to the actual beach, but we could see it from the edge of the cliffs.

The back of one of the guns

Looking out from inside the bunker

Three casemates

The beach below

Spirit of American Youth statue

Next, we headed to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which was nearby. The site is huge, immaculate, and very secure. Once more, it was us and maybe three other people, but I counted at least seven security guards. There is a memorial center, which is like a museum about American soldiers in World War II, especially on D-Day. The center is really well-done and interesting. All of the displays and video installations look very clean and modern.

After going through the center, we walked around the actual cemetery part. It is huge; over nine thousand American soldiers are buried there. At the front, near the memorial center, is a large semi-circle platform with the Spirit of American Youth statue and maps showing D-Day operations. Looking out from the platform is a reflecting pool. You can also see a circular chapel that is in the middle of the cemetery.

The grave markers are perfect rows of white crosses and stars of David. Everything, from the landscaping to the graves to the statues, is kept immaculate. We even saw a crew of at least ten people going through and scrubbing each individual marker by hand with soap and water.

Next, we went to the German Military Cemetery in La Cambe. My host-father, who teaches history and leads field trips to Normandy, had recommended that we visit both to see the contrast, and it really is striking. It is very clear which cemetery is for victorious side. Even though there are over twice as many soldiers buried there, the German cemetery is much smaller, and there are two soldiers to a grave marker. In contrast to the gleaming white crosses at the American cemetery, all of the markers are black and there are only scattered groups of five crosses. The visitor center was small and empty, with no guards, and the exhibits looked old and dated. Most of the exhibit was about how the cemetery was built entirely by volunteers, and today students volunteer to do upkeep work during school vacations.

We were considering going to a huge D-Day Museum in nearby Caen, but we didn't end up having time. I thought the American Memorial Center was pretty comprehensive though. Seeing the D-Day beaches and cemeteries was somber but very interesting, so I'm really glad we got the chance.

À bientôt!

Bayeux!

Well, it's 23°F (-5°C) in Bordeaux right now, meaning the chance I'll get out of bed today is 50-50. So what better time to blog about Bayeux! After Mont Saint-Michel, we drove to our hotel in Port-en-Bessin, which is a smaller city near Bayeux. The next morning, we headed into Bayeux for breakfast and tourist-ing. Bayeux is most famous for the Bayeux Tapestry, a 230 foot long tapestry about the Norman conquest of England, and the gigantic Cathédrale Notre-Dame. Unfortunately, the Bayeux Tapestry was closed for the month of January, but I wasn't too crushed. I was interested in seeing it, but it wasn't on my must-see-or-will-die-unfulfilled-omg list. On to the Cathedral!

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame was incroyable! This was easily the biggest cathedral I had ever seen (we hadn't been to Chartres yet). It was consecrated almost a thousand years ago, in 1077 (!!!), and Wikipedia tells me it is in the Norman-Romanesque style of architecture. It's incrediblely impressive how people were able to build such a huge, intricate, imposing structure so long ago, before any machines or computers. I don't know how they did it! We stood outside, just walking around the cathedral for a while before even going in because the outside alone was so amazing. 

The inside as well was extremely impressive and well-preserved. The vaulted ceiling is really cool, and the stained glass windows are beautiful. There were almost no other tourists there; it was crazy to be walking around in this huge cathedral almost all by ourselves. 

There was also a crypt that we went down into. It was spooky! And it was too dark to see any of the murals on the walls very well, so we went back up to the main level pretty fast.

Creepy!

Pretty soon, we were grabbing a baguette and off to see the beaches of Normandy. À bientôt!

















P.S. I found out you can buy beer in the on-campus dining halls here! Oh, France...

Mont Saint-Michel!

After we finished walking around Dinan, we headed to Mont Saint-Michel! Mont Saint-Michel is an island in Normandy with this beautiful abbey on a hill, and it looks like a castle. The abbey dates back to the 8th century, when the story is that the archangel Michael/Michel spoke to a bishop and told him to build an church on the island. It used to be that the road going to the island was submerged at high tide, so you could only get to it at low tide, when the sea is swept out, leaving just sand and mud around the island. However, now the road going to the island is elevated enough that it is almost never flooded, so you can drive right up to it.

Visually, Mont Saint-Michel is really striking. It looks like this towering stone castle on an island fortress, like something out of a fairy tale! It is not really that far from the nearest city full of souvenir shops, but the expanses of wet sand and small channels around it make it seem pretty isolated.

