Since we left Bruges we have not seen the sun, so Friday
morning in Bayeux was no different. Low
cloud and the temperature around 8 degrees.
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| Our accommodation in Bayeux |
Our first visit was to the Bayeux Tapestry which is a
pictorial representation of the circumstances of the environment that led to
William of Normandy invading England and claiming the crown for himself. The Tapestry is a wonderful piece of art and
it was wonderful wandering around it and hearing the story. Harold really was a bit stupid to think that
he could keep the crown when he had given his allegiance to William
earlier.
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| Arromanches - bits of the artificial harbour |
We then visited Arromanches on the Normandy coast where the
remains of the artificial harbour are still visible in the sea of the
coast. This was the area which the
British and Canadian troops had landed on D-Day. For a temporary artificial harbour it proved
to be remarkably permanent.
Our next visit was Le Mont St Michel. I was there three or so years ago. It is a stunning place to see and to visit,
particularly the first time. I managed
to miss the turn-off to it but Veronica managed to guide me to it via a
different route although she got a bit confused by the changes they have made
to the parking which is now a good couple of kilometres from the site. A shuttle bus was available but to help keep
people skinny there was a five hundred metre or more walk to the shuttle. In the area
where there had only been grass and scrub last time a veritable village
of accommodation had grown up. The
shuttles were reasonably frequent and I was surprised at how many people were
visiting given the cold weather (although normal for this time of year). We took the shuttle as we had only a little
amount of time to do the tour it being mid-afternoon.
Near the entrance of the Abbey and village we found out why
there were changes. The goal was to
remove the existing causeway as it was contributing to the silting of the
bay. Also the authorities wanted to
return its natural state as an island.
To enable access they were essentially building a bridge and were taking
down the causeway. It will make it all
look very good in the future.
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| Winter at Mt St Michel |
We toured the Abbey, avoiding where possible a tour group of
Japanese people who tended to walk at about half my pace although closer to
that of Bev’s. For Bev the place was a
bit of an experience and for me the second time it was a different experience where
I saw things I had not seen the first time.
It was getting dark when we left the Mt St Michel. I had found what looked like a nice little
hotel in St Malo, not in the old city Intra-muros but reasonably close. The hotel was called the La Rance and
overlooked the water. Veronica got me
there with no problems and I only had to go around a Carrefour twice due to
missing the exit.
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| For Lew (outside Intra-muros St Malo) |
We found the hotel and I requested a room, and of course
with us being late it was on the very top floor with three flights of stairs to
lug up the suitcases. Again I did it all
in French with this lovely woman proprietaire who engaged with me asking where
we had come from and where I lived. She
was a delight and extremely helpful including suggesting several places where
we could have dinner. We had a room that looked out over water toward the Barrage de Rance which is a barrier that allows the tidal flow to run a power station.
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| The car outside Hotel La Rance |
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| La cocotte |
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