Okay, so no drama today. I am relieved. Just touristy stuff. Might be a bit boring, just with the travelogues, but here goes.
First up, Bayeaux. You can’t come to Normandy and not look at the tapestry. We drove off to Bayeaux without incident, a miracle in itself. It is a very pretty little town, about the size of Horsham (popn. 13,000) and not at all medieval or Renaissance like we have been used to. I guess you would call it French Provincial, because, well… it is French Provincial.
The tapestry itself is remarkable because of its age, provenance and being the closest thing to an 11th-century newsreel that exists. It is rather unremarkable to look at. I think we expected a wall hanging, or at least I did, maybe 1.5-2 metres high? It is more like a 70 metre long tea towel, that the kids embroidered during the compulsory sewing class. Still it was fascinating to view it in the flesh.
Okay, enough dainty stuff. Let’s get some action and check the D-Day sites and sights. We drove over to Arramanches, which was the site of Gold Beach on D-Day, one of the spots where the British landed. Lots of interesting stuff. I didn’t realise that a lot of the temporary D-Day harbour was still in place. Not exactly temporary. I broke my ‘no books’ pledge as this was all so interesting and I needed to know more.
Apart from also being a very nice little French Provincial town, Arramanches was an Aladdin’s Cave of D-Day stuff. Shermans, 88 Flak guns, M3 half tracks, etc. I know a lot of people won’t be interested, but for those that are there are some photos at the bottom of the blog.
To round out the day we drove to Ouistreham and the Grand Bunker Museum. This is a German command post and fire control bunker that is almost as good as new. Not surprising as the walls are comprised of concrete up to 2 metres thick. This museum was supposed to be yesterday afternoon’s venture, as being a defensive position it set the scene for visiting a D-Day invasion museum at one of the beaches. Never mind, I’ll visit the invasion museum next time.
That’s it. Hardly an exciting day at all after some of the recent hair-raising efforts.
I am starting to enjoy driving. Driving on the RHS of the road isn’t really an issue. The issue is trying to understand the local roads and the peculiar intersection layouts. Easy when you can follow someone going the same way.
The signs are fine, the traffic signals are all over the shop. There are a lot of ‘normal’ signals, with large lights in the intersection. However, there are a lot that have little baby lights on a pole next to a pedestrian crossing. These test you. You need to be extra vigilant around pedestrian crossings, some have lights, some don’t. Some follow a G-A-R sequence, some flash amber after the red, allowing you to go on the red as long as you aren’t going to run down a pedestrian. Consistency? Nil.
Tomorrow we abandon our luxury in Caen for the next apartment situated in Lille. This is a 350 kilometre drive. By the time I get there I should be an expert on driving in France. Fortunately I took out the optional 23€ a day ‘cover for everything’ insurance. That takes the worry out of what I feel will be an inevitable scrape somewhere along the route.
Ta ta, Steve J.
Some D-Day photos.
