The Most Important Patch of Land in France

There's an area up in northern France, you may have heard of it.  To look at it, you may not guess that it is probably one of the most significant places in the world.  Well, it is.

Utah Beach

Today, Normandy is one giant tourist attraction.  You'll hear more English being spoken here than you will French, even in the off season.  But, just a short 70 or so years ago this area was at the very eye of the storm during World War II.  One June 6, 1944, the Allies brought the fight to Hitler when they invaded Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword, and Gold beaches.  From that point on, the tide of the war in Europe had definitely changed.

William the Conqueror's Castle, the imposing fortress of Falaise where the Duke
and future King of England was born and spent his early years.

But, incidentally, the events of D-Day aren't the only reason why Normandy is significant.  An invasion, this time in the reverse, which took place about 880 years prior is another claim to fame for the former Duchy.  Pretty much every student of Western history knows the date of 1066, when William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, launched about 700 ships from Normandy on his way to the history changing battle at Hastings with Harold Godwinson.  The defeat of the Anglo-Saxon army by the Normans drastically altered the course of world history.  The repercussions of the Norman invasion cannot be overstated.  Normandy was William's home and where he spent most of his life, even after he became King of England.  It's where he learned to be one of the most successful military and government leaders to have ever lived.

Bayeux Cathedral, the original 

So, you see, Normandy is saturated in history.  It is positively dripping in it, actually.  The major cities of Caen and Bayeux are chock full of 12th Century edifices.  You can't turn a corner without running into some giant yellow sandstone monument to the Normans' power.  If you have a thing for medieval architecture, something I myself suffer from, you will be in heaven.  Despite the destruction of war that nearly leveled these cities, very few of the old buildings show any signs of that abuse today.  Bayeux is home to one of the most important works of European art too.  The Bayeux Tapestry resides in its very own museum in the heart of the city.  The tapestry is not only a work of art, but a historical document.  At seventy meters long, it tells the story of the Norman invasion, from Edward the Confessor's bequeathing of the crown to his cousin William, to Harold's adventures in Normandy, to his snatching of the crown upon Edward's death, to the building of the Norman fleet, to the final moments of the battle in 1066.  For a piece of cloth that is almost 1000 years old, it doesn't show it's age.  It's incredible, not only because of the level of craftsmanship and the aesthetics, but because of its fantastic detail.  You can learn a lot about what things were like in the Middle Ages just by studying this 70m long cloth.

Obviously, however, most people visit Normandy because of the events of 1944.  Today, it's hard to imagine as you walk through the quaint streets of the cities or the beaches the amount of violence that erupted here.  It's an inherently peaceful place of stone villages, seaside cottages, and sun dappled gardens.  But, you don't have to look too closely to see evidence of what went down here.

German jackboot print in a ruined artillery bunker.

One of Hitler's last surviving guns, now silent overlooking the Channel at Longues-sur-Mer

The D-Day sites of Normandy have been written about time and again by authors far more knowledgable and talented than myself.  I will not begin to pour into the events, the characters, and the immensities of D-Day.  It's too much to take in, process, and then re-disseminate.  I didn't expect to be moved when we visited the American cemetery.  I've spent many hours in cemeteries for my work back in the day.  Never once was I overwhelmed by a cross or a name and a date.  Here, however, I was.  How do you reacted to field after field of pure white stone representing a lives cut down in their prime for a cause they couldn't have understood?  I don't know.  It's something that has be seen to understand

So, visit Normandy? Yes.  Visit Normandy even if you don't care one iota about history?  Yes.  The food is good, and you may actually learn something too.  Learning never hurt anyone.  Normandy has a lot to teach.  It played a major role in two of the most significant events in world history, events which shape our present world.  Of any place in France, perhaps even more than that famous tower, this is one spot you should visit.