Dover to Normandy

From London, my friend and I traveled down to Dover in the train. We visited Dover Castle, which is an amazing Norman fortress. The inside has also been done up amazingly to represent the time period in which it was first built. 

​From Dover we took the ferry to Calais. You can see the famous white cliffs of Dover as the ferry departs. The ferry crosses this short stretch of water pretty quickly. For so many periods in history this short stretch of water was what separated warring regimes, the Allies vs. the Nazis, as well as the long periods of fighting between England and France!

Dover castle

The white cliffs of Dover, from the ferry to Calais.

Arriving on French soil in Calais we traveled through the beautiful countryside of Normandy, and towards the town of Bayeaux. On the way we drove through the Somme. This sleepy stretch of countryside was the sight of the most awful, bloodiest battles in human history. Now there are just filled with tilled soil where enormous numbers lost their lives. 

The town of Bayeaux is just gorgeous. We visited the Bayeaux museum to see the famous Bayeaux tapestry. The light is kept dim, and photography is strictly prohibited. This ancient, nearly one thousand year old tapestry has miraculously survived. It tells the story of the brutal conquest of Britain by the Normans.

The Bayeaux tapestry. Source: wikipedia commons.

Mont-St Michel. From wikipedia commons.

​From there we also visited the surreal monastery of Mont-St-Micheal. It really is unusual to see a turreted monastery rising out of an island in the sea. 

---