PhotosNormandie on Flickr

Caen was the first place in France that I've lived as an adult. My student life in Nantes with host family doesn't really count because that was just my intro to good French living.

Normandy brought Jeremie and I many memorable moments. Our first apartment, getting our kitties, my first big girl job, Jeremie's first big boy job, etc.

I was surfing some French forums when I saw a post about some photos posted by PhotosNormandie on Flickr from the war. The captions are in French so i'm sorry to my non-French speaking friends, but they are all very informative for those who do.

When I searched "Caen" I stumbled upon some very familiar locations that we know quite well, including one very memorable Abbaye aux Hommes, which doubles as city hall.

And this is what it looked like, long before we ever visited. The caption says that this was damage done on the 8th of July, around 8am. It mentions that the abbey was spared from the bombs but not German gunfire. It also speaks about the "Ancient Butcher Square" which is located to the right of the abbey if you are facing it and then back a few blocks, and how the Brits and the Americans tried to block this area off because it was a main entrance into and out of the city.

The very first apartment that we wanted was a bit further down the street in a stone house with a little court. Our application was accepted, and then the next day the lady bailed on us and we were left to take an apartment on the other side of town in new construction, not far from the train station. I would like to see pictures of that side of town, but unfortunately the ones on this site are mostly of the rive gauche, and we were living rive droite.