Normandy and Mount St. Michel

This week we were off to Paris again, Leanne had a meeting on Friday so we decided to make it a weekend trip. We left early Friday on the Euro-star train. This would get us to Paris early enough to have lunch before Leanne's 2:30 meeting. For lunch we both picked the special set meal of the day.

They included cold green pea soup, 

this was poured at the table.

It was unbelievable, I will learn how to make this. 

Main course was Chicken with risotto. 

Dessert was a chocolate biscuit, with raspberry sorbet.

We both enjoyed this great lunch.

After her meeting we met for a glass of wine at one of Paris's many little restaurants. 

From there we took a two hour train ride  to Bayeux. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux

This is one of the few town not destroyed during the D-Day campaign. 

The first thing you see as you get off the train is the Bayeux Cathedral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Cathedral

This is another huge church, that you just have to wonder how the built it without a crane, or power tools.

As with most church's it has a pulpit. In most of the very old church's the pulpits are in the middle of the building and it is high and very ornate. I always say it's to preach fire and brimstone to the masses.

And to get them to give more money so they can build these huge churches.

The town itself is not very big so I wonder why they built such a big church.

I'm sure the kinds felt safe going in the church when they see this guy hooked on the side of it. Its actually a drain spout.

As we get close to the hotel we take time for a photo opp.

This is the street our hotel was on, not as busy as I thought it would be. This is the anniversary week of the D-Day invasion and there were a lot of Americans in town.

The next day we did a day tour of the D-Day invasion. First stop was the La Cambe  German war cemetery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cambe_German_war_cemetery

 There are 21,000 Germans buried here. The mound in the background has the remains of 207 unknown soldiers.

The black crosses symbolize soldiers, the larger for an officer and the rest unlisted men. The age of the men in this cemetery range from 16 to 72.

Next stop was the church at Angoville-au-Plain. This 12 century church was used as first aid station by two airborne medics at the beginning of the battle. This article tell most of the story.

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Amazing-Untold-D-Day-Story

This stain glass window has been recently added to honor the medics.

Next stop was Utah Beach 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Beach

21,000 soldiers landed on this beach on D-Day.

There were a lot of reenactments going on the day we were there.  We saw old military vehicles of all makes and descriptions. 

It was not uncommon to see four or five of them in a row.

They were everywhere.

And there was also camps set up for the occasion. It must have looked this way 73 years ago.

Between all the military stuff going by Leanne found a field of wild flowers.

Our next town  was Ste-Mere Eglise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-M%C3%A8re-%C3%89glise

At the beginning phases of D-Day US paratrooper were being dropped in this area. Some were dropped right in this town where Germans were waiting for them. One paratrooper got hooked onto the church. 

He hung there for two hours until he was taken down by the Germans. An effigy of him is maintained to this day, hanging on the church tower.

Next stop was Pointe du Hoc 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc

Pointe du Hoc was a key position of the Germans and lies between Utah and Omaha beach. The army rangers were tasked with taking this from the Germans. They had to climb the cliffs to get to it.  

The area where they made the climb is marked by this monument.

One of the German bunkers

While we were there a group of C-130 transport planes were doing fly byes.

It was very impressive.

This is what the area looked like, lots of bomb craters.

Must not have been a fun place when they were being bombed.

An observation bunker.

And the view from the inside looking out.

This is Omaha beach, the second beach the US were in charge of taking. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach

After Omaha beach we went to the American cemetery and memorial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial

The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach.

It has over 9,000 graves, a very moving sight.

That night we went to dinner and after did a short walk around town.

The next day we were off to visit Mount St. Michel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel

Its very impressive even from far away.  

In the 11th century Richard II, Duke of Normandy decided to build  it. He said

"I like that spot, lets build it there."

This was built at a time when all the materiel would have been hauled out there by an ox and cart.  It was even more amazing when we walked around inside it.

The tide was out when we got there and the beach seemed to go on forever.

This is what is looks like when the tide is in.

And of course there is a draw bridge to cross in order to get in.

We wanted to see the abbey and the only way to get there was go up.

and up some more. We got there early to beat the crowds---but there were still a lot of people. 

A local watching all the tourist walk by.

A view of the mainland from the top. 

And two people that are happy to be at the top.

The tide can rise as much as 46 feet. This shows how far it goes out, this happens twice a day. 

The day we were there, groups of people were walking out to the far island.

The very top of the abbey

Inside the Abbey,

With more rooms connected to it. This is the room they ate in.

This is the room below it, it had the fireplaces used for cooking.

Looking the other way from the fireplaces.

Every once in a while we stepped outside on our way to a different room.

if we didn't have a map we would be lost.

Another room with a fireplace, this was just a meeting room.

The had an elaborate way of supplying the abbey. 

They would load stuff on this cart,

 and pull it up on this ramp.

By way of this mechanism.

Six prisoners would have to walk inside this human hamster wheel to pull it up. 

A view of the ramp from the outside. 

And although the weather forecast called for rain it's been sunny the last two days. No sunglasses and no hat, means i got burnt. 

Time to catch the train and head back to London. We would ride from Bayaux to Paris and then Paris to London.. 

When you don't have have reserved seats on the first train you take what you can get. Why is my head so red?

The next train was a little better. Time to get out the travel wine and snacks.

It the only way to travel.

When we got to Paris we checked to see if we were on time for the next train.

 According to one of those clocks, we have plenty of time to walk to the next train station.

We saw this tent on the way to the station. I've done a lot of camping but never on a busy street. 

Back at the house and it seemed like someone missed us.