Fun: Necessary France
[Forgive me for the interruption in service -- I'm back on my feet in American soil again.]
Alas, who would have known that France had so many diverse sights to see! Like the rest of Europe, France is littered with historical marvels, not the least of which is the D-Day beaches from World War II. Our adventures carried us up to Caen, the nearest large(ish) town to the site, and over to the simply fantastic Mont St. Michel that was only a little ways further down the coast to the west.
Caen, which is actually a reasonably small place, does have one claim to fame: seated in the middle of Normandy it is the site of the fantastic World War II Memorial Museum. The museum was constructed to preserve the circumstances of the world before, during, and shortly after the war’s occurrence and was by far the most complete and informative WWII display I’ve ever experienced.
The museum started its chronological display around the end of the first World War, summarizing the attitudes of various leaders around the world at the time and the frail condition that many of the European nations were left in. After spending some time on the social distress that many of the citizens experienced, it then progressed into something that almost seemed to make sense given the sociological conditions: a single, led by an outstandingly charismatic individual, that made big promises of a better life. Put that up beside an extraordinarily powerful police force and military and you’ve got a regime that’s fighting both physical and (often more destructively) psychological ones. That’s right: the Nazis sweep in and take Europe by storm.
The museum continues on, covering everything from weaponry to propaganda and giving what actually feels like a very real account of the war for the land, bodies, and minds of the people it touched. One part that was particularly interesting for me was the Britain-centric focus of the Allies’ campaign. In most American exhibits, we tend to focus heavily on D-Day and beyond — the period of time where America was driving the war. Interestingly, the museum focused much more heavily (and in many ways, rightly so) on the struggled British defensive that made the D-Day raid and resulting Allied victory possible. There was a ton of strategic value there that I hadn’t ever heard much about. Ah, the beauty of perspective.
If I were to list the most beautiful places in Europe that we came across, Mont St. Michel would be very, very close to the top.
The tidal island and monastery resting on top of it. Check out my photos page for more images.
This place was absolutely phenomenal. We got a recommendation to visit this shortly before leaving and I don’t regret a minute of it…the view was simply breathtaking. The island itself is interesting, too. The monastery is built on a large block of granite that resisted the wear and tear of erosion as time passed while everything around it fell away. Over time, this resulted in a piece of land that is connected to the rest of the mainland during low tide, but becomes an island of its own at high tide. The French government recently built a causeway out to the island that makes it accessible at all times, but there is still a very obvious change in the surrounding ocean / tidal plains as the hours pass. Its also possible to tour most of the monastery, but we unfortunately missed the guided tour (including the tower) because we got there a little late…not surprising if you know us Segars.
These two places were incredible stops that I’d recommend for anyone who can spare a couple of days during a visit to France. In my experience, they’re both one-of-a-kind wonders in their own rights.