A Photo Tour of Lower Normandy

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The moment I first arrived in Lower Normandy following a lengthy ferry ride across the English Channel, my first instinct was to exhale. After spending months cooped up in the choking density of central London I felt a sense of relief from being in the presence of open fields and grazing land. My moment of zen didn’t last long as I was on a tight schedule. Lower Normandy, as it turns out, is a bit of a logistics nightmare if you are traveling without a car. Depending heavily on public transport, I set out to explore three items from my travel “bucket list” – Mont-Saint-Michel, the D-Day Landing Sites and the Bayeux Tapestry.

Mont-Saint-Michel

I caught my first glimpse of Mont-Saint-Michel on the 2-hour train ride from Caen to Pontorson. It exposed itself for a brief moment behind a cluster of drab storage warehouses, giving me and a sprinkling of other tourists on the train a preview of what was to come. Following a short bus ride from Pontorson, Mont-Saint-Michel revealed itself in full view. The result of over 1000 years of construction, this fairytale abbey is perhaps the most photogenic spot in all of France.

View from within Mont-Saint-Michel

The abbey was built at the top of a small island just off the coast from the mainland in a shallow sandy bay. During high tide, water fills the bay and transforms the landscape, making Mont-Saint-Michel appear as a castle floating in the sea. Unfortunately I missed high tide during my visit, but that didn’t take anything away from Michel’s beauty.

Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey

Mont-Saint-Michel is still an active abbey and a small group of nuns reside here year round.

Nun climbing the Abbey steps

Even at low tide on a cold and gray morning, the views from the top of Mont-Saint-Michel are stunning. The photo below shows the elevated road from the mainland to Michel as well as the surrounding bay.

View from Mont-Saint-Michel

Below the abbey is a maze of densely packed streets covered in cobblestones, cafes, souvenir shops and a few small museums.  The photo below is from a cafe located at the foot of the island with a cafe au lait in the foreground.

Cafe au Lait

Head east along the coastline from Mont-Saint-Michel and you’ll reach the D-Day landing sites.  Because I was without a rental vehicle, I took a D-Day tour departing from Bayeux.  The photo below is of Pointe du Hoc, just east of Omaha Beach.  It was here that US Army Rangers scaled the cliffs to destroy a cluster of German casemates on June 6th, 1944.

Pointe du Hoc

Facing the early morning sun, Pointe du Hoc makes for an eerily serene setting.

Pointe du Hoc Battlefield

Looking towards the English Channel, pockmarks on the ground left by bombs nearly 70 years ago are still clearly evident.

Pointe du Hoc Battlefield

Pointe du Hoc’s proximity to Omaha Beach (shown in the distance below) is part of why it was such a heavily contested area.

Pointe du Hoc Battlefield

Some of the original German bunkers are still in tact and are open to visitors.

German Bunker

Omaha Beach is located a short drive from Pointe du Hoc and is now frequented by dog walkers and joggers.  Nearly 70 years ago, 15,000 soldiers stormed this beach to help liberate Northern France from the Nazis.

Omaha Beach

The Normandy American Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the soldiers who fought on D-Day.  The cemetery is set on a cliff overlooking the English Channel.

Normandy American Cemetery

Most of the graves in the cemetery are named, but there are numerous unnamed markers inscribed with “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God”.

Unnamed Grave

Inland from the D-Day landing sites is the ancient town of Bayeux.  Like most European towns, it is anchored by a formidable cathedral.  The Bayeux Cathedral (below) is striking, but is best known for once being home to the Bayeux Tapestry – a 1000 year old embroidery than runs 230 feet long.

Bayeux Cathedral

Today, the Bayeux Tapestry is held and protected in its own museum just a few steps away from the cathedral.  Across the length of the delicate cloth are numerous panels detailing the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent Battle of Hastings.

Bayeux Tapestry

It’s estimated that the embroidery was created sometime around 1066 and the illustrations created from the stitching range from amazing to even comical (see the generously sized horse penis above).  The battle sequences and horses are of particularly high quality, while some of the portraits and faces are reminiscent of Quentin Blake illustrations.

