| After seeing Greg Miezelis' page on Camembert, I knew that we had to somehow get it into the itinerary. Even after having seen Greg's page, I was not prepared for how small Camembert really is. The entire town consists of the church and graveyard, the cheese museum, and about three other buildings. We bought some genuine Camembert in the town and had it with our breakfast the following morning. | 
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Bayeux turned out to be one of our favorite places on the entire trip. I had read about the Bayeux Tapestry many times and had seen several pictures of it in my history textbooks, but it really was not what I expected at all. First of all, I pictured it being much taller like traditional tapestries, and I had no idea that it's as long as it is. The tapestry is located in a small museum that has a number of exhibits plus a short film about the story behind the tapestry. We also enjoyed our visit to the Bayeux Cathedral and returned to the city later to tour the outstanding Museum of the Allied Invasion of Normandy. |
| I think that Honfleur ranks in the top 10 or so scenic spots that we have ever visited, but it is becoming very crowded. We had great difficulty finding a parking place, and we decided to stay in a relais outside of town because there was a real scarcity of decent rooms. In just the short period of time that we were able to visit the town, it was easy to see why it is the subject of so many paintings. The light seems to be softer here than in most other places on earth. | 
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I am not a super patriot, and unlike so many Americans, I don't have any direct connections to relatives who were a part of the invasion at Omaha Beach. Nevertheless, we were both truly moved by the cemetery and the memorial there. The endless rows of markers and the names on the walls of the memorial gave me a greater understanding of World War II than any of the thousands of pages of history I have read. Today, the grounds are meticulously maintained and the entire sight is one of the most quietly dignified places I have ever visited. |
| We had visited Mont St. Michel more than ten years ago on a day trip from Paris, but this was the first time we had ever stayed overnight. We selected a room high up on the side of the rock that gave us a great view of the waters of the bay as the tide came in and went out. Like many crowded tourist attractions, Mont St. Michel is best appreciated early in the morning and late at night. | 
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Mont St. Michel lies right on the border of Normandy and Brittany. After we left Mont St. Michel, one of our first stops was in Dinan. In many ways, our stop in Dinan reminds me of a stop we made in Murten, Switzerland, a few years before. Dinan looks like we should appreciate it more; when walking down the streets and looking at the tourist guides, it seems to be exactly the kind of place we like so much. But, just as in Murten, we felt that something was missing, and Dinan did not appeal to us as much as we had hoped it would. |
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