#8: [25-May-22]

#7: [17-Aug-18]

#6: [30-Dec-14]

#3: [31-Dec-06]

#1: [16-Aug-01]

#5: [05-Jun-10] (incomplete)

06-May-2009 -- While driving from 49°N 1°W 20 km of St Lô via Caen to 49°N 0° E/W 20 km of Lisieux and reading the names of the villages I realised this is the area of the first days after D-Day. Shots of the movie “The longest Day” came to my mind. As I was born in The Netherlands during the World War II my freedom started here in Normandy.

The transfer was easy. Back to the AutoRoute A84 to Caen, then via the southern ring to exit 16 and follow for 10 km the N13 in the direction Lisieux. From here it is about 18 km via the D40 more or less straight to the DCP. The D40 passes by the DCP at slightly more than 100m. A convenient parking position is found at the entrance of a private road, just North of the DCP, marked with a blue P in the GoogleEarth screenshot.

The confluence is visible from the D40 in the vicinity of the tall oak tree in the centre of the image. Walking (marked in yellow) through a meadow and a fallow field brought me in the shadow of the tall oak where my GPS indicated 7m to go at an EPE of 4 m. For me this was close enough. Behind the hedge in the North-looking photograph is the D40 road. The East and West looking photographs are taken from different sides of the oak; the trunk is visible in both.

A panoramic composition of three photographs shows the typical landscape of the season. By some “photoshopping” I enhanced the brightness of the yellow coleseed (rapeseed) to express the overwhelming view when the sun hits such a field.

After another hour driving I arrived in the picturesque harbour of Honfleur (49.42° N 0.233°E) where I enjoyed a splendid meal with “fruits de mers” and Muscadet (white wine). A taste of Calvados, the brandy of Normandy made of cider, concluded a good day. Tomorrow I will cross the river Seine by the “Pont de Normandie”, a tow bridge of 2 km long. The pylons are 215 m high and support a single section of 856 m.