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00:07¶¶
00:39Raise your travel dreams to their upright and locked positions.
00:43Join us now as we discover the ins and outs of travels in Europe.
01:00I'm Rick Steves. Glad you've joined us as we continue our tour of Offbeat Europe.
01:05We're putting into practice all those skills for independent travelers which we introduced in our first series.
01:10This time we're exploring the rich history, richer cuisine, and scenic beauty of Normandy and Brittany.
01:17We're on a tour which began in the British Isles and will continue through France and Belgium and down into
01:23Spain and Portugal.
01:26In this program, we're visiting Normandy and Brittany along the coast of France and just across the channel from England.
01:34We'll visit the beaches where William the Conqueror set off for England and where 900 years later, the Allied forces
01:40landed on D-Day in World War II.
01:44After lingering in an idyllic seaside village, we'll wander through the island abbey of Mont Saint-Michel.
01:50We'll take plenty of time to go local with cuisine specialties like crepes and cider.
01:57And we'll see how Normandy and Brittany are much farther from Paris than the two-hour train ride.
02:04This is Normandy. Hard fought over, steeped in history.
02:09Taken over by the Vikings or Norsemen, battled over by the English and French, and run over by the Allies
02:15during World War II.
02:17It's seen some rough times.
02:201,100 years ago, this was Viking country.
02:23The invaders liked the neighborhood and stayed.
02:27Over time, they became accepted as locals, and the area came to be called Normandy, after these Norsemen.
02:34The Normans were a can-do lot.
02:37They built great Romanesque structures like this abbey at Jumege.
02:41Then they invaded and conquered England, taking this building style along.
02:46To this day, in England, the fortress-like Romanesque architecture is called Norman.
03:04This is apple country, and apple beverages, rather than the grape-based wines, are the local specialties.
03:12We're looking for a farmer to get a taste of some farm-fresh cider, or maybe some less fresh hard
03:18cider, or even a little Calvados, Normandy's famous apple brandy.
03:25We arranged to pick up our rental car when we got off the ferry at Dieppe.
03:30We wanted the mobility of a car to get intimate with Normandy and Brittany.
03:35Since we rented from a large company, we can drop the car at any of over 100 offices in France
03:41for no penalty.
03:55In a few days, we'll turn in the car down in Brittany, and catch the train to Belgium.
04:04This is Calvados.
04:06Is it, um, apple?
04:12Okay, okay, okay, that's enough, that's enough.
04:16So, rapid?
04:20No, no, no, no.
04:21Okay, good.
04:24Wow.
04:27That's good, that's strong.
04:37The day after.
04:44Quel age, quel age, cidre?
04:46Cidre, ça se boit dans l'année, il est 2 l'année, il était fait au début de l'année,
04:51il était fait au février.
05:11Now, how about a little camembert cheese to go with the cider?
05:33Okay, the picnic's complete.
05:36If you've read any of my travel guidebooks, you know I'm big on picnics while traveling.
05:41I'd say this one has some class and even a little adventure.
05:54As you can see, for the production team, it's all work and no play.
06:01Okay, we're coming into the one part of this Normandy trip where we need to stow the car.
06:07Rouen is a big city with tight parking.
06:10Since everything we want to see is in the old traffic-free center,
06:13we're going to get as close as we can and park it in the first garage or paylot we see.
06:19Forget looking for a free space.
06:23A short walk, an important stop, and we're on our way.
06:29Do you have a map, please, of Rouen?
06:32The Rouen walking tour brochure lays out a route that feels like a walk-through scrapbook of Gothic architecture.
06:43The town's Notre Dame cathedral is considered one of France's most beautiful churches.
06:49It's a fine example of the last, overripe stage of Gothic architecture called flamboyant or flame-like.
06:56The Impressionist painter Monet rented an apartment right over there
07:00to paint the daily kaleidoscope of light and color across this magnificent cathedral.
07:14According to the walking tour brochure, this street, if translated, is called the street of the big clock.
07:19The clock and the buildings around it go back 500 years.
07:27The half-timbered Rouen was the capital of Normandy back when it controlled England and much of France.
07:34The rich buildings reflect its former importance and English heritage.
07:39These half-timbered places could be in York.
07:42They also remind us of the Hundred Years' War and Joan of Arc.
07:48Norman control of England ultimately brought about controversy over control of Normandy itself.
07:54The dynastic squabble resulted in the French and the English fighting for just over 100 years.
07:58The charismatic Joan of Arc's rallying of the French forces meant the beginning of the end for the English in
08:05France.
08:06Joan, of course, paid with her life.
08:09Tried and found guilty of heresy and sorcery, she was burned at the stake right here in 1431.
08:18This church is her modern memorial.
08:27Roan is full of reminders.
08:32This is the tower in which she was threatened with torture.
08:48At the other end of Old Rouen is another record of the city's sad past.
08:53This plague cemetery is crowded with ghoulish carvings,
08:57a dance macabre to the dirge of a devastating epidemic.
09:19Roan is crowded with history and a major sight-seeing destination,
09:24but we're ready for the peace and quiet of a small-town port.
