From Normandy French armies have set off on military quests and foreign conquerors have invaded France. Its castles reflect this history. The Chateau Guillaume-Le-Conquerant in Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conqueror, has little left from William's time but does reflect building by his youngest son, Henry. The Chateau-Gaillard in Les Andelys was built by Richard the Lionhearted in 1197 and 1198.
Quintessential to Normandy are the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry and the island-hill of pre-medieval vintage, le Mont Saint Michel. The 70-meter-long Bayeux Tapestry depicting the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, in 1066 was likely sewn by monks in southern England shortly after the event. Le Mont Saint Michel sits like a party hat right off shore. Accessible only at low tide, the tiny town has narrow, winding streets with shops, dwellings, a parish church dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries and an 11th century Romanesque abbey church and later monastery buildings.
A 170-acre American cemetery at Coleville includes a visitor center that explains World War II's Operation Overlord, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. At Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer is the Omaha Memorial Museum at the site of the battle, which displays military paraphernalia and personal objects as well as archival photos.
The population center of Normandy are all pretty, but each has its specialty. Cherbourg is a port city. Bayeaux and Alencon are both known for their fine lace. Caen is a university city with two Norman abbeys and the Caen Memorial, a museum dedicated to peace. Rouen houses the Notre-Dame Cathedral that inspired Monet, the tower where Joan of Arc was held and a museum about her, medieval churches, and a cemetery created in 1348 at the time of the Black Plague. Le Havre became a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the distinctive concrete architecture used to rebuild this port city after it was completely destroyed in 1944; it also has a great beach and the 17th century Notre-Dame Cathedral. Deauville is a resort on the sea.
Normandy was the birthplace of 10 Impressionists, including Nicolas Poussin in Villiers, Jan-Francois Millet in Greville-Hague, and Fernand Leger in Argentan. Claude Monet was born in Paris, but grew up in Le Havre from age five. The region pays homage to these men with substantial Impressionist collections in the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Rouen and the Malraux museum in Le Havre. The Monet Foundation in Giverny, where Monet lived for 43 years, offers tours of his house and gardens.
The Catholic Church founded places of seclusion for monks and nuns very early. Notre-Dame de Montivilliers in Rouen, founded in the 7th century and expanded significantly in the 15th, is one of 33 abbeys in the province.
