June 9th to 12th: Now Normandy

On Wednesday June 9th we drove from Dinan to Bagnoles de l’Orne in Normandy, a journey of just over 2 hours. The weather’s been changeable since we arrived, with heavy showers, but today was fine so we went to the nearby town of Domfront about 10 miles away. Bagnoles itself can wait ‘til we’ve explored it in better weather.
Domfront
This is a really pleasant fortified historic town, built on a hill. As expected, the old town is full of picture-postcard half-timbered buildings. It’s not always obvious which houses are the genuinely old ones and which are recent imitations, but one did have a date of 1515 carved on a lintel in the street running from the square in the photo.

Leading off the main street are many ancient courtyards into which you expect a party of knights on horseback to clatter at any moment. That is, if you ignore the satellite dishes and the lady wearing jeans.

The castle grounds are the town park and are delightful, with splendid views in all directions from its’ commanding position. The flowerbeds merit a special mention as they are composed of a mixture of red lettuce, blue/grey cabbage and pepper plants, as well as flowers. I hope the photo gives some idea of this strange but effective mixture.

A high, hedged fence runs alongside one steep elevation of the park, and halfway along it is the plaque shown below, referring to a nearby wartime safe house. It’s easy to think that, because France was quickly overpowered in the last war, all French people gave up and waited passively for the UK/USA to defeat Germany. Maybe some did, but there is ample testimony all over France to the huge risks that many inhabitants took to do their best to contribute to victory. (You might remember us describing the memorial near Brantôme to the 26 locals executed there.)

Ok, but where’s the house? It is actually behind the memorial, on the other side of the hedge, built against the precipitous rock wall. We couldn’t find it for ages, and only by leaning out over one of the battlements was the picture possible.

Now for some older history: we are in Normandy after all and we have here the ruins of a Norman castle. The only two walls standing are those of the keep, or donjon as they call them here (were the original builders Don and Jon, do you suppose, sort of like Ant & Dec?)

The castle was built in 1092 by Henry Beauclerk, one of William the Conqueror’s sons. He became Henry 1st of England in 1100, at which point Domfront became an English possession. It was also much frequented by his successor Henry 2nd and his queen Eleanor of Aquitaine with the royal court.
It was here in 1170 that a final attempt was made, unsuccessfully, to resolve the quarrel between Henry and his archbishop Thomas à Becket. He was murdered at Canterbury later in the same year.
Becket spent some years in exile in France previous to that and celebrated Christmas mass in 1166 in Notre Dame sur l’Eau, a church by the river in Domfront lower town. It still survives, much restored as a result of roadbuilding in 19th century and WW2. You really do feel in touch with the past in these old buildings, in this instance standing just where Becket stood.