Caen

We chose Caen, France as our "home base" for traveling to Etretat, the beaches of Normandy, and Mont St. Michel.

Caen - French pronunciation: [kɑ̃]

Caen is located about 9 miles inland from the English Channel.  About a 100,000 people call Caen home.

It is famous for its landscapers and you can clearly see why.  These cones are really something, but have you ever tried to carve a full grown tree into a rectangle?  That's what I thought.

Well, really Caen is famous for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror.  This is the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, built in the 11th century.  William the Conqueror is buried here.

Forgot who William the Conqueror is?  He was the first Norman King of England.  Normans - that's why this area is called Normandy.  William began his reign in 1066 when Edward the then King of England died and Harold, Earl of Wessex was crowned king.  William was not happy, claiming that Edward had promised him the throne and that Harold would support that.

Well, Harold didn't and so . . . long story short, William waged war, killed Harold and was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey.  He died about 20 years later from injuries after falling off his horse in another battle and he is buried here in Caen.

The Abbey was not secured with a wall prior to the Hundred Years War so this wall that still surrounds the Abbey today was built after the English victory in the Hundred Years War.

Hundred Years War?  One hundred sixteen to be more precise.  It was a series of wars waged between England and France (although all the battles were fought in France), basically over who would be king of the kingdoms, between 1337 and 1453.  

THIS WALL IS A REMNANT OF THE FORTIFIED TOWN BUILT AROUND 1356 

While there are no photos of the death and destruction in Caen during the battle in 1346 of the Hundred Years War, nearly 600 years later, this photo clearly shows the devastation and destruction in Caen during World War II. 

Connected to the Abbaye-aux-Hommes is the Church of St. Etienne.  Unfortunately, the times we were in Caen, those red doors were locked so . . .

RicardMN Photography

if we had been able to get in, we could have seen the tomb of William the Conqueror.

We found a great little restaurant open late and serving crepes with every savory and sweet filling imaginable.

On our way out of town, we caught a glimpse of this bus/restaurant.  Ironically, we would soon be headed to London to ride in one of these red double-decker buses and sometimes Frazier is Spiderman.

Caen, France - I wish we could have spent more time here.