Bayeux Tapestry

The Ruins of Ayutthaya

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Painting of Ayutthaya Commissioned by the Dutch East India Company

The only Southeast Asian nation to successfully withstand European colonisation attempts, Thailand’s history as a unified kingdom stretches back into the Middle Ages. Today, Bangkok stands as the kingdom’s vibrant capital. 11,000,000+ inhabitants strong, the city is a powerhouse in this region of the world and attracts visitors from all corners of the globe. Visit Bangkok today and its size, density and centuries-old temples will make it hard to believe that there was a ever a time when the country’s capital laid elsewhere.

150 years before Columbus set sale for India, Bangkok was merely a fishing village and Thailand’s King U-Thong made his way to the Valley of the Chao Praya River after fleeing an outbreak of smallpox. It was there that he founded the Kingdom’s capital of Ayutthaya, 80km north of modern-day Bangkok. Named after the birthplace of Rama in India, Ayutthaya rose to become one of the most powerful cities in Asia over the next 400 years.

Set amongst a lush valley with excellent waterway access, Ayutthaya flourished thanks in part to an open and friendly trade policy with the Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese. By the year 1600 there were an estimated 300,000 people living within its borders – 100,000 more than London at the time. Over the next 150 years the city thrived and its population ballooned to over 1,000,000 in the mid-1700s, asserting Ayutthaya as the strongest power within Southeast Asia. French ambassadors likened the city’s size and wealth to that of Paris and at the height of its influence it was poised to become a major contender in a rapidly globalising world. Then, in 1767, after series of long battles with the Burmese, the walls of the city were breached and Ayutthaya was burned to the ground. With the city destroyed and the king murdered, Ayutthaya was abandoned and construction of a new capital to the south began.

Prang in Ayutthaya

Today, only a trace of once was remains, but the ruins of Ayutthaya still evoke a sense of grandeur and elegance. Distinctive prangs crooked from the war and centuries of rainfall, jut out organically from the grassy lawns of the Ayutthaya Historical Park. With their protective sheaths eroded, the original brickwork is exposed which allows you to peer into the very heart of each structure. Sculptures of Buddha dot the landscape and are carefully tended to by locals as many Thai nationals still come to Ayutthaya to pray.

On the ground you can feel the crunch of broken bricks beneath your feet, perhaps shattered in the bloody war that took place here 250 years ago. In the air dragonflies buzz in dense clusters and effortlessly navigate their way around ancient temple spires partially painted with the green of clinging plants. In the distance walk a line of elephants, though carrying tourists, they still add to the mystique of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Elephants with the Ruins in the Background

Ayutthaya may no longer be compared to Paris, but I would argue that its ruins are as fascinating as those of the Roman Empire. Left mostly unpreserved, the physical condition of the ancient city have become a spectacle in its own right. Partially reclaimed by nature, the ancient temples feel more organic than man made and are reminiscent of Incan or Mayan ruins.

Ayutthaya Historical Park

Easily accessible from Bangkok via a cruise along the Chao Praya River or car, the ruins of Ayutthaya can be easily explored in a day with plenty of time leftover for elephant rides and viewing the city’s old Portuguese settlement. For those staying in Bangkok, this is a day trip that cannot be missed.

Macau: Where East met West

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Nestled a little more than an hour from Hong Kong by way of ferry, Macau is an intriguing city with a rich history and thriving tourism industry. Though today it may be known best for its carbon copy Las Vegas-style casinos, Macau was also once a Portuguese colony – the first and last European colony in China. It was only until very recently in 1999 that the Portuguese handed back the city to the People’s Republic of China and today, along with Hong Kong, it operates as a special administrative region of China. As a result of its special status, Europeans, Americans, Australians and those from most Asian nations do not require a visa to enter the region . . .  Read the rest of the post on CandidTraveller.