Oct 05, 2011

Well our last full day in France has been a cracker. Our estimation of the weather map was spot on and we were far enough north to miss the rain band headed for Paris so had the waterproofs on to defeat the wind chill factor until lunch time then just kept the pants on after that. We have had INCREDIBLE weather for our trip so the planets have been aligned and all our saints upstairs have obviously been on the job so thank you to all responsible!



A quirky shot of the parade of sheep beside our hotel heading for the salty marshlands around Mount Saint Michel which was some of the entertainment we had at breakfast

The scenery we have seen today has been just beautiful and we have seen so many picture postcard views along the way with buildings from the tiny cute and quirky to the huge ‘Oh my God stupendous’ and everything in between, and while I had thought today may be a bit of a letdown since we are heading to the end of our bike riding for the trip it has been anything but.



Looking towards the Cathedral at Bayeux from what used to be the area which housed the village tanneries. The municipal workers were removing weeds from the waterways…I suspect that wouldn’t have been necessary in the days the tanneries were there so the old swings and roundabouts routine as always!

Our first point of call was Bayeux to see the Bayeux Tapestry which dates back almost 1,000 years. This is a vast wool embroidery on linen cloth which spans the centuries, illustrating the Conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy who prior to the conquest was known as William the Bastard and after defeating King Harold was known as William the Conqueror. The Tapestry is approximately 1 meter high and 70 metres long and is a comic strip as such, which transports the viewer back to medieval times in the midst of Viking boats and Norman knights. The tapestry was displayed for two weeks every year in the cathedral at Bayeux and it is amazingly well preserved. I was grateful of the commentary and it tied up some of the information we had seen at Hever Castle in the UK. This is the region of Normandy and many of the influences for ‘Norman’ architecture we recognised in the UK comes from here.



The Bayeux Cathedral which was a beautiful peaceful place inside

From here we headed to Omaha Beach which was the point of landing for the American troops on D Day June 6th 1944 when the push to liberate Europe began in earnest. Where once there had been a very expensive holiday village, the playground for the rich and famous of Paris there now stands a small holiday settlement. We visited the Museum and were grateful that our parents, ourselves and our children had not been involved in such a conflict. It was a ‘bloody battle’ and the beach was apparently known as ‘Bloody Omaha Beach’. From here we walked down to the beach which is now a quiet peaceful place and enjoyed the peace of the place.



The Memorial at the rear from many years ago and the sculpture for the 40th Anniversary in 1984 on Omaha Beach. A name I remember from many TV documentaries and accounts of WWII.

From here we headed for Honfleur and again were treated to many beautiful vistas and the ‘Norman’ influence in buildings was very obvious particularly as we approached Honfleur. We headed off from the main road on another GPS short cut to our accommodation and wound our way through tiny country lanes past some incredible real estate and then we were descending a really steep hill into the old town and next thing turning down a tiny lane to….would you believe it, our Hotel where we got a million dollar welcome. We headed down to the village to explore and found an incredibly beautiful harbour village which looked spectacular and even more so once the sun set and the up lights turned on. We saw the bridge above the loch gates lift and let a yacht into the little harbour and can see the sails from the the bridge we will no doubt ride on tomorrow to get to Le Havre. What a treat all round.



The Harbour at Honfleur looking towards the loch where the bridge lifts to allow entrance to the harbour Honfleur from on top of the bridge looking back to the town

Bits and Bobs:

Last nights’ accommodation:
Auberge De La Baie
33 Route De La Rive
50170 Ardevon, Mont St Michel France

Well this was one of our budget choices and so we expected the small room and no air-conditioning (thankfully we didn’t need it anyway) but it was clean and presented well, we also weren’t crowded out by all the coach traffic because this is pretty much a one destination / attraction town i.e. the Mont St Michel. The WIFI was (*#%^) but they didn’t charge us for it which they had intended to so okay in the end. The dinner at the restaurant was delicious but we didn’t choose the ‘Salad with pig’s ears and chicken gizzards’….and I kid you not that was on the menu! If you have a family and they like the whole farmyard scene then this is the place for you! Why? Because the hotel which has been here for hundreds of years beside a small country road has now been extended on the accommodation side to cater for coaches and disabled patrons and is across the road from a dairy and the road between them is the main access route for cows to the dairy and sheep to the salt marshes for feeding at low tide as the road testifies to with the generous coverage of manure all over it!



The Hotel on the left of the road and the dairy on the right of the road. We were grateful it was cool enough to leave the windows closed so our room didn’t smell like a cow-yard.