Norman Conquests

Yesterday we went to Bayeux to see the tapestry. It's a thousand years old and depicts William the Conqueror and the Normans conquering Britain in 1066. There is a fitting symmetry in the fact that at a nearby World War II memorial, an inscription reads: "We, whom William once conquered, have now set free the conqueror's native land":

We then visited the Museum at Caen, which depicts the steps leading up to World War II and eventually the Normandy landings in 1944:

Then to Point Du Hoc, where US soldiers scaled the cliffs to disable German guns prior to the D-Day landings:

And Pegasus Bridge, where three Allied gliders landed and the soldiers saved the bridge:

Arromanches is a coastal town where the Allies unloaded prefabricated marinas, named Mulberry Harbours. It's a very pretty town. Our friends were staying in the corner building with blue shutters:

Parts of the portable harbours can be seen in the distance, still there after 60 years:

Who could fail to be moved by the American war cemetery above Omaha Beach. It features in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, one of my favourite films:

Then we went back to Bayeux for a dinner of galettes, a buckwheat pancake traditionally made with sausage. They were accompanied, as is customary, by local cider in an earthenware bowl:

What a day! Certainly full of food for thought.