Our stay in Normandy came to an end today. We did a (self guided) walking tour of the major sights throughout the city center. But first, breakfast!
Ellen found us a wonderful cafe with outside seating serving eggs Benedict that had a 10/10 rating and and a full size cappuccino! Both were magnifique!
Kermit loved the cappuccino at this French Cafe
Armed with one of those big city maps that you typically get at hotels, we set off from the cafe with a route all picked out to our planned, highlighted, stops hoping to eliminate the often frustrating Google Maps sending us on wild goose chases, or worst, just losing track of where we were and leaving us stranded somewhere on a corner not sure which way to go!
We did get to see the Joan of Arc statue on our walk.
Tour de France is rolling and the buzz is electric
The first stop was a church not on our radar
Next stop, L’ABBAYE AUX DAMES. The Ladies Abbey. Around 1060, William, duke of Normandy (1027-1087), built the castle (you will see that later) where his palace was standing.
Afterwards, with his wife Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083), he founded the Men’s Abbey and the Ladies’ Abbey. The Men’s Abbey is undergoing a major restoration and was completely enclosed in a shroud, so no stop there (and no pictures).
The Ladies Abney shelters the grave of Matilda of Flanders. Her father was Duke of Flanders, her mother Adèle, Daughter of Robert, King of France, and sister of Henry who look seat on the royal throne.
Dealing out her treasures, she was poor to herself, and rich to the needy.
From the Ladies Abbey, we headed towards the Castle. It seemed straight forward, but Google lost us and we couldn’t find the entrance (one of us actually had it figured out; not naming names, but it wasn’t the navigator using Google maps on his phone!). So, after a slight detour to find a restroom, and a walk completely around the castle looking for the entrance, we somehow ended up inside the walls. Turns out, there was more going on inside than we knew, like an outdoor sculpture garden!
There was a great sculpture one side looked female the other male
This church was nearly destroyed in WWII
We found the last of the wooden houses from the 16th century.
We did a little shopping but this “get up” was only admired from afar
We love the vehicles of Europe. Some you can’t tell if they’re coming or going.
Tomorrow we leave Caen early for Mont Saint Michel, then 4 glorious days in the Loire Valley.
We spotted this as we left the Ladies Abbey today:
Mont-Saint-Michael is one of the most popular pilgrimages in Europe. With 9 starting points and 3,600 km of signposted footpaths, the Chemins du Mont-Saint-Michel are a network of long-distance footpaths converging on the Mont following in the footsteps of the pilgrims of the Middle Ages.
As one of the most visited sites in France (around 2.5 million visitors a year), and one of the most photographed islands in the world, we are eagerly awaiting our trip to the Mont.
