The storming of Normandy
As many have before us, we swept across Normandy, setting our sites on Paris. Of course, we were not doing it with sword or gun in hand. After our first night in the Bayeux hostel, (and after waiting a lonnnnngggg time in the courtyard for breakfast, being entertained by the Belgian kids and teachers playing hopscotch, which Mr. J refused to partake in, despite his P.E. credentials) we walked down to the museum of the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry is probably the most important document to survive from the early middle ages, and the fact that it is still around and intact is amazing considering how many times it has been stolen and moved from place to place. One of Hitler’s requests to Himmler as the Nazis fled the allied advance on Paris was to "bring the tapestry", which at that time was being housed in the Louvre. When the SS showed up at the Louvre to steal it for der Fuhrer, they found it full of armed French Resistance fighters, and went away empty handed. Conquerors through the ages have coveted the tapestry. The students learned about the tapestry in Social Studies 8, and I think were impressed by this 70 metre medieval comic strip.
Entering the Tapestry museum (no photos allowed inside - Lynne looks disappointed)
Our next destination was Mont St. Michel – a UNESCO world heritage site which has been the location of an abbey for more than one thousand years. The huge spire with St. Michel slaying a dragon on top draws people from great distances to make a pilgrimage to this rock in the water – some visiting because of the religious significance of the place, and many more visiting just because of its majesty. The kids did a scavenger hunt here, then spent some time shopping for souvenirs on the village’s one sloping street.
In front of Mont St. Michel
[Image:Mont st one tiny street.jpg]
A trail of Langley kids and parents making their pilgramage to the abbey by way of the one village street.
From Mont St Michel we were off to the Peace Memorial in Caen – one of the best museums of the Second World War in the world. After being at Juno beach the day before, it was an excellent opportunity for the kids to see mementos, read letters, and watch film footage of the soldiers who took part in not only the landings at Juno beach but also many other battles of the war. The amazing film they have put together for the theatre their shows an interesting juxtaposition of the Allied forces preparing for and initiating the D Day invasion on the left side of the screen, and the German forces preparing for and attempting to fend off the D Day invasion on the right side of the screen. It has footage from the war that is seen nowhere else in the world.
Outside the Caen memorial - what the museum stands for.
What an attractive group.
And at last we were back in Madam Lefevre’s care at the Family Hostel, enjoying each others company in the cozy dining room, and making new friends with the Belgian teachers and students.
The next day we said goodbye to the Family Hostel and continued our sweep across Normandy, entering Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and the locale where William the Conqueror died, and where Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc) was put to death. Rens dropped us at a tower in the vicinity where Joan was held prisoner during her trial, and we walked the same route she walked through Rouen to the place where she was tied to the stake and burned as a witch and heretic. The kids knew the story from Social Studies 8, and I think relating this story to them again in the actual setting of the story left an impression, as did the unique Joan of Arc cathedral built after she was canonized a saint by the church in 1920. The kids were also impressed that I actually gave them some shopping time in Rouen, which has a very pleasant cobblestone pedestrian shopping area. I don’t really get the shopping beyond souvenirs and chocolate – the clothing stores here appear to have the same stuff the stores in Canada have, but I don’t want a mutiny either. So I made time for a bit of shopping (never enough for some though!).
Cross erected on the spot where Joan was killed.
Ching, apparently not impressed with the Joan of Arc cathedral.
And so ends our journey through Normandy. Versailles and Paris, here we come…
Craig
As many have before us, we swept across Normandy, setting our sites on Paris. Of course, we were not doing it with sword or gun in hand. After our first night in the Bayeux hostel, (and after waiting a lonnnnngggg time in the courtyard for breakfast, being entertained by the Belgian kids and teachers playing hopscotch, which Mr. J refused to partake in, despite his P.E. credentials) we walked down to the museum of the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry is probably the most important document to survive from the early middle ages, and the fact that it is still around and intact is amazing considering how many times it has been stolen and moved from place to place. One of Hitler’s requests to Himmler as the Nazis fled the allied advance on Paris was to "bring the tapestry", which at that time was being housed in the Louvre. When the SS showed up at the Louvre to steal it for der Fuhrer, they found it full of armed French Resistance fighters, and went away empty handed. Conquerors through the ages have coveted the tapestry. The students learned about the tapestry in Social Studies 8, and I think were impressed by this 70 metre medieval comic strip.
Entering the Tapestry museum (no photos allowed inside - Lynne looks disappointed)
Our next destination was Mont St. Michel – a UNESCO world heritage site which has been the location of an abbey for more than one thousand years. The huge spire with St. Michel slaying a dragon on top draws people from great distances to make a pilgrimage to this rock in the water – some visiting because of the religious significance of the place, and many more visiting just because of its majesty. The kids did a scavenger hunt here, then spent some time shopping for souvenirs on the village’s one sloping street.
In front of Mont St. Michel
[Image:Mont st one tiny street.jpg]
A trail of Langley kids and parents making their pilgramage to the abbey by way of the one village street.
From Mont St Michel we were off to the Peace Memorial in Caen – one of the best museums of the Second World War in the world. After being at Juno beach the day before, it was an excellent opportunity for the kids to see mementos, read letters, and watch film footage of the soldiers who took part in not only the landings at Juno beach but also many other battles of the war. The amazing film they have put together for the theatre their shows an interesting juxtaposition of the Allied forces preparing for and initiating the D Day invasion on the left side of the screen, and the German forces preparing for and attempting to fend off the D Day invasion on the right side of the screen. It has footage from the war that is seen nowhere else in the world.
Outside the Caen memorial - what the museum stands for.
What an attractive group.
And at last we were back in Madam Lefevre’s care at the Family Hostel, enjoying each others company in the cozy dining room, and making new friends with the Belgian teachers and students.
The next day we said goodbye to the Family Hostel and continued our sweep across Normandy, entering Rouen, the capital of Normandy, and the locale where William the Conqueror died, and where Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc) was put to death. Rens dropped us at a tower in the vicinity where Joan was held prisoner during her trial, and we walked the same route she walked through Rouen to the place where she was tied to the stake and burned as a witch and heretic. The kids knew the story from Social Studies 8, and I think relating this story to them again in the actual setting of the story left an impression, as did the unique Joan of Arc cathedral built after she was canonized a saint by the church in 1920. The kids were also impressed that I actually gave them some shopping time in Rouen, which has a very pleasant cobblestone pedestrian shopping area. I don’t really get the shopping beyond souvenirs and chocolate – the clothing stores here appear to have the same stuff the stores in Canada have, but I don’t want a mutiny either. So I made time for a bit of shopping (never enough for some though!).
Cross erected on the spot where Joan was killed.
Ching, apparently not impressed with the Joan of Arc cathedral.
And so ends our journey through Normandy. Versailles and Paris, here we come…
Craig
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