Caen

Caen, which was badly damaged during WWII, has rebuilt itself as an attractive city which retains several historic buildings.  Caen Castle, founded by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1060 looms over the town.  The excavated ruins of the original castle are enclosed within the walls, along with two museums.  

The nearby Church of Saint Peter dates from the 13th to 16th centuries (quite a spread).  After viewing the interior we spent some time in the nearby extensive outdoor market--mostly clothes and other non-food offerings.  As to the shop offerings, we've noticed a high percentage of shoes and watches here as in many towns.  What accounts for that?

Pegasus Bridge--erector and the original behind

We had planned to head next to Le Memorial, the largest of the many Normandy museums covering the events around D-Day.  But passing the Botanical Garden we decided to leave the museum until tomorrow.  The gardens were worth the change of plan, and were surprisingly empty on this Saturday.  Post-gardens we found a convenient Kabab cafe at 2 to provide us with lunch.

The agenda starting in mid-afternoon was a ride to the Pegasus Bridge and along the coast to Arromanches and Omaha Beach.  The bridge crosses the Caen canal linking the city to the coast.  On the night of June 5 1944, 181 British troops under Major John Howard arrived by glider and successfully secured the bridge from German troops. "Horsa" bridge was similarly captured. The large museum here kept Rob busy for more than an hour.  The original 1934 bascule bridge is now in the museum, replaced in 1994 by a similar stronger one.  We later saw the bridge rise to let a small motorboat through, holding up traffic for 15 minutes.

Arromanches--part of the temporary harbor and "sailing" cars?

We rode to the coast at Ouistraham where ferries to England depart, and then along the coast, stopping at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer for a walk and ice cream, and again at Arromanches to see the remnants of the temporary artificial harbor and watch interesting wheeled "sailboats" try to find some wind.

The final stop was at Omaha Beach, where the American Cemetery was unfortunately closed, but the stretch of beach and German bunkers still evoked scenes of D-Day. Rob says we camped on this beach on our 1965 motorcycle trip, but the memory eludes me. 

 An hour later we were back in Caen, stopped for breakfast supplies, and easily found our apartment before 9PM.