NORMANDY

When most Americans hear “Normandy,” they immediately think of the D-Day landings at Omaha and Utah beaches, and of the inspiring cemetery that honors the American soldiers who died in the assault to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny.  But Normandy is also a beautiful region of farms and forests, renowned for cider and cheese, and rich in history from William the Conqueror to Joan of Arc.

Our week in Normandy touched on all those things and more.  But, since our first point of contact with the region is connected to World War II, we’ll start there.

The Battle of Normandy

For nearly two months after D-Day, the Allied forces were pinned down along a fairly shallow beachhead, held in check by staunch German resistance and almost impenetrable hedgerows (pasture borders of trees and thick hedges).  After fierce land and air combat, the American, British and Canadian forces finally broke out in late July 1944 and began driving the Germans back toward Paris.

Among the places where American GIs opened holes in the German lines was the area around St. James, south of Avranches.  In a lovely cemetery outside the village are buried more than 4,400 US soldiers who lost their lives in the fighting.  (This is one of more than 20 US military cemeteries overseas managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission.)  We stopped to visit the cemetery as we drove from Brittany to the Normandy coast.  From the steeple of the memorial chapel we had a nice view of the sun-graced grave markers, the surrounding hills, and Mont-St-Michel abbey about 40 miles away.

We had the cemetery to ourselves, and as we walked through the rows of alabaster grave markers, we were greeted by a friendly man who identified himself as the superintendent of the facility.  We were pleased to learn that French people who live in the area (like their counterparts near other American cemeteries from the world wars) have “adopted” many individual soldiers and honor them on special days.

Chapel at St. James military cemetery.

Last resting place for 4,410 brave Americans.

Mont Saint-Michel abbey viewed from the chapel steeple.

We visited the D-Day sites with our children in 2004, so our only other direct contact with the events of World War II was a visit to an extensive museum called simply the Memorial, in Caen (not to be confused with Cannes, the Mediterranean jet-set city that annually hosts an international film festival).   Like so many cities in Normandy, Caen was pulverized by artillery and bombs in 1944, and the museum grew out of the citizens’ determination that the world must never forget the price of war.  Though the museum has exhibits that focus on the Battle of Normandy, its scope is much broader, covering the run-up to the war and the war itself in all its aspects.  Even a full afternoon was not enough time to visit all the displays.

The Normandy Coast

Normandy’s beaches are not associated exclusively with D-Day.  We enjoyed spending four nights at a chambre d’hôte (bed-and-breakfast) in Criqueboeuf, a hamlet on the coast.  We were beyond beach weather, but it was still pleasant to have views of the ocean.  We took quick peeks at the nearby 19th^_century resort towns of Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mère, and we spent an enjoyable morning poking around Honfleur, an old fishing village and port turned artists colony.  Honfleur is charming, as all the guidebooks say, but we were glad to have timed our visit so as to be leaving just as the daily caravan of tour busses started to arrive.

Honfleur's 17th century Vieux Bassin harbor.

Technical Difficulty:  Missing photo of St. Catherine's Church.

Honfleur and the bridge across the Seine River near its mouth.

Rural Normandy

The Norman hinterlands are known for farms that produce apples (think cider and heartier derivatives thereof) and cows (think butter and cheese), and time-forgotten villages nestled among the orchards and pastures.  We spent a fun day following a driving route suggested in a guidebook to view an especially scenic part of this area, called the Pays d’Auge.  Many of the farms feature houses and barns in the distinctive half-timbered colombage style.  In the village of Cambremer, we visited a large botanical garden described as “a tribute to Normandy’s plant heritage.”

The fields and orchards of the Pays d"Auge looking north toward the English Channel.

A river flows through little Pont-l'Évêque.

Garden in Cambremer: "Normandy's plant heritage."

Cambremer garden (detail).

Lunch With Friends

A highlight of our time in Normandy was lunch with John and Doris (Slick) Wolfe, whom we contacted at the suggestion of mutual friends.  (Some of our readers will remember Doris from her years working at Principia.)  They divide their time between St. Louis, MO, and a house in Normandy that John has owned for many years.  We spent a delightful afternoon with them at their home not far from Rouen.  Over the years John has made numerous improvements to the property; among his additions has been a 17th^_century colombier, or dovecote, which he moved from a neighbor’s farm and restored.  Four centuries ago, doves and pigeons were such valuable sources of eggs, meat and fertilizer that only nobles could have colombiers under royal license.  John’s not a noble, but he’s certainly a prince.

John and Doris.

John's renovated colombier.

In Monet’s Footsteps

En route to Rouen from Honfleur, we drove across a magnificent new bridge that spans the Seine river near its mouth at Le Havre and into Haute (upper) Normandie.  We continued north to the coastal town of Étretat, where towering white cliffs overlook the sea.  We hiked to the top of one of the bluffs for a spectacular view.  In the 1880s the Impressionist painter Claude Monet vacationed in the village and rendered many paintings of the fishermen and the cliffs.  We were tickled to report on our visit to Caitlin Heimerl, a friend who illustrated a children’s book, “Monet Paints a Day,” based on Monet’s experience in Étretat.  (http://www.amazon.com/Monet-Paints-Day-Julie-Danneberg/dp/158089240X)

Étratat on the coast of Haute Normandie.

