Un Dieu, un Roy. Une Foy, une Loy. Ici, c’est Caen.

I travel a lot and I love to be a tourist all over Europe to discover new cultures, new places, new part of the history ... But yesterday while talking with a friend (who also travels a lot) we realized that we have not even visited half of the city where we have been studying for 8 years now. Have you ever thought that you do not know so well the city where you live too? It is to change this that today we decided to play tourists in our own city:

Where is Caen? It's known as a city? It's big ? It's far from Paris? These are the kinds of questions I have to answer when I say that I come from there and as I know you think the same thing, a little presentation is needed.

The city of Caen:

is located in Normandy and precisely in the department of Calvados and has 106 260 inhabitants.

has for motto "Un Dieu, un Roy. Une Foy, une Loy" which means "A God, a King. A Faith, a Law."

is part of the territory of Normandy ceded to the Vikings by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911 between King Charles the Simple and Rollo (fans of the Vikings series should recognize).

will become the most powerful city of Normandy thanks to William the Bastard, more famous under the name of William the Conqueror.

was heavily destroyed during the Second World War, but was also a major goal to be reached by Allied soldiers following the landing of June 6, 1944 (Sword Beach is located about twenty kilometers from the heart of Caen ).

finally, is called "the city with a hundred steeples" because of a large number of churches built over the centuries.

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To begin we walked through the streets of the city. The architecture of the city is very varied. There are buildings rebuilt after the war when it was imperative to relocate the population (I even learned that part of this reconstruction was financed by the sale of some American shipwrecks of the D-Day!) Of which my University is part.

There are also older buildings built with stone quarries of Caen, that is to say, the white stone, some dating from the 16th century.

And we find even older course with the castle of William The Conqueror in the heart of the city. It houses two museums, including one of fine arts.

As I told you, the city is known for its churches and bell towers. There is almost every corner! And yes, the one in the picture on the left is leaning, so it's called the Leaning Church!

But of course, there is not only architecture that interests me, there are also cafes and restaurants, because it is also part of the trip (a huuuge part).

This week I discovered a very nice cafe where you can drink tea or coffee while playing board games! The Newport Café has more than 350 different games and you even have an enigma that changes every week and if you can find the answer, you win a chocolate coin!

If you want to eat (visits make me hungry) I recommend going to the Dolly's. This is not a traditional Norman restaurant, but a "Made in Great-Britain" restaurant. For a sweet break, go for their cheesecake, a delight! It's like eating a cloud, just talking about it gives me hearts in my eyes. And for a salty break, it's their burger you have to taste (take care, it's almost impossible to eat a dessert just after they are so generous).

But if you want a little more French restaurant, you can go to "Les fils à maman". A restaurant with the decoration of our childhood (well ... rather the childhood of my parents to tell the truth). They have a varied menu and the products are fresh! A little long service the day I went, but the dishes deserved to wait.

And finally, even if this time it is not for eating, but to accompany a meal, I recommend the wine cellar Rouge & Blanc. Want a good wine? You have a date and you want to impress your partner? You do not know anything about wine? Go there ! You will be greeted by a young wine merchant, former sommelier, who really masters his subject and listening to his explanations on the bottles is almost like listening to a poetry.

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I hope you liked my article once again, and if you come to Caen, tell me, I'd be happy to show you my city, because there are so many other things that I have not shown you yet!

I do not know yet I will write an article before Christmas so let me wish you a very Merry Christmas and have a good holiday with family and friends 🎄

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