Normandy, Joan of Arc, William the Conqueror, & D-

My favorite moment occurred on the first day of the trip, in the public lavatory in the square in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. There is a very interesting and very modern church on the site, which was locked up tight during the lunch hour(s), and I wanted to know something about it. I asked the gentleman who was working in the lavatory when the church was built. His answer was, 'Oh, at the same time as the public toilets.' There's a man to whom his job is the center of his world!

On a more serious note, the landing beaches are so impressive to visit; it is incredible to me that our men scaled those cliffs, even without the enemy fire. I get goose bumps even as I write this...

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We rented a car at the airport (rented it from Hertz here in the States before we left--much cheaper than renting it there) and drive throughout Normandy. We returned the car at Tours, where we began our bike trip through the Loire Valley.

We had a lot of trouble finding this hotel, as the street changes names about 3 times, is one way in some places, and is a pedestrian-only street for a few blocks. The hotel is also tucked in a courtyard behind a wall, but we were very pleased once we arrived.

It was our first night, just off the trans-Atlantic flight with a day of sightseeing to prevent naps, and we were tired and delighted to discover how SILENT this hotel was. No traffic noises, no noisy neighbors, just pure, unadulterated quiet. I truly don't remember much about the rooms themselves--they were fine, but not especially luxurious, but the quiet was such a luxury itself!

It turns out this hotel is a member of the Relais de Silence, apparently an association of hotels offering especially quiet accommodations. Worth looking into if you want peace and quiet.

There is parking in the courtyard and behind the hotel, so your car is not out on the street. The people were very friendly and helpful in suggesting restaurants and the like.

La Mere Poulard is one of the few hotels on Mont St-Michel proper, so there is not a lot of choice if you want to spend the night there. (Which is highly recommended, as the crowds during the day are fierce.) These accommodations were basic, nothing special, but certainly adequate and clean. The hotel has clearly converted a number of nearby houses into their hotel, and you can walk between several buildings before reaching your rooms. Staying at the hotel does help you get a reservation at the restaurant, which is one of the most famous in all of France. (Not wonderful in my opinion, however...)

La Mere Poulard is famous for its omelettes, which are made in front of a large window so that the crowds on the street can watch. It is fun to eat there, so as to say you did so (you will be in great company, at least historically), but I didn't love the food. The kids didn't find much they wanted, and frankly I didn't like my omelet. They pride themselves on fluffly omelets, but I found it too fluffy (and undercooked inside as a result--foamy stuff oozed out when I cut into it). We were also surprised to discover that the mushroom omelet (which as I recall was the only choice of 'filling') comes not filled with mushrooms as we expected, but rather with a pile of sauteed mushrooms on the side.

In short, do this for the experience if you want, but not for the food.

The Gothic cathedral of Rouen is very familiar-looking because it was painted so often and in so many lights by Monet. What a pleasure to see it in person! We were a little disappointed that one of the towers was hidden by scaffolding, but greatly amused to discover that this is the 'butter tower'--paid for by a tax on butter!

I expected to drag my teenage sons kicking and screaming through the cathedral, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when my younger son pointed out the meaning behind the various symbols on sarcophagi in the church. I knew that Richard the Lionhearted's sarcophagus was there--that was the secret I was keeping to entice the kids into the cathedral--but did not know that having one's foot on a lion (or not, or having a dog instead of a lion) meant that you were or were not a crusader, and indicated whether you died in battle or a natural death. So Jeffrey walked out the cathedral pointing out all the crusaders...and I could puzzle out enough of the Latin inscriptions to confirm he was right.

So, for you history buffs, you have Richard and Rollon, and Rollon's son William Longsword, and Richard's brother Robert all represented by the sarcophagi here.

In addition, you have a classic Gothic cathedral which was severely damaged during World War II. Almost all of the stained glass was lost at that time, and in fact on the east side of the nave, all but two flying buttresses were destroyed, and they are all that saved the entire nave from destruction.

The Place du Vieux Marche in Rouen is a short walk down the rue du Gros Horloge from the cathedral. It is here, in this square, that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. This is now just an open cobbled space, with a very modern church and a market on one side, and several cafes and tourist shops on the other.

There isn't too much to see here, but it takes only a couple of minutes to walk over from the cathedral, and it is worth making the pilgrimage. There is a marker where she was burned, and a tall cross celebrating her restoration to the Church some 25 years after her death. There is also a nice, clean public toilet here.

This was another 'must do' on my list that I expected would be a 'no way' for my teenage sons. But I was wrong. When I said we were going to the museum of the tapestry for just a quick visit, be good--my younger son asked if this was the tapestry with Halley's comet in it. I didn't know, just knew it was about the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror--but he was right again.

The museum has a lot of panels describing each section of the tapestry, before you get to the tapestry itself. If you have the time, this is worthwhile, but it is quite time-consuming to read all the writeups. We went quickly through this, because there is also a movie which gives you a great overview of what you will see. Then, you get to the tapestry itself, which is maybe two feet high and hundreds of feet long! (The comet is about in the middle...and was considered an omen at the time it appeared just before the Battle of Hastings.)

I do wish I had had more time to spend here, but there was a lot more to see and do in Normandy, and we had to be on our way. It is well worth the visit, though, even if it has to be quick. I do suspect the lines can get very long at times, as it is a slow process when people stop to look at every image--so plan accordingly.

Arromanches was called Gold Beach during the D-Day landings and was one of the beaches assigned to the British troops. Here there are the remains of one of the two mulberry harbors built during and immediately after the landings--and destroyed by a storm less than two weeks later.

We began our visit by parking on the sidewalk (of course) in Arromanches, near the harbor, and walking up to a 360 degree theater up on the hill overlooking the harbor. The 15 minute film shown here is not useful in terms of orienting you to the geography of the landing beaches, but it is great for setting the mood for the rest of your visit to the D-Day beaches. The film was partially shot by war correspondents and is partially recent.

We then walked around on the hill a bit, visited some gun emplacements, and looked out over the harbor. You can clearly see the ruins of the mulberry harbor, which was a 'floating' harbor made of parts hauled over on the ships that made up the landing fleet. There are great bits of concrete which were put down, and other parts lashed to them, to provide a good harbor for the next wave of ships bringing in supplies, etc. Remember that the Allies were able to surprise the Germans somewhat by landing on these beaches, precisely because they are not great natural harbors. It was the mulberry harbors that were supposed to allow the Allies to have good harbors and to continue the effort after the initial wave of landings. Unfortunately, the one at Arromanches and the American mulberry harbor on Omaha Beach were destroyed about ten days after they were built, in a terrible storm.

We headed west from Gold Beach in Arromanches, past Omaha Beach which was one of the American landing beaches, and went to Utah Beach where my father landed troops during the D-Day invasions (or Jour-J as the French call it.) Utah Beach is about 10 km away from Ste. Mere l'Eglise, famous for the church steeple (visible from Utah Beach) where an American paratrooper caught his parachute and hung, playing dead, for hours before being rescued.

There are tanks and landing craft on display here, plus a museum which we did not have time to visit. There are markers pointing out the directions and distances to various nearby towns and to the various ships used in the first wave of the invasion. There is, most meaningful to me, a marker saying '0 km Route de Liberation.' The French around here have certainly not forgotten their liberators!