A "flying buttress" created by the sea and painted by Monet.

Rouen

From Étretat we drove southeast to Rouen, the de facto “capital” of Normandy in the same way that Rennes can be called the capital of Brittany.  Regrettably, Rouen provided the first real letdown of our trip.  It didn’t help that it rained for much of the two days we were there, or that our hotel room was subpar.  Even allowing for those downers, Rouen just didn’t seem like a very attractive city, especially compared to the many beautiful and interesting places we’ve visited.

Even so, it must be said that we enjoyed walking around Rouen’s old quarter, saw with interest the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and achieved an enduring place in French history, had two good dinners in cheerful restaurants, and watched a dazzling sound-and-light show projected onto the façade of Rouen’s magnificent cathedral (the subject of a famous series of paintings by Monet).

The famous Gros-Horlage built in 1527.

Memorial to Joan of Arc's immolation (1431).

Spectacular sound-and-light show projected on the Rouen cathedral.

Having returned the rented Opal that served us well ever since Rennes, we happily checked out of our hotel and – in a drizzle – wheeled our luggage to the train station.  Just an hour away, Paris beckoned.      

          

    

A WEEK IN BRITTANY

After more than five weeks as city dwellers in Lyon, on August 31 we set off for a month-long train-and-car trip through northern France.  Our first destination was Brittany, a dragon’s-head peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean from France’s northwest corner.

From Lyon we took a TGV (high-speed train) to Rennes, the business and administrative capital of Brittany.  Knowing little about Rennes, we didn’t know what to expect, but we were taken with the city.  Besides having a modern commercial center, it has an attractive old quarter of narrow streets and half-timbered buildings filled with restaurants and high-end shops; a beautiful public garden; and several fine museums.

The Palais St. George, a public building in Rennes.

This and the one below:  Two scenes of Vieux Rennes.

Beautiful Thabor Gardens in Rennes.

Of particular interest to Jim, lawyer and history buff, was a display about the famous Dreyfus Affair, one of the most tumultuous events in modern French history.  In the mid-1890s, Alfred Dreyfus, a French army captain, was falsely accused of disclosing military secrets to Germany, largely on the basis of forged documents.  Dreyfus was convicted and imprisoned.  But social-justice advocates championed his cause, and he was granted a second trial in Rennes in 1899.  Dreyfus was convicted again, despite a widening recognition in legal and political circles that the officer had been framed.  The army and the church, two pillars of French conservatism, opposed Dreyfus, and, because Dreyfus was a Jew, the case took on virulent anti-Semitic overtones.  Dreyfus finally was vindicated after nearly a decade of strife.  There are many fine accounts of the Dreyfus Affair, including one by the American historian Barbara Tuchman in her book, “The Proud Tower.”

After two nights in Rennes, we picked up a rental car and spent five days driving along Brittany’s northern (English Channel) and southern (Atlantic Ocean) coasts, staying in small hotels along our route.  We came away from the visit with an appreciation for Brittany’s natural beauty, its maritime economy and cuisine, and its inhabitants’ rugged independence and dedication to preserving the ancient Breton culture and language.  Brittany might be thought of as France’s Maine.

Some highlights:

Driving toward the coast, we stopped to walk up into the hilltop town of Tréguier, which features a cathedral with three towers built centuries apart.  We then picked up a coastal road through small towns with marvelous views.

Tréguier Cathedral: Romanesque, Gothic
and Classical towers.

Half-timbered buildings in Tréquier.

A town on Brittany's English Channel coast.

From the village of Trébeurden we hiked along a cliff path to a rocky promontory, where we picnicked while gazing out over a brilliant blue sea.  This part of the shoreline is called the Rose Granite Coast, because of the pink hue of the stone.

On a point high above Trébeurden.

Looking out toward the English Channel (in France called La Manche).

In Sizun we visited a small museum of Breton culture.  A short distance out of the town, we took a five-mile hike around a lake in the large Parc Naturel d’Armorique.

In Sizun, a small museum of traditional Breton culture.

Breton attire in the 19th century.

Trail around a lake in the Parc Naturel d'Amorique.

The lake.

In Douarnenez we trekked along a coastal path and finished the day savoring crêpes (a regional specialty) on the patio of a marina-side restaurant.

View from the Douarnenez coastal path.

At the Pointe du Van, in Finistere (land’s end), we stood on a windy outcropping and took in the smells and sounds of the ocean 200 feet below, an invigorating moment despite the fog that limited visibility.

Pointe du Van.

An inlet at Pointe du Van.

In Pont-Aven we stayed in a pleasant hotel beside the river that runs through the town, and we browsed in the many art galleries featuring works by local painters who are following in the footsteps of Paul Gaugin.  In the 1880s Gaugin put the town on the art world’s map before he lit out for Tahiti.

The river Aven flows directly through the town.

Pont Aven was still brilliant with late summer flowers.

The view from a restaurant terrace.

Where we spent our last two nights in Brittany.

And a not-so-highlight: Jim’s relearning how to drive a stick-shift while maneuvering through France’s narrow village streets and shoulderless roads.

On to Normandy.