The Halftime Report

I have always wanted to see the D-Day beaches at Normandy, so we headed in that direction and somewhat randomly picked a town with a good hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the place we were staying, Bayeaux, was also the present home of the Bayeaux Tapestry. If you’ve never heard of it, you are probably not the only one.

A few months before we left the US, I happened to see a TV program about it on the History Channel (I used to spend quite a lot of time watching that channel). I filed it away in my memory and hadn’t thought about it since, but here’s a brief review. The Bayeaux Tapestry is actually a 70m long piece of fabric that has been embroidered with pictures of the story of William the Conqueror invading England and becoming king. It’s very detailed and the craftsmanship is excellent. Since it was made just after the events happened, it’s a first-hand account and gives historians a huge amount of information about everything from the weapons, clothes, and boats to meal preparation. We just had to see it, and I found it fascinating.

Fast forward from 1066 to 1944 and there is another invasion in the opposite direction. From Bayeux we drove to Omaha Beach and visited the American cemetery there. The exhibit at the visitor center does a great job of setting up the events leading to D-Day, as well as present a moving display of individual soldiers’ stories at the end. In the background a voice reads out the names of the casualties and I found it very emotional. The cemetery itself is somewhat stark, but respectful. It’s hard to imagine the events of that day standing there in bright sunshine in near silence. We walked down to the beach and just stared up at the cliffs, not being able to imagine what it must have been like to face it under siege.

It’s a lot to take in and think about these two events. They are so far apart in time and so different on scale, but strangely similar in how they are remembered as historic events.

We made it to France via the Chunnel with no visa drama, and proceeded to pick up our second new Peugeot, a 207 this time.  We decided to spend a few more days in France on our way to Portugal and Spain.  There are a few things that we intended to see earlier on the trip, but just ran out of time. 

Our first stop was Versailles and I’m very glad we decided to go there.  It’s been described so many times that I can’t do it justice, but will just say that it is beautiful and huge.  We had a great fall day with the leaves changing colors.  Here’s the view of the gardens:

We spent our last fews days in France in Beaune in the heart of Burgundy.  Since Le Tour riders had a rest day, we thought we’d fill in for them.  We rented bikes and headed for the wonderful veloroute (no cars!) that snakes its way through the vinyards and small towns of this region.  We checked on the progress of the grapes for the 2009 vintage as we rode by and they look good.  Of course, we also sampled the product of previous years, and those were even better. 

No explanation needed for this snap.  Next stop: Germany

We’ve been exploring the Loire Valley and have had a hard time deciding which of the many Chateaux to visit.  Our first stop was Usse (forgive my spelling - my keyboard doesn’t have the proper accents), which was the inspiration for the story of Sleeping Beauty.  It’s a lovely castle and on the way back we drove past two more, as well as huge fields of sunflowers that somehow always seem to make me smile.

The next day we headed to one of the most famous, Chateau de Chenonceaux.  It’s very unique because it’s built directly on the River Cher.  The history of the building and it’s occupants (a King and his mistress, who was evicted after his death and replaced by his wife) is as intriguing as the structure is beautiful. 

 Here’s the view from the gardens.  Just like nearly everything else we’ve seen lately there is scaffolding which can’t be helped. 

It didn’t take us long in France to realize that some of the words which look familiar  in English actually mean something else.  Take the “Hotel de Ville” that seems to be conveniently located right in the center of every town, for example.  It’s not a French version of the Motel 6 chain (that’s Ibis, by the way), but it’s the town hall. 

We’ve been learning a lot of other new terms as we make our way North.  Our first stop was St. Emilion in Bordeaux and the next, Cognac.  After a few long days of driving we arrived our home for the rest of the week, the Loire Valley.  Since the “Hotel” doesn’t actually have rooms for rent, we opted for a better French tradition, the gite.  Here’s our cottage in the countryside: