Charte Cathedral
Canon on the edge of the wall of San Malo at sunset
San Malo Fort at high tide
The Wall of San Malo and the city at nightfall
Climbing the Rocks around the San Malo fort at Low Tide (At High tide they're under water)
Tim and Liam Walking around the Monte
Monte Sainte Michael
Pieces of floating WWII dock at Arromanches Harbor
I last left you last in Paris, near the "Tour d’ Eiffel." From there we headed coast-ward toward San Malo. Our first stop on our journey was a little old village called Charte. We received a tour from a kooky, old, Englishmen, Malcolm Miller who had the persona of college professor that you would love to have. He has been studying the Cathedral and written many books about it, since his first visit during WWII. The Charte Cathedral is an interesting spectacle because it has two different towers of two different types of architecture. The reason for this being that the original was built during the period of Romanesque style, and after a major fire, that destroyed only half the Cathedral, the second spire was built in a Gothic style. The reason that such a large Cathedral was built in such a small village was because in the 876 A.D. a piece of the cloth that the Virgin Mary was wearing when she gave birth to Jesus, was brought to the little town as a gift.
After Charte, we headed toward San Malo--one of my favorite cities we've seen thus far. San Malo is an old walled-in Pirating city on the coast of France. The harbor, which is largely sharp jagged rocks when the tide goes out, was dangerous for English ships to sail into in pursuit of the Pirates. In addition, the pirates were very knowledgeable of the harbor and thus were able to navigate smoothly to safety. One of my favorite parts of this portion of the trip was when we walked out to the old fort, which is reachable by low tide, but surrounded by water at high tide. We ventured onto the rocks and could definitely see the dangers that would engulf the bow of an unsure ship captain. Later that night a couple of the guys (Matt, Nick, Liam) and I also enjoyed the night at a pub right on the wall--Le Corpes De Garde. We went back there each night of our trip to watch the sunset.
While at San Malo, we took a trip to Monte Sainte Michael. Monte Sainte Michael was an old monastery built out on an island off the coast of France that eventually developed into a city and a fortress that engulfed the whole Island by the 1300’s. It became a symbol of national pride when the English tried, unsuccessfully to take the island several times, but were foiled by the receding tide and strong city defenses. It was designated to Sainte Michael, the patron of France. It was also a vacation home for the French royalty in the 16th century. As a result, it became a sign of national pride during the revolution as the people took it back from the royalty. I enjoyed touring the Monte, which I couldn't get enough pictures of, and especially when Matt, Liam, Tim and I went walking around the island at low tide through the clay and sand. The island, that has now grown as silt builds up in the harbor, was an amazing spectacle to see – and looked like a castle out of a Disney movie.
When we left San Malo, we headed north toward the beaches of Normandy. In between we stopped at the Bayeux Tapestry. The Tapestry, which is actually not a tapestry and just stitch-work, was made in the 12th century as a way to tell the tale of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066. The Tapestry, which is now nearing in on a millennium years old, resides in the city of Bayeux where it is believed to have been originally created.
After an hour at Bayeux, we headed toward the coast. We first stopped at Point Du Hoc, which I will tell you about in the next blog, and spent the night at Arromanches. Arromanches had a very interesting role in WWII. After the British took the beaches at Normandy, they moved toward building a port to supply their forces at the front line. Arromanches was that port. An engineering masterpiece, the port had to deal with massive shifts in tides and the weather coming in off the English Channel. Winston Churchill believed (correctly) that the entire outcome of the war would be based purely on the Britain’s ability to develop a port to supply its men. Therefore, the British engineers began a top secret project in 1943 to start building the port. They built the entire floating port in the harbor and then towed it across the Channel. They worked at night, and during the day, they would sink the various parts into the harbor to avoid Nazi spy planes seeing it.
They hired anyone and everyone to help in an effort that the people knew nothing about. What they developed was both amazing and ground breaking. In essence they developed a floating port with 3 docks that bobbed with the waves and could lay flat on the sand when the tide went out. In addition, they used old ships and cement blocks as heavy as the Eiffel tower to help block the waves coming in off the sea. And the most amazing part of the entire endeavor, they did it all in 13 days. An average port in 1944 took almost 7 years to complete, and Hitler was assured that even if the Allies took the beach, there would be no way to keep supplying the men. In one massive effort the British crushed both those doubts. The American forces also tried the same strategy--except their port sank while coming cross the channel.
