Crammed Day 1... in Normandy

A town on the rail line on the way from Cherbourg to Caen.
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On Friday night, I began my journey on the first trip that I planned and experienced "with myself".  It was planned a bit last minute and cost a bit more than expected... but it was, of course, still an amazing experience in the end.  And I was able to practice speaking French!

Before I went I was talking to my friend who is from the region just to the West of Normandy - Bretagne.  Aparently, they have a little bit of rivalry as he said: "il n'y a que les vaches en Normandie" (there are nothing but cows in Normandy).  Honestly, there are so many cattle!  I have never seen so many cows... and I'm from rural Southern Ontario!  Most of them were dairy cattle as well.  As you can imagine, dairy products are their specialty here, in addition to cider ... and there is a big tapestry museum in Bayeux as well, but I wasn't able to go there due to time constraints.  I guess I should have though... people always ask if I went there when i tell them I was in Normandy.

they also speak english - which is good because my Flemish is a little rusty

Overnight train to Paris - was happy that i got the top bunk for more privacy!
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Slept in a couchette on the overnight train to Paris and then switched trains to head north.  I tried to do too much in one day, on the Saturday, and as a result I didn't get to see much of anything.  I went to Cherbourg - a port town at the tip of the penninsula... I should have just got off the train in Caen and went to the museum but we can't always make the right decision I guess.  After spending a short time looking around Cherbourg (see photos)... I took the train back to Caen and went to the museum.  It is very informative... they use multimedia and have chosen interesting ways of presenting the wealth of details on war events of the past and more recent events such as 911.  The info is usually in both French and English.  Unfortunately, I had to rush through it to catch the bus, tram and then my train to Bayeux where I was staying for the night.

The port town of Cherbourg... Why did i go here? Not really sure... I think it was originally because I found a hostel there... but it's nothing much, i don't recommend it.
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In Bayeux I was able to find the hostel office, but I was sent to sleep in one of their other locations which ended up being about a 20min walk to the outskirts of the town!  It wasn't the walk but the fact that it was dark and I had to walk down an unlit path with a hedge on one side and the road on the other... I don't know if they thought that I had a car or what... and I was told by some people in the main hostel that it wasn't even full... so i really don't know why they put me way out there.  Fortunately, there were other people out there when I arrived at the remote hostel location... and they ended up being a great group of Belgians from the North (Flemish part) of Belgium.  They were very nice and offered me dinner, and we ended up hanging out the next night... they also speak english - which is good because my Flemish is a little rusty.  haha.  I did some journal writing and noted my progression of photos for the day ... so that i wouldn't mix places up on my trip - then I got some rest for the full day that I would have discovering Canadian and American sites around the region.