Memorial de Caen

Sunday morning we walk uphill to the Memorial de Caen, which was imagined by the Mayor of Caen and built in 1988 on the site of a German bunker. It's extraordinary and we spend the entire day there. Beautifully designed and executed to tell the story of Western Europe from the end of the first world war in 1918 through and including the German occupation of France and continuing on through the Cold War. It is also a plea for peace. It leads us to much discussion throughout the day. It's both exhausting and impossible to forget. We stagger home overwhelmed by the images and the feelings they provoke. It's Sunday so almost all serious restaurants are closed. We share a beer or two at a local pub filled with locals. The vast is managed by a Brit from Oxford!! It's becoming very evident that France and England are deeply intertwined still as they have been since the time of the Vikings.Read more