Last Days in Normandy

We all piled in the van and headed off to spend our last full day in Normandy in Bayeux. On a previous visit this was our home base. The cathedral is said to be bigger than Notre-Dame in Paris. By the way it is also called Notre-Dame. Bayeux is famous for the Bayeux Tapestry which is over 70 meters long and tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 (a date all British and French students know well). It was completed about 100 years after the battle and used to be displayed once a year in the Notre-Dame cathedral. Now you can see it up close and get a great audio tour description too!

Notre-Dame

The next morning we got up bright and early for our long days drive to Port-Launay in Brittany (our home for the next month). While checking my e-mail in the breakfast area I said hello to a fellow traveler and asked him where he was from. "A small town in northern California," was his reply. "Oh, where?" I asked. "Pleasanton," he replied. "I taught in Pleasanton along with two of my fellow travelers," I said. "My daughter teaches at Mohr," he said. "Mohr! I taught at Mohr and Joe Kettwig who is with me was the principal," I said surprised. His daughter is Michelle Britto who taught right across the hall from me my last year, and teaches 4th there still! Small world!!

The highlight of our drive, besides the beautiful countryside, was our stop at Mont-St-Michel. I have been there before, but this time I got to have one of their famous fluffy omelettes. I have to say it looked way better than it tasted and now I won't need to go back for another. Plus, the lunch was real expensive! We beat the tides back to our van and continued on to Brittany.