Normandy and Brittany

Our three day weekend began early Saturday morning on a bus headed for Normandy. Our first stop was a very special sheep farm where lambs are grazed on a salt marsh near the English Channel. This creates a superior product that can be sold for around 30 Euros/kilo as opposed to the standard New Zealand  reared lamb which is sold for 6 Euros/kilo.

View of Mount St. Michel from the Sheep Farm

Following the farm visit we traveled to Mount St. Michel, a rocky tidal island that has been the seat of the Saint-Michel monastery since the 8th century. It was a gothic structure that seemed to jet out of the rocky island it was built upon. The ascent to the monastery was steep but well worth the climb. A bottle of the local drink of choice, brut cider, helped ease the walking pains.

The following day we departed from Bayeux to Caen, the location of France's WWII museum. The exhibits were simple yet moving. The museum did an excellent job of pairing personal stories with the exhibit pieces.

The Death of a Hero

Repainting the Countries of Europe

   

                                                                                        Sections of the Berlin Wall


That same day, our group visited Omaha Beach and the American War Cemetery. It was a sombering experience that was only supplemented by the cold and wet weather. Thousands of immaculately white marble grave markers overlooked the very beaches on which Americans stormed sixty-seven years ago.

 

Twenty minutes away from the cemetery, we visited several Nazi bunkers perched within grassy fields alongside staggering cliffs. If not for our bus driver who lived locally, we would have known nothing of these bunkers. The site had few markings and was most definitely not on the tourists' map. All were given free reign to explore the bunkers and rusty artillery still inside. It was the highlight of my weekend.

A visit to the port town of St. Malo rounded out our weekend. Several of us descended the rocky incline to the beach where we explored the numerous tidal pools. After working up an appetite, we dined on a pot of steamed mussels and salmon plate at a cafe in the town before our stroll throughout the fortified city.