Dinan and Mont St Michel; Fluent Francais

 After leaving Bayeux and the Omaha beach segment, I headed for the next stage of the TdF KV- Brittany and the beautiful preserved Medieval city of Dinan in Brittany about 2 hours west.  This segment naturally involved another arduous shuttle by rented Eurocar, but we made it in good time notwithstanding some construction delays.

With my well known mastery of Francais (French to you Americans), I had no difficulty identifying Fish Street and other such places-

No idea why there was no biblioteque about, but perhaps French literacy has declined. 

But I wasn't quite sure why the French had so many signs referring to creeps (an anti American slur?), as most of these people seemed ok, if somewhat consumed with eating-

One thing I liked about Dinan was that it had no tourist trappings or pretensions, only the authentic half timbered houses and appropriately dressed locals-

Though I am guessing that few but medieval aficianados have heard of it, I  found this place called Mont St. Michel quite interesting.  The occasional pilgrim and traveler still visit the place over the mud flats-

While I had heard that the place was indomitable, it seemed that a  few of us were able to breach the gate-

As in medieval times, there was only limited refreshment for the occasional and poor pilgrim-

But the lonely approach to this quaint old place was nice-

I hope more people find out about the place in the future as it is well worth a visit and the 50,000 space parking lot seemed only 90% full.  

Omaha Beach Bicycle Assault

 The WW2 Normandy museum in Bayeux is quite impressive and informative, if a little stilted.  Contrary to their reputation, These soldiers and tanks seemed to be somewhat stiff and immobile-

Uncle Tom, WWW2 buff that he is, would have loved it, tho. 

Well, the TdF KV cycling component started in earnest with an assault on Omaha Beach from the landward side.  Likely much easier than coming uphill from the sea, though still arduous naturally.  After circling Bayeux for about an hour at the outset (just to get warmed up and figure out how to use the cycling app, tho it felt like endlessly circling a drain) I set out for the beaches thru the Normandy country side-

Amidst the fog of battle, i seemed to get a little disoriented along the beaches until I heard the sound of Dutch indicating I had ranged a little farther north than intended (hence the orange rather than yellow jersey).  

But I did arrive at the famous and moving American cemetery at Ohama beach.  So many losses and crosses, men from all states, including some sadly unknown fallen-

A very moving tribute and place to those who gave their life so that so many could have liberty.  One of the best parts of America as the cemetery is American soil in France.  Impressive and fitting to hear so many French in attendance. 

Viking decline; Eating and Drinking with a View; Medieval Church Surfeit

 Leaving Rouen on Stage 2 of the TdF KV (Ken Variant), my shuttle (aka rental car) took me to Honfleur, a harbor town on the English Channel founded by the Vikings some 1100 or so years ago (I lost count).  I was disappointed to discover that the Vikings have declined somewhat in their martial rigor and seriousness as pillaging and slaughtering were nowhere to be found they seemed to have turned to frivilous profiteering instead)-

I don't if it was the riots or not, but most everyone France seemed to have come to Honfleur to do what the French (and admittedly most tourists) do, which is find a nice place to eat and drink outside-

S

Honfleur is mostly famous for its tall skinny houses (c. 1700) lining the harbor (mostly elbowed aside nowadays by the eating and drinking crowd) and for its very rare 1400s wooden church which looks like an upside down Viking boat-

I guess that is what happens when you have sailors descended from Vikings design a church.  

On the way to Honfleur, I stopped by a rare fully intact Romanesque church (c. 1050) and an ancient abbey ransacked during the Revolution but with some extant parts as old the reign of Charlemagne (c. 780)-

The comparison of the Romanesque churches (c. 11th century) with the Gothic churches (c. 12th+ century) is quite interesting.  

Today I toured Bayeux and saw the famous Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1080) depicting William's cartoon like conquest of England and the battle of Hastings.  Who knew his army was composed mostly of stick figures?  Harold should haven ashamed of himself losing to such a skinny and pencil- necked crowd-

William himself still seemed ready to go if a bit stiff, tho maybe that is a few battles and 960+ years will do to you-

And saw the justly famous Bayeux Cathedral, which like most of Bayeux was spared destruction during WWII.   In a land of seemingly endless beautiful medieval churches, it appears as if the next church is more magnificent than the last.   William the Conqueror attended its consecration in 1080, nearly 1000 years ago-

The church is bigger than Notre Dame in Paris and I would submit perhaps just as impressive.  

Interestingly, Waze took me over the Seine on this free ferry-

I guess all the Roman bridges in this part of Europe were gone.  

Tomorrow we hope to land on Omaha beach via mechanized transport (bicycle).   

Tour de France- Ken Variant; Stage 1- Philadelphia Tarmac

 The Tour de France is a grueling race and the Ken Variant thereof, while different in some details, requires essentially the same degree of stamina and determination.  Like the traditional, if somewhat staid, TdF, the Ken Variant has different stages with some shuttles and rest days in between arduous bike riding, walking about and general touring.  

To get to France, on my own nickel no less, I had to fly to Philadelpia which recalled my Venice/Dolomite trip of yore with my son in law, Clay, where spent 45 minutes on the ground at Philly waiting for a gate.  Evidently, this has become standard fare in Philly, where we had to wait over an hour on the tarmac for a gate- all dressed up but nowhere to go as it were.  So, they let fly into Philadelphia, you just can't get off the plane.   Just as they were issuing sleeping bags and mess kits, we somehow broke through Philly's defenses and got to the gate.  The stampede getting off would have made a good Rawhide episode, as I barely avoided getting trampled.  

Got to Paris where a TdF van (Eurocar) was waiting to take me to Rouen in Normandie and the 1st stage, after payment of the rental fee/deposit, etc, etc.  One the way, stopped at this  boulangerie where I got my first taste of French food and ambiance-

You could get right next to the road action with that one chair.  

The next stage- 1.5 days of strenuous walking about Rouen with only the occasional ice cream or pastry- featured some magnificent medieval gothic churches-

Talk about flamboyant Gothic!

It is truly hard to appreciate how awe inspiring these churches are, both inside and out without seeing them in person.  Some are just enormous.   Hard to imagine them building them 800+ years ago, but they did.

And for fans of the French-English or English-French, depending on your point of view, there was the tomb of Richard The Lion Hearted (died 1199) in the Cathedral-

Rouen is justly famous for its array of half timber houses of which many hundreds survive from the middle and later ages- 

If the house's 2nd floor is cantilevered out, it was built before 1520.  

 The French do have some thought provoking street names, perhaps carried over from the French Revolution-

But due to the constant riots, there was virtually no one in site as only the bravest dared to venture out-

And there was little to see or tempt one to eat due to the shops being boarded up-

I did manage to visit the Museum of Fine Arts here where they have an excellent display of Impressionist paintings, including some by Monet, Renoir and other famous painters-

But, I don't know, maybe I am getting old, but most of it looked kind of...blurry to me, like art had definitely declined since the Rennaisance.  Not to worry, though, digital photography has made those guys aushdemode, as one might say.