09:28Enfleur is just an hour and a half west of Roan.
09:32Enfleur's tiny harbor, surrounded by skinny, soaring houses,
09:36was a favorite of 19th-century Impressionists and 16th-century sailors.
09:42Enfleur is overshadowed economically by the huge nearby port of Le Havre.
09:48It's low on sightseeing musts, but high on ambience.
09:52Simply a relaxing place to settle into the charms of Normandy.
10:04Remember the French system of rating hotels by stars.
10:07For my budget and style, I look for one or two stars.
10:13Simple, clean, quiet, good beds, hot shower down the hall.
10:19Cabinet de toilette is the cheapest room.
10:22That's a room with only a sink.
10:23D is for douche.
10:24That's a shower, more expensive.
10:25And the most expensive room is B for banne, with a private bath.
10:29Each of these rooms is for two people,
10:31but the price varies a lot according to the plumbing.
10:37Everything's close here.
10:38It's an easy stroll down to one of the cozy outdoor restaurants.
10:42One of the treats of travel in France
10:45is the variety of local cuisine specialties.
10:48It really is true.
10:50The French are serious about good eating,
10:53and each region has its distinct style.
11:06An aimless wanderer through a small French town
11:09promises a few surprises,
11:11like a local market.
11:35And the town has a surprisingly interesting museum.
11:38An Fleur's Eugène Baudin Museum
11:41is filled with paintings by the Impressionist painters
11:43who made this little town their headquarters for a time.
11:57The play of light along the Normandy shore
12:00was inspiration for painters such as Boudin and Claude Monet.
12:05The Impressionists saw the physical subject
12:08as simply a rack upon which to hang the ever-changing light
12:12and colors of the great outdoors.
12:16Their rallying cry was,
12:18out of the studio and into nature.
12:21They loved Normandy.
12:28The Impressionists painted the peaceful Normandy coast.
12:31But Normandy brings to mind invasions.
12:35In 1066, the local king, William,
12:37earned his nickname, the Conqueror,
12:39by defeating the English in the pivotal Battle of Hastings.
12:43It wasn't far from here as the Gulf lies,
12:45but over a lot of water that way.
12:49Just off the coast lies the historic town of Béau.
12:53Most of its visitors are there for one reason,
12:57the famous Béau Tapestry.
13:02This is high-tech, user-friendly tourism at its best.
13:06Models, orientation film,
13:08and a radio phone that tells the entire story.
13:13The dead bodies are stripped and left naked on the ground.
13:17This took place at the end of the day
13:19on Saturday, the 14th of October, 1066.
13:23The battle lasted 14 hours,
13:25and on that day,
13:26William the Bastard went down in the pages of history.
13:29From that time onwards,
13:31he was to be known as William the Conqueror,
13:34Duke of Normandy,
13:35and King of England.
13:37The Norman victory in England
13:38tied Britain closer to Europe.
13:40We know what we know about the battle
13:43basically from the famous tapestry,
13:46which is actually an embroidery.
13:49The tapestry was commissioned shortly after the conquest
13:52and describes the battle in 70 yards
13:55of exciting scene-by-scene action.
13:59It tells us most of what we know about William's army.
14:06The tapestry was designed to ring the interior
14:08of Béau's Cathedral.
14:10Providing worshippers with a weekly reminder
14:12that they were number one.
14:20Nearly 900 years after William the Conqueror
14:22set sail for England from this coast,
14:24the invasion was reversed
14:26as the Allies landed along these beaches
14:28on D-Day,
14:30June 6, 1944.
14:33Omaha Beach here was the site
14:34of the costliest of the battles that day.
14:38Here the Americans ran into strong currents,
14:42steep cliffs,
14:43and an unexpectedly large number
14:45of battle-seasoned German defenders.
14:51Pinned down on the beach,
14:52it took them all day to inch up the cliffs.
14:56They succeeded by nightfall,
14:58but at the cost of 2,000 casualties
15:00in that first day.
15:08Elsewhere along the beaches,
15:10German units tried to battle off the British
15:12at Sword and Gold beaches,
15:13the Canadians at Juneau Beach,
15:15and other American units at Utah Beach.
15:18By nightfall,
15:20the Allies had established
15:21solid beachheads in all areas
15:24and continued to port troops
15:25and equipment ashore.
15:27They brought their harbors with them.
15:30Towing old ships and concrete barges
15:32from England,
15:33they stuck together
15:33two artificial harbors.
15:36The remains of the one at Aramanche
15:38still stand witness
15:39to the ingenuity of the engineers.
15:45All told,
15:46for this invasion,
15:47the Allies had mustered
15:4811,000 aircraft,
15:50several thousand naval vessels,
15:51and almost 3 million soldiers,
15:54sailors,
15:55and airmen.
15:57From these beachheads,
15:59they pushed through France
16:00and finally,
16:01seven months later,
16:02into Germany itself.
16:07For those of us who knew D-Day
16:09only from newsreels and books,
16:11the invasion's a thrilling saga.
