We took a long drive this morning up the Cotentin Peninsula towards Cherbourg. The destination this morning was Château des Ravalet. The château is know owned by the city of Cherbourg and is used as an events venue, but the gardens are generally open (and the entry was free).
The château.
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| Château From the Road |
Some of the nearby buildings.
A small grotto near the entrance of the property.
The gardens are extensive and we started out in the nature area of the ran along one side of the property. A lovely, green walk.
Some of the garden.
The beautiful greenhouse. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open. Looked like there were a lot of huge plants growing in it.
The French Garden in front of the greenhouse.
The rhododendrons were in bloom and they
were everywhere. Many colors and some were very large and dramatic.
The Magnolia Garden looked to be pretty new. There weren’t a lot of plants and most of them were quite small. But some were in bloom.
Other flowers and flowering trees around the gardens.
There were a couple of large ponds/pools
on the property.
Some bridges added interest.
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More Château Des Ravalet
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We then drove to the nearby fishing
village of Barfleur. Barfleur is a Les Plus Beaux Village, A Most
Beautiful Village. And the harbor area
is very pretty.
We found a waterfront restaurant for lunch. As is common in this area, almost the entire
menu was seafood. However, the host at
one of the restaurants assured us that he had vegetarian options. It was basically whatever the chef could find
to put together. It was actually very
good. A bed of mashed potatoes topped
with carrots, roasted cherry tomatoes, and a very garlicy and tasty sauce.
After lunch we wandered the harbor a bit. This place is obviously a working fishing village, and the fishing boats were in.
St. Nicholas Church was near the entrance to the harbor.
There was a thoughtful memorial in front of the church. It looked like it had originally been raised to commemorate local soldiers lost during World War I soldiers with another plaque added later for those who died in World War II. The soldier is looking at a laurel wreath, symbol of peace. The monument is surrounded by shell fragments.
More photos of Barfleur.
From Barfleur we drove to Sainte Mere Eglise. This small town was a destination for the airborne troops that parachuted into the area the night of June 5, hours before the D-Day beach landings started. One paratrooper’s parachute got caught on the church roof. Today, the town keeps a manikin with parachute on the roof.
We spent a couple of hours in the Sainte Mere Eglise Airborne Museum. There are D-Day museums all over the area, usually each with a difference focus. Since the town was a target for the airborne drop this museum focused more on that aspect of D-Day.
The museum was spread out over several buildings.
Many displays and extensive information.
After the museum we went over to visit the church.
And then found a café where we had some ice cream.
By then it was time to head back to the
hotel.
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