When you go through the ramparts and onto the actual island, you see that the main street is filled with souvenir shops, touristy restaurants, and a couple hotels. I believe Rick Steves described it as "grotesquely touristy," but it wasn't that bad. It reminded me a little bit of Carcassonne (the walled medieval city I visited in Ocotber). The streets are really narrow; my dad and I couldn't imagine what it must be like in the middle of the summer when it's absolutely packed! (Mont Saint-Michel is the second most-visited tourist site in France!)

After we got past the main entrance street, we kept walking uphill and following the signs to the monastery. It was quite the climb! Hopefully it counteracted some of the pastries I've been eating because sometimes I'm afraid I'll return from France as a squat little croissant. Which would be totally worth it but less than ideal. Anyways, we saw some really pretty views of the bay and the fields surrounding the island. When we finally got to the monastery at the top, we bought tickets to tour it. The monastery is much bigger than it looks; there were a lot more rooms than I thought there would be! And they were all amazing! Even the monks' old cafeteria had beautiful wrought iron windows and interesting tiles on the floor. There was also a garden and a pretty courtyard. Pictures!

Omg so artistic.

A model of the statue at the top of the spire - it's Saint Michel himself!
Slaying a dragon, naturally.

There he is!

When we emerged from the monastery, the sun had miraculously come out, and Mont Saint-Michel looked even prettier! I could not stop taking photos. Naturally, I had to re-take all the ones I had already taken so I would have sunny and cloudy versions of each. Oh, digital photography!

Sadly, not long after the sun came out, it started setting. We were pretty tired and getting really cold, but we stayed and sat in the car for a little bit so we could see the island lit up in the dark. It was so pretty!!! See, Dad? I told you we should stay! 

 

À bientôt!

Dinan, Bretagne!

The day after driving up to Nantes, we headed to Dinan, a small town in Brittany! It was cold and gray, but Dinan was really pretty and French-y, it kind of reminded me of Saint-Émilion. It was really empty, except for, oddly enough, a lot of runners, which was weird because French people don't run that much, but like half the people we saw in the street were running! And it was freezing too, so not exactly jog-inspiring weather. Cést fou!

We went on the Rick Steves self-guided walking tour, from his France book, which my dad downloaded. It was a good way to see all the major spots. Dinan is known for having a lot of old medieval houses, which all have the upper floors jutting out over the first floor. The Rickster informed us that this is because back then, taxes were based on the square footage of the ground floor, so people would try to make their ground floor compact and then build out. Plus, shopkeepers could sell their goods under the overhang of their upstairs floors. I was really impressed that all these buildings from medieval times were still standing! Most of them are souvenir shops or restaurants now.

We also walked along the ramparts that surround the town, which gave us a great view of the town center on one side and the river below on the other side. There were also some abstract metal sculptures along the wall, which were cool but seemed a little out of place.

Next, we headed to the Basilisque Saint-Saveur, which was built all the way back in the 12th century! The basilica is in really good condition, and all the Christmas decorations and the manger scene were still up.

Then, came like the most amazing lunch I have ever had. I admit, one of the main reasons I wanted to make a stop in Brittany was to try their famous crêpes, and they exceeded all expectations! We went to Le Beffroi, which had an awesome menu where you could get a savory crêpe (galette), a sweet crêpe, a glass of cider (a Brittany specialty), and a café for less than 10 euros. For the savory crêpe, I got one with cheese, egg, ham, and tomatoes, which was so so so so so so good. Not to mention I was starving since we didn't really eat breakfast (I might have had like one cookie). Then for the dessert crêpe, my dad and I both got caramel au beurre salé, or salted butter carmel. In. Croy. Able. Caramel au beurre salé is also a Brittany specialty, and it was just so ridiculously good. It was so smooth and warm and rich and sweet but salty. I could eat caramel au beurre salé crêpes for the rest of my life, and I would be happy.

NOMNOMNOM

After this other worldy crêpe experience, we were off to Mont St. Michel! À bientôt!

P.S. I saw snow falling this morning!!! Only a few flakes, but still!!

Il fait trop froid!

This morning, I was shocked to wake up and find that the grass in the backyard had turned white overnight! My host-family informed me that this is a phenomenon known as "frost."

It is way too cold here.