Norman & Mandy

If Norman Bates and Mandy Patinkin were a Hollywood couple, they'd be known as Normandy. But since they are not, Normandy is best known for being a region in the north of France.

We travelled from west to east starting with the iconic Mont Saint-Michel. Here is the view of the island, and it's towering abbey as we approached from the south.

With a population of only 41, the tidal island receives an average of over 8,000 tourists per day.

We took a tour around the abbey, which dates back to the 11th century. The most amazing feature is that it sits atop four crypts so that it doesn't need to balance on the peak of the mountain.

The bay also has the biggest tidal variance in Europe, 14m. During low tide you can walk around the island, but you risk getting stuck in the mud and drowned by the sea which moves at 60m/s. These people survived.

Normandy is very pretty.

Often when we visit ancient sites, it seems like much of the knowledge is pretty much guessed by archaeologists. So it was really nice to finally see an historic document that tells a very clear story, and yet find that no one knows where it comes from, who made it, or if it's reliable. This is of course the Bayeux tapestry.

After learning of the French invasion of Britain in 1066, we learned of the British invasion of France in 1944. The link to the past is best expressed by an epitaph at the Bayeux Commonwealth War Cemetery which states "We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror’s native land."

Of course, the D-Day invasions (or Jour-J in French) were carried out by several countries, not just the British. All across the region are memorials, museums and flags to honour and remember the liberation.

We visited Omaha Beach, where the US 29th Infantry division successfully landed on the 6th of June 1944.

Above the beach is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial which has 9,387 graves.

Further along the coast we stopped at Arromanches which still bares the remnants of the artificial harbour used by the Allies. It was used to land over 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tonnes of supplies.

Late in the day we made it to Juno Beach where Yasmin's grandfather landed with the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade.

The following morning we toured the Normandy countryside along the Route du Cidre.

We tasted cider, calvados and pommeau which are made in pretty little breweries...

and enjoyed in pretty little villages.

Étretat is the French version of Dover but with three arches.

We tried to relax on the beach but it wasn't quite as nice as Bondi used to be. Maybe we miss home just a little bit.

OK, it was a little like Bondi

The last stop was Rouen.

Monet painted the cathedral several times so we thought we'd check it out. He didn't paint the inside though so we chose not to go in.