With five days (one of which is Easter Sunday) in Normandy for D-day sites, Bayeux, and Mont St. Michel, I want to include some William the Conqueror history sites. Does anyone have opinions on which is better between his chateau in Caen (the one he built) versus the one he was born at in Falaise? I'm already planning to go to Caen, so going to Falaise would be mostly for the WTC site and a bit of an extra trip.
Thanks,
Tara
Tara
To save you a lot of trouble:
William was born in the town of Falaise in 1025 (date is close, but probably wrong).
The present castle (begun in the early 1200's) is built on the site of an earlier castle, none of which remains.
Or you could go to Bayeux to see the ancient tapestry depicting the history of William the Conqueror. It is amazing and so informative.
Thanks. The tapestry was already on the list. I was also interested in the chateaux Falaiase because of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II and their bunch. Anyone ever been there and think it's worth the trip?
I have nothing to add, other than to applaud you for probably being the first person to post on this forum requesting information on William the Conqueror sites.
If you're an Eleanor of Aquitaine fan, you should go to the Abbeye of Fontevrault where she is buried, but I don't think you'll have time on this trip. Wasn't she an amazing woman? You've probably read the standard biogs on her..............PM if you need titles.
The Falais castle was being worked on when I was last there (a bit more than a year ago). I had been in it many years earlier. As castles go, it's not that great, but I'm a fan of the Welsh castles.
Speaking of Eleanor, her little boy Richard's biggest hunk of body is burried right beside her. His heart is in the cathedral at Rouen. The only castle Lionheart actually built in France is just south of there on the hill above Les Andelys (Chateau Gaillard) -- it's mostly a heap of ruins.
We enjoyed viewing the effigies at Fontrevault Abbeye. However, the Revolutionaries dumped all of the mortal remains (in the river, I think) during the Terror. While viewing the tapestry in Bayeux, we enjoyed listening to the pro-William account of the 1066 invasion. We visited Battle Abbey on our previous trip and got to hear the pro-English version of the same invasion. It's also interesting while in Normandy to compare/ contrast the 1066 invasion of England with the 1944 invasion of France. History goes round and round.... Thanks for posing an interesting question.
