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Wonderful section to drive through beautiful nature

Quiet country roads lead to this small cemetery for approximately 630 British soldiers who died in WWII.

A moving combination of wartime artefacts and modern outdoor sculpture, including one of a present day WW2 veteran looking at an image of himself as a soldier in 1944.

Caen, first mentioned in documents in 1027, experienced rapid urban development in the 11th century. It was called a burgus (bourg), was the centre of an extensive ducal domain, lay at the crossroads of important roads and had markets and a port. It first developed as an important city in the Duchy of Normandy under William the Conqueror. He had a strong fortress built in Caen and around 1059 an abbey for women (Abbaye aux dames) and one for men (Abbaye aux hommes), in which he was also buried. Later, during the Huguenot Wars (1562), his grave was destroyed and his bones were lost. William's gravestone can still be seen in the church today. He had the monasteries built to atone for his marriage to his cousin Mathilde, which was disapproved of by the Pope. Both monasteries are among the most important monuments in Normandy and are today – by the monks and nuns during the French Revolution

As a memorial to the countless war dead, such a "Cimetiere militaire" - in German they are usually referred to as "war graves" or "soldiers' cemetery" - is still very important today. "Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said..." it says in the so-called "Hymn of Simeon" (Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, Verse 29). However, the many people buried here did not depart in peace, but became victims of war and an inhuman tyranny. The most important and at the same time everlasting function of soldiers' cemeteries or cemeteries of honor or war graves is therefore to keep the memory of this suffering alive and to remind each generation anew (!) of the need to maintain lasting peace.

Here, right at the harbor, you can buy the best fish and mussels and crabs

On the ramp from the town up to the memorial site with the monument stands the battle tank from the Second World War.

The former Benedictine abbey with the monastery church of Saint-Étienne was founded by William the Conqueror in Caen, built from 1060 onwards, but probably not completed until after 1090. From 1120/25 onwards, six-part cross-ribbed vaults were installed in the originally flat-roofed building, which are among the oldest in France.