A few days with the French

It is not always easy finding some time to get away together. Thankfully we live in Europe and there are many places very close which we can visit for a day of two. And it is good to take these moments to share some rest time together. We are thankful that we have these opportunities. 

Last week we took 3 full days to head down to Normandy. For some this means WWII memorials on beaches. For us it meant a ton of history. Shirley has in the past years looked into her ancestry and found out that she has some viking. Welsh, Scottish and more in her line. Normandy was therefore a perfect place to visit and explore - this is where the “Noor mannen” or men from the North or Norway had settled centuries ago. 

William the Conqueror was first William the Bastard from Normandy. It was his conquest of England that mixed the cultures and languages that we have now so many centuries later. So we decided to spend some time in Caen and visit the areas around this city. Caen itself was the capitol of Normandy and houses two amazing monasteries - one for men and one for women. 

William was married to Mathilde of Flanders, daughter of Baldwin V, count of Flanders. So it was interesting to see this mixture which touches on our daily lives even now (the queen of Belgium is now also Mathilde). The monastery for women is named after Mathilde, although it has long stopped serving as a monastery. These days it is used for the provincial government. 

We spent a day going to Mont Saint Michel and then the city of St. Malo (in the next province over, Brittany). We spent a day walking everywhere we could in Caen visiting the old castle, cathedrals and the monasteries. Our feet definitely felt it at the end of the day, but it was exciting to discover so many different places. And thankfully we did not have to mangle too much of the French language to get around. 

The Bayeux tapestry was reserved for the one day that rain was forecast, since we would then be inside. This is a meter tall, 70 meter long tapestry which tells the history of the Norman conquest. The tapestry itself was amazing. Thinking about all that happened so long ago and that has influenced so many since then was also intriguing. But the rain meant that we simply returned to our room afterwards and enjoyed a nice evening together instead of getting wet. Although we have tons of pictures from the previous days, we only have one picture of that rainy day (we were not allowed to take pictures of the tapestry). 

The last day was reserved for our trip home (a good 6 hour drive) with a stop in Deauville along the coast. It is always good to be able to walk along the beach, take your shoes off and get wet in the waves licking the beach. Deauville felt more like stepping back into the early 20th century. The bathing changing rooms were all named after actors and actresses - some from a by-gone era, others very current, although it was hard to see and rhyme or reason in who was chosen. 

When we got home we took the next day to “slenter” (walk slowly) around our own Maastricht and spend time together. The sun had accompanied us on all of our days except the day at Bayeux and stayed until the Saturday when the typical Belgian rain reappeared. But it had been a very nice time to connect with history, heritage and one another for a few days. 

If you are interested in seeing our pictures (I know - home movies!), you can find them here. I tend to like to take pictures of things, although this time a few selfies also dot the landscape.