We arrived in Caen in the late afternoon after stopping at Château Gaillard and Bernay on the way from Rouen. Caen turned out to be the perfect tour stop, with its excellent location in the middle of everything we wanted to see. Namely Falaise, Bayeux, and something on the coast in regards to D-Day. Additionally Caen is a lively city with a lot of historic sites and a great infrastructure. We had settled on an AirBnb for Caen, which is not really the responsible thing to do. But it meant that we had two bedrooms and a parking space. The apartment was excellent and I can’t recommend it enough.
Place Saint-Saveur gave us the first glimpse on what to expect from Caen. Large empty spaces, ideal for terraces and getting a drink, something I love about France. We stopped at the Brasserie Gustave and later at L’atelier Café for drinks. The city is full of small bars and brasseries for that, so just make your pick.
Place Saint-Saveur @Caen
Caen is famous for its abbeys. There are two of them, the Abbaye aux Hommes and the Abbaye Aux Dames. Both abbeys are from the time of William the Conqueror, even before he conquered England. This means that construction started as early as 1063 and 1064 respectively. Isn’t that amazing? The abbeys are not far away from each other, but separated by the castle of Caen. Probably a bit more than one kilometer as the crow flies.
The first time we tried to visit the Abbaye aux Hommes, we didn’t get a chance as a celebration to honor the D-Day veterans was underway. There was no way to get into this church that day.
Abbaye aux Hommes @Caen
D-Day celebration for veterans @Abbaye aux Hommes
In July D-Day celebrations are all over Normandy, something we didn’t take into account when we decided on traveling during that month. But of course, since D-Day was on 6 June 1944 many towns and villages in Normandy got liberated in the first couple of weeks and this gets feted regularly.
The only other time for us to get into the Abbaye aux Hommes was on our last morning in Caen. And we really needed to see the final resting place of William the Conqueror. William lies interred here, while his wife Mathilda lies at the Abbey aux Dames. Unfortunately we never managed to see her, our schedule just didn’t allow it. But at least we made it eventually into the Abbaye aux Hommes.
Abbaye aux Hommes @Caen
The tomb of William lies prominently in front of the altar, what a fitting place for the Conqueror of England and the Duke of Normandy. Of course once you learn a bit more about him, he is not such a shining figure anymore. He might have seized England, but he also crushed rebellions of the Anglo-Saxons in the north of England in 1070/71 in such a way that the aftermath is still felt today. For decades the north was destroyed, people killed or displaced, farming ruined, and the leadership executed or exiled. These effects of genocide through slaughter and hunger took a long time to overcome and the north never really got as strong economically as the south.
tomb of William the Conqueror @Abbaye aux Hommes
In case you are wondering from where I have this information, I am following the Great British History podcast. I love the detailed narration and I trust the podcaster that he knows what he is talking about. Often enough he refers to his sources like William of Poitiers, who chronicled the duke’s life during his time. In any case, William the Conqueror was not a nice man. Nonetheless, Caen is definitely worth a visit. Yours, Pollybert
