Excursion en Normandie

March 26 - March 27

Bonjour mes copains!

I have just returned from my excursion in Normandy (see title). We left from IES at 7h45 Saturday, March 26th and started the 4 hour 15 minute drive to Caen. We originally thought the weather was going to be cold and rainy but it ended up being sunny and in the low 60's. 

Caen

We arrived in Caen around noon and had a little over two hours to walk around and get lunch. We were dropped off in front of this giant castle so we decided to go check it out. The inside was not actually that cool but we saw the ruins of Guillaume the Conqueror's chateau. Guillaume was the Duke of Normandy and the King of England until his death in 1086. Mallory and I went and explored this church that was right near the castle and it was pretty cool inside. It was the Saint Pierre Eglise

Chateau 

St. Pierre

We then got back on the bus and visited two of the big abbeys in Caen that were built at the beginning of the 11th century. Guillaume and his wife Mathilde built two abbeys: l'Abbaye aux Hommes (The Abbey for the Dudes) and l'Abbaye aux Dames (The Abbey for the Chicks) where they are both buried respectively. We then went and visited the Caen Memorial that had a museum built into it that talked about the 20th century, specifically the Second World War and D-Day.

l'Abbaye aux Hommes

Tombeau de Guillaume 

l'Abbaye aux Dames

Tombe de Mathilde 

We then arrived at the hotel around 7 pm and had a delicious buffet dinner. Since daylight savings time was Sunday morning at 2 am, we went and got a glass of wine and then went to bed. Harkiran order this local drink called Calvados which is basically a very alcoholic apple liquor. It was nasty. 

Les Plages du Démarquement 

We left the hotel at 9 am and headed toward Bayeux, Omaha Beach, and la Pointe du Hoc. On our way to the little town of Bayeux, we stopped at Arromanches where the British built a temporary port to help them land on the beach. 

False Ports

Bayeux

We then drove to the little town of Bayeux to see the Tapestry of Queen Mathilde, a 60 meter-long tapestry that tells about all the conquests of her husband Guillaume. Mallory, Sarah, Harkian, Julia, and I ate at this adorable little creperie and then went and explored the Bayeux- Calvados Cathedral, one of the most amazing cathedrals I have seen. 

Cute little Creperie 

Cathedrale Bayeux- Calvados 

Inside of the Cathedral 

Bayeux

Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery 

We then drove to Omaha beach and the American cemetery where there are almost 10,000 headstones for American soldiers who lost their lives during WWII, especially D-Day. On D-Day alone, 6,000 American soldiers died, 3,000 of them at Omaha beach. 50 million people lost their lives during WWII, 5X the amount that died in WWI.

Pointe du Hoc

La Pointe du Hoc was a strategic point between Omaha beach and Utah beach that the German's originally occupied. On D-Day, 225 US Rangers were charged with the task of sneaking up on Germans and steeling la Pointe du Hoc from them. Unfortunately for the Rangers the got a little lost and had to traverse 3 miles of beach under enemy fire and then climbing up the cliff with specialized ladders and grappling hooks. They managed to get to the top of the cliff and destroy Germany artillery while holding back the Germans who were desperately trying to get the point back from the Allied forced. Two days later at the end of the whole ordeal, only 90 of the original 225 Rangers were still alive. La pointe du Hoc is still littered with huge craters left by bombs and there is a memorial to the Rangers who valiantly risked their lives to kick some Nazi ass. 

The uh...monument 

We then headed back to Nantes. Normandy was beautiful and I learned a lot about WWII and Guillaume  the Duke of Normandy. The weather is getting warmer and my time in Nantes is passing too quickly. In April I will be visiting London, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, and Ibiza. Until next time, A plus tard! More Pictures of Normandy

KSG