16:14For those who lived through it,
16:17it's lost friends
16:18and harsh realities.
16:28Way down on the edge of Normandy
16:30stands a peaceful beacon
16:32amid the exciting
16:33but tragic war history of the region.
16:36Mons-Saint-Michel
16:37sits on an island
16:39connected to the mainland
16:40by a long causeway.
16:42This site has inspired pilgrims
16:45for many centuries.
17:07This has been an important
17:08pilgrimage destination
17:09for a thousand years.
17:11and a thousand years
17:13of architecture
17:14contribute to the existing church.
17:23Local guides take groups around.
17:26According to tradition,
17:28in 708,
17:30the archangel,
17:31St. Michael,
17:32appeared to St. Aubert,
17:34the bishop of Avranches,
17:35in a dream
17:36and asked him
17:37to build a sanctuary
17:39on the rock.
17:42This is the cloister.
17:44And it was built
17:45in the 13th century.
17:57And this is where
17:58the pilgrims were received
18:00in the 11th century.
18:25This is the room in which
18:27the kings of France
18:28were received
18:29when they came
18:30on pilgrimage
18:30on the Mont Saint-Michel.
18:42The crowds of medieval pilgrims
18:44are now replaced
18:45by crowds
18:46of 20th century tourists.
18:58The little town
18:59has a couple of hotels
19:00and after the flood
19:01of day-trippers recedes,
19:03some great ambience.
19:13At Mont Saint-Michel,
19:14those who arrive late,
19:16spend the night
19:17and see it early,
19:18enjoy a totally
19:19different experience
19:20than those whose visit
19:21coincides
19:22with the midday tour buses.
19:28savour a stroll
19:30on the ramparts
19:30or an omelette
19:32still fixed
19:33the old-fashioned way.
19:35Thank you,
19:35the duke.
21:01Monta-Michel is famous for its terrifying tides, Europe's biggest and most dangerous.
21:11The tide goes out for 12 miles and comes in at the rate of 6 feet a second.
21:19Many curious visitors have underestimated its danger, let alone the infamous local quicksand.
21:32So, get a tide table, take care, and witness one more impressive Normandy invasion.
21:49We're on the border of Normandy and Brittany.
21:52Monta-Michel has been in either Normandy or Brittany in past times, depending upon which course the river took.
21:58Now it's in Normandy. Let's cross into Brittany.
22:03While the Normans were originally Vikings, the Bretons fled to this westernmost tip of France from Britain.
22:11When the Angles and Saxons invaded England, they pushed the indigenous Celtic people to lands like Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall,
22:20and here, Brittany.
22:25Fougere is a typical Breton town.
22:30Its castle, which brags it's Europe's largest medieval castle, shows a hard-fought past.
22:36Dating from the 12th through the 15th centuries, it appears to be impregnable.
22:43But it was captured and recaptured a number of times, as the Bretons struggled to maintain a separate identity from
22:50the more powerful French society.
22:54Europe is full of small groups who didn't get a country when they drew the lines.
22:59For many of these people, their patriotic heroes are alive today.
23:07Many locals remember a time when giving their child a Celtic name could make life in France difficult.
23:15Conditions have improved, but you can still touch base with the nationalistic grumblings of the Celtic people in the far
23:22west of Brittany.
23:24They consider themselves Breton, not French.
23:28Some don't even speak French.
23:30Brésia is the Breton name for this region.
23:38An essential element of any visit to Brittany is a meal of crepes, called galettes here.
23:44In fact, you can get a four-course meal, a hall of crepes.
23:51A starter might be a light vegetable crepe.
24:02They make dinner crepes with buckwheat flour.
24:05I'm having it with Gruyere cheese, ham, and an egg.
24:20A Breton might follow that with a blue cheese crepe.
24:24And if that isn't enough crepes, how about one for dessert?
24:28A wheat crepe with banana and rum flambe is tre bon.
24:43And it's all washed down with the local hard cider.
24:46Be careful, though.
24:47This isn't the cider you find in your everyday refrigerator.
24:50What a tasty way to finish this part of our trip.
24:53I hope you've had as much fun as we did exploring Normandy and Brittany.
25:00Keep your bags packed.
25:01Next time, we're exploring Belgium and Luxembourg.
25:05We'll cruise through some of the most beautiful canals in Europe on our visit to Bruges.
25:10We'll visit Belgium's open-air folk museum at Volkreich.
25:13We'll whiz through Brussels, and we'll discover the fortified past
25:17and the lively present of the mini-country Luxembourg.
25:24Join us next time in Belgium and Luxembourg.
25:28Until then, I'm Rick Steves, wishing you happy travels.
25:31Au revoir.
25:32Au revoir.
25:33Thanks.
25:35Home videos of destinations in this series are available for $24.95.
25:40To order the 60-minute two-program tape on Normandy and Belgium-Luxembourg
25:45or any other destination tapes, call 1-800-866-7425.
25:51Also available, Rick's 422-page Europe Through the Back Door book for $17.95.
25:57To order, please have your credit card ready and call 1-800-866-7425.
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