2019-07-31 Falaise Castle to Caen Memorial

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Falaise Castle to Caen Memorial

Our route Falaise Castle to Caen Memorial

It is overcast when we wake pitched on the grass under the walls of Falaise castle, there is drizzle in the air. Almost all the cars parked here last night have gone and there are five campers left who have parked overnight. We breakfast and make our way to the castle for 10.00am when it opens.

There is still a small queue, but we have most of the castle to ourselves. About 100 years ago the castle was a ruin, in the meantime the city has fully rebuilt and restored the castle walls and tower and refurbished the inside to circa 1027 AD (we suspect for the 1000-year anniversary of William’s birth in 2027). The entrance fee of €8.50 each includes an interactive tablet used in each restored room in the castle. Pointing the tablet shows what it would have been like in 1027, tiled floors, tapestries on the walls, simple windows and colonnades to divide rooms. It is very realistic.

We spend almost 2 hours walking the route around the castle, exploring the towers, up to the top and down to the cellars, the living apartments, throne rooms and generally getting a sense of the place where William grew up (to the age of 8 years) and life a thousand years ago. What an enjoyable experience, we both felt disappointed when we reached the end of the tour. We emerge from the dark of the castle into brilliant sunlight, the cloud and drizzle gone and replaced with blue sky and sunshine.

We take a few more photographs outside and return to the camper for lunch. A short break and we decide to move on to Caen, only about 40km north of Falaise.

We take the N158 to Caen and the Caen peripherique-est (anticlockwise) around Caen to the D-day Memorial where there is a large (and free) car park for motor homes. We arrive about 3.00pm, park up and walk to the memorial. We find the No.2 bus stop and the bus waiting that takes us directly into the centre of Caen. We buy a 24-hour Dayrider for €4 each and it takes about 20 minutes to the Caen chateau in the centre of the city.

We get off the bus and walk up to the chateau (old town). Inside, the city walls now enclose several museums and two eglise as well as the old castle and donjon. We wander around but do not stay as it is packed with families and not what we want. We walk across town (along the main shopping street) to the church of St Etienne and the Abbaye aux Hommes where William the Conqueror is buried. The Abbaye’s architecture is impressive, built by William (and the Abbaye aux Dames for Matilda his wife, where she is buried). The tall gothic architecture is typical of the Norman period, and there is a constant file of people before William’s grave.

It is impressive that so many want to come and see William’s burial place. For me there is no atmosphere and no sense of William here, but the abbaye with its cloisters is definitely worth coming to see. Back on the No.2 bus to the Museum of Caen which is about to close. Most cars and many campers have gone, but about 20 remain overnight.