Today was really a travelling day as we had to get from Normandy to Amiens.
After another tasty breakfast from our B&B hosts, we bid our farewell and had a few sites to catch up on we had missed so far.
Not far away was Brecourt Manor which was the first action by the 101st Airborne on D-Day after they had parachuted in and re-grouped.
The top of Bayeux Cathedral
Our next stop was a change in theme – to Bayeux to see the tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings in 1066 between Harold and William the Conquerer. It is an amazing piece – 70 metres long and tells the story in pictures of Edward sending Harold to Normandy to tell William that he would be king when Edward died, Harold going back to England and breaking his oath to William and declaring himself King instead when Edward dies and William invading England to fight Harold for the throne and Harold being killed with an arrow through the eye. The embroidery is so intricate and the audio tour commentary is brilliant.
Mein Gott – Tourists !
We then headed to Longues ser Mer which has a number of intact german batteries, complete with replaced guns, right on the coast above Omaha Beach. These were used for the movie “The Longest Day” for the “Mein Gott – Invasion” scene. One thing about these batteries/bunkers – either the germans ran around crouched over half the time or they were only 4 feet tall as a lot you need to bend down to avoid cloating your head ! – One young boy about Liam’s age forgot this and knocked himself over at one place – he already had a neck brace on, poor kid – maybe he doesn’t learn very fast !?
We made one more quick stop for Liam to collect a souvenir he was after and we were back on the motorway heading toward Amien. France is a bit like some parts of the USA – tolls everywhere on the motorways. We spent about 40 Euro all up I think. Forgot to tell you about our first experience with them on our hectic/late day after the train – As we approached the toll booths they all looked the same – as if they need a toll ticket or card. We were not aware we needed something like we bought in Switzerland and Austria. So we boldly drove into the booth and were confronted with a machine wanting 2.50 Euro. I dropped a couple of coins in a slot looking vaguely like a coin slot but nothing registered. So I pushed the help button and the French lady asked “Oui?” I replied “English” and she returned with “Card”. As Adrienne and I looked at one another she added “Credit” and we soon clicked we needed a credit card. So in went our card and it quickly popped out again with a receipt and the boom gate opened and we were on our way. Don’t know how many cars queued behind us but they were very polite – not one horn !
Lunch was a quick bite as Adrienne and Liam selected items from the service station shop as I filled the car with diesel. Don’t know if it’s diesel cars or Renaults but the car we have has a crappy engine ! Car and occupants refuelled and we were on our way – with one last detour before Amiens.
The forest clearing at Compiegne
Compiegne is the spot, just north of Paris, where the armistice was signed in a train carriage in a forest clearing after WWI. In 1940 as the Germans crushed the French and the Allies evacuated from Dunkirk, Hitler embarressed the French by making them sign their own surrender to him at the same spot in the same carriage. He then took the carriage to Berlin as a “prize”. It was destroyed in the fighting at the end of the war by the Germans.
The clearing in the forest has been re-created and there is a museum (back of picture) which houses a replica of the train carriage and relics from the 2 events – all basically in french though. The surrounding forest is a lovely area.
From here it was on to Amiens where we arrived just on 18:00. As we walked through the front door of the hotel we were greeted with something we had not heard for a while – a room full of nothing but Australian accents ! Our hotel is full of nothing but Aussies here for the dawn service. The front of the hotel in the bar was a noisy place full of Aussie slang – we wondered what the poor little french guy on the desk was thinking with the sounds of Australia in his front entrance !
All evening was the same – pass someone in the hall and you got a “G’day” or a “owyagoin”. There are 2 bus groups here and luckily they had their dinner separately but we listened to the other 6 or so groups at the tables in the restaurant at dinner and smiled as the waiter had the same problem explaining the french menu and taking the orders – they were a bit run off their feet !
It was such a bizarre and funny experience to be in this little “Australialand” so far from home !