[NOTE: Due to very slow Internet access I’m unable to upload the pictures and videos mentioned below, but will do so as soon as the wifi improves]
We might have met our goal of touring the D-Day landing beaches by taking a day-trip from Paris as did the other guests on our afternoon tour. Thank goodness we did not. We instead chose to drive nearly 2 ½ hours along a northerly route of lush green and fertile farmland from Giverny to Bayeux for an overnight stay. So much of France outside Paris is farmland. I hadn’t realized. The A15 highway from Giverny cuts through fields and farms and farms and fields. Did I mention farms? I suspect France could serve as breadbasket to most of Europe with the amount of farming they do. Seems so distant from all the France I’ve known being Paris.
Fortunately I had timed things correctly and we were able to check in to our Bayeux hotel and drop our bags before our 1pm pickup four our Viator tour pickup. We were a small group of 8 led by a our charming guide who introduced herself as “Mag.” She was surprised that I asked if that was short for “Magail” – it was – because it’s such a uniquely French name. I told her my son has a good friend named Magali. Throughout the afternoon as she took us to Omaha Beach, the visitors center and the American cemetery, explaining the roles of both the liberating soldiers and that of the French villagers and farmers involved in the action, Mag made frequent references to her grandparents who lived through the experience. Coincidentally the anniversary of D-Day was the Sunday before our visit; the week turns out to be the busiest of the year, and stragglers of the “re-enactors” who show up each year to recognize the date were spotted throughout the day. An unexpected complement to our experience was the weather – cold and extremely windy. We were buffeted by strong and erratic winds as Mag described the rough seas, which caused a 24-hour delay in the D-Day operation. We watched the English Channel roil with high waves, our faces buffeted by cold wind, and felt quite vicerally a bit of the experience of D-Day. I’m hopeful that this video I took from inside a former German bunker records the waves and wind I attempted to capture.
The following day we drove to the lovely town of Les Andelys, dominated by the crumbling castle of Edward the Lionheart. Our hotel, L’Chaine d’Or, sits right on the bank of the Seine, and we had a river view. Attached are a few snapshots outside our window. The lack of air conditioning was a bit uncomfortable on an unusually hot and humid evening, but the view of the northern Seine with its fishermen and birds, and a spectacular electrical storm, made up for it all.
During dinner at L’Chaine d’Or a friendly gentleman in dapper pink pants came to our table and introduced himself to us. He asked we were enjoying our time in Les Andelys, if we were staying in this hotel, and said he was in charge of tourism for the town. Mike asked if he were the mayor – vice mayor, he replied, in charge of all tourism. He said L’Chaine is the best restaurant in town and hoped we would return. He then pointed to the table behind us, 6 or 7 men deeply engaged in debate – I caught that one felt “we need a majority vote,” and suspected them to be the town council.
Our drive from Les Andelys to Charles de Gaulle airport took us again through many back roads and farms. It’s just a 45 minute drive, but the contrast between the country and sudden city could not be greater. With a bit of confusion we finally found the rental car return, cleared the check-in and headed into the next leg of our trip.
