NI Photowalk - Around Normandy

Our base while we were in Normandy was the town of Bayeux, best known for the Bayeux Tapestry.

We did go see the Tapestry, which was cool. The Tapestry is 9 panels of embroidery, 70 feet long, that tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England in 1066.

A lot of the businesses had artwork in their windows commemorating the 70th Anniversary of D-Day. The British used Bayeux as their headquarters.

Bayeux was everything I like about European towns.  Everything was in walking distance. There was a main square that was limited to pedestrians.  There were plenty of cafes where you could sit outside, enjoy a slow meal, and watch the people.  I love these kind of communities in Europe.

This photo was taken at 10:30 PM.

The bocage, or hedgerow, country, that the Allies had to fight through.  Farmers fields were separated by thick hedges.  The Germans would take a position on the far end of the field and the Allies would face bombardment as they tried to force their way forward.  One of the gentlemen traveling with us had fought in Afghanistan, and he likened it to urban warfare where you have to clear each building as you move through the city.

We stopped in lunch in Arromanches, a town that was part of the British beaches.  There, the British constructed mulberry harbors to unload supplies.  This is the remains of one of the harbors.

The art work was so good, I actually had to do a double-take to make sure there weren't really children painting on the wall.

While we were having lunch, someone began speaking to an older British gentleman.  Turns out, he was a veteran of the war and had come ashore using that mulberry at Arromanches.  He was quite humorous as he shared his story with us.  This was his first return to France since the war.

While we were talking to the first man, a second man came up and was listening.  Someone turned to him and asked if he knew anyone who had fought in the war, and he said, "Yes, me."  He was a part of the British Navy.

The town of St. Lo was the site of major bombing raids leading up to the invasion, so most of the town is made of modern buildings.

These photographs show the devastation that the city endured.

This was the cathedral prior to the war.

This is the cathedral today. In rebuilding it, they kept as much of the original building as they could, including the remains of one of the spires.  They sections they reconstructed, they did not attempt to replicate the original, but left the new fairly drab to make the old stand out more.

I don't know how much of the interior they had to reconstruct, but it felt more like the older churches I have visited in Europe before.

One corner of the church was a museum to the war.

This is a monument to the victims of Nazi oppression.

We had read the diary of Marie Osmont, who's chateau was occupied by both the Germans and later the British.  It is private property, so we were standing outside talking about it, when the gates opened.  The older gentleman who owns the house today invited us into the house and showed up Madame Osmont's bedroom

We paid respects at Madame's grave.

The grounds of this monastery were used by the Germans as a headquarters.  Today, the main church is a library.

Within the grounds, 19 Canadian prisoners of war were tortured and executed.  This is their memorial.