Bayeux to Omaha Beach
The Norman landscape is a tapestry of luxury accommodations, farmland, bed and breakfasts, medieval history, World War II memorials, and everyday life for its 1.4 million inhabitants. On the morning of 30 April 2011, I rolled out of bed at Hotel de la Gare , packed my camera, checked my map again, filled my water bottle, checked my bananas and granola bars, and headed downstairs for petit-dejeuner—a mug of French coffee and a toasted baguette with fruit jelly. I'd spent part of the previous afternoon photographing the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux . While picking up a copy of "Notre Dame Cathedral Bayeux" by Francois Neveux with Claire Ruelle, I'd heard the staff at the Office de Tourisme say the American Cemetery was 18 kilometers away. So I gave myself three and a half hours to get there. The cathedral's two towers reflect the original Romanesque style used when Bishop Odo de Conteville and his predecessor first built the cathedral ...