Bayeux is the model of an Norman town, with a magnificent cathedral, winding streets, pretty canals and massive tour buses. It serves as an excellent base to head down to the coastline to view the D-Day landing beaches, especially Omaha, Gold and Juno.

John and I drove to the town of Consuelles-sur-Mer, where the Juno Beach Centre is located.

The Canadian musuem at the Juno Beach Centre is very interesting, as it describes Canada's involvement in World War II, including Dieppe, Hong Kong, and the Juno Beach invasion. It is very moving to hear the stories of the veterans and their tragedies. The problem of the centre is to interpret Canada to foreign visitors, and the centre includes a basic primer on Canada, and ends with exhibits about Canadian pastimes, like curling. (I had to run out of the last room. I thought they were going to capture me and place me under glass. Actual Canadian: Captured in the wild near Consuelles-sur-Mer).

We then went to the Arromanches 360 degree theatre, which shows a short film that compares D-Day landing footage with contemporary Normandy. It is sad to see the beautiful coastal village of Arromanches completely devastated by war, and to see dead and injured men lying in a gutter next to Bayeux cathedral. Touring these sites was expensive, so we walked along Gold Beach and looked at the wrecked pillboxes and the remains of Port Winston, ugly concrete blocks jutting out of the Channel.

That night we dined on a menu on a terrasse in Bayeux. It was beautiful, but I couldn't look back at the cathedral without remembering the wounded who once lay there.