There is no way we are driving by Dunkirk, Dieppe, and Normandy without seeing the WWII detritus. Lots of concrete gun emplacements all along the north coast of France.On the Normandy beaches, we toured this lovely bunker. Tragically, it’s not an AirBNB.For all Germany’s victories early in the war – which were due to fast, aggressive movements, I suspect Hitler really just wanted to dig trenches and pour concrete. This particular bunker was supposed to hold out behind enemy lines for 60 days. Pretty unrealistic Mont St Michel is a spectacular cathedral / fortress – one of the biggest tourist spots in France. 1200 years old, and was besieged many times during the hundreds of years of war between England and France Most of the cathedral was built in the 1200sThe hunk of granite at the top of the hill wasn’t big enough for a cathedral, so various rooms with heavy columns were built to provide a solid foundation. There was some damage in this room, so they built columns around the original pillars.Would have made an excellent location for game of thrones.Medieval cathedrals would have felt like skyscrapers in their day.Lots of detail that you don’t usually see on a house for monks. The real security came from the dangerous tides and mud flats.Next stop was Marta’s French teacher from 39 years ago, Benoit and his wife, Gait. Benoit made the mistake of leaving his address with his new friends behind the iron curtain, and Poles are still showing up, 4 decades later. I continue to be destroyed by whatever disease I got on the flight over. This is a bit of justice for Europe – after all, the germ flow went the other way for several hundred years.While I’m dying of bubonic plague, Marta heads out to the far west corner of Brittany.
The rain finally slows down, and I feel a bit human, so I finally investigate the awful noise coming from our engine. I overtightened the alternator belt, and multiple bearings were destroyed during the very cold drive from Calgary to Toronto. Fortunately, the French are able to miraculously source a compatible alternator / tensioner, and it shows up in a couple days.
Marta and Chester's Maleficent Adventures 