I learned all this in the D-Day museum, which we frequented when we arrived at Arromanches. The museum had a ton of informaiton on both the events of D-Day and the role that Arromanches played. I enjoyed the exhibit and spent 2 hours in the small museum, after most of my classmates had left. However, this was just the beginning of my adventures into WWII.
Keep tuned for the next blog, which was my favorite part of all of France!
After Charte, we headed toward San Malo--one of my favorite cities we've seen thus far. San Malo is an old walled-in Pirating city on the coast of France. The harbor, which is largely sharp jagged rocks when the tide goes out, was dangerous for English ships to sail into in pursuit of the Pirates. In addition, the pirates were very knowledgeable of the harbor and thus were able to navigate smoothly to safety. One of my favorite parts of this portion of the trip was when we walked out to the old fort, which is reachable by low tide, but surrounded by water at high tide. We ventured onto the rocks and could definitely see the dangers that would engulf the bow of an unsure ship captain. Later that night a couple of the guys (Matt, Nick, Liam) and I also enjoyed the night at a pub right on the wall--Le Corpes De Garde. We went back there each night of our trip to watch the sunset.
While at San Malo, we took a trip to Monte Sainte Michael. Monte Sainte Michael was an old monastery built out on an island off the coast of France that eventually developed into a city and a fortress that engulfed the whole Island by the 1300’s. It became a symbol of national pride when the English tried, unsuccessfully to take the island several times, but were foiled by the receding tide and strong city defenses. It was designated to Sainte Michael, the patron of France. It was also a vacation home for the French royalty in the 16th century. As a result, it became a sign of national pride during the revolution as the people took it back from the royalty. I enjoyed touring the Monte, which I couldn't get enough pictures of, and especially when Matt, Liam, Tim and I went walking around the island at low tide through the clay and sand. The island, that has now grown as silt builds up in the harbor, was an amazing spectacle to see – and looked like a castle out of a Disney movie.
When we left San Malo, we headed north toward the beaches of Normandy. In between we stopped at the Bayeux Tapestry. The Tapestry, which is actually not a tapestry and just stitch-work, was made in the 12th century as a way to tell the tale of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066. The Tapestry, which is now nearing in on a millennium years old, resides in the city of Bayeux where it is believed to have been originally created.
After an hour at Bayeux, we headed toward the coast. We first stopped at Point Du Hoc, which I will tell you about in the next blog, and spent the night at Arromanches. Arromanches had a very interesting role in WWII. After the British took the beaches at Normandy, they moved toward building a port to supply their forces at the front line. Arromanches was that port. An engineering masterpiece, the port had to deal with massive shifts in tides and the weather coming in off the English Channel. Winston Churchill believed (correctly) that the entire outcome of the war would be based purely on the Britain’s ability to develop a port to supply its men. Therefore, the British engineers began a top secret project in 1943 to start building the port. They built the entire floating port in the harbor and then towed it across the Channel. They worked at night, and during the day, they would sink the various parts into the harbor to avoid Nazi spy planes seeing it.
They hired anyone and everyone to help in an effort that the people knew nothing about. What they developed was both amazing and ground breaking. In essence they developed a floating port with 3 docks that bobbed with the waves and could lay flat on the sand when the tide went out. In addition, they used old ships and cement blocks as heavy as the Eiffel tower to help block the waves coming in off the sea. And the most amazing part of the entire endeavor, they did it all in 13 days. An average port in 1944 took almost 7 years to complete, and Hitler was assured that even if the Allies took the beach, there would be no way to keep supplying the men. In one massive effort the British crushed both those doubts. The American forces also tried the same strategy--except their port sank while coming cross the channel.
I learned all this in the D-Day museum, which we frequented when we arrived at Arromanches. The museum had a ton of informaiton on both the events of D-Day and the role that Arromanches played. I enjoyed the exhibit and spent 2 hours in the small museum, after most of my classmates had left. However, this was just the beginning of my adventures into WWII.
Keep tuned for the next blog, which was my favorite part of all of France!
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