Normandy tour to Viking France

July 21-August 1, 2003

Early Booking Price, before March 21, 2003: $2995

Regular Price, from March 21, 2003: $3295

Single Supplement $411, Deposit $600

Director: Tour Professor Peter Gravgaard

Introduction to the history of Normandy

799 to about 900 Scandinavian Vikings to France
911 Rollo (Rolf) becomes Duke of Normandy
Duke Robert the Magnificent (or the Devil) meets Arlette
1028 William the Bastard (the future Conqueror) born at Falaise
Around 1035 the sons of Tancred de Hauteville (of Hauteville-la-Guichard) : Robert Guiscard, Humphrey, Drogo, William Iron-Arm and Roger go to Italy and conquer Apulia and Sicily.
After his father's death William the Bastard hides with his mother's family in the Bocage, near Pont-Audemer. In his absence Turstin Goz conquers Falaise, but William later re-takes it.
Guy de Brionne leads a conspiracy against him - he escapes: Valognes - Ryes - Falaise.
1042 William decisively defeats the rebelling barons at the Battle of Val-es-Dunes (near the villages of Chichebouville, Secqueville and Bourguebus).
1066 William of Normandy sails to England with an army and defeats King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. William the Bastard becomes William the Conqueror. (Bayeux Tapestry.)
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine holds court at Domfront and sponsors writers and poets.
Richard Lionheart builds Chateau-Gaillard to defend Rouen against the French under Philippe-Auguste. After his death John Lackland loses Normandy.
1431 Joan of Arc is burnt at the stake at Rouen.
Francis I nominates Jean d'Ango head of a navy to fight the Portuguese.
La Salle sails to America, and Champlain colonizes Canada, sailing from Honfleur.
Prominent painters: Monet at Giverny and Boudin at Honfleur.
Prominent writers: Corneille, Flaubert, Maupassant, Michelet, Jean de La Varende.
D-Day (6 June, 1944) Allied Forces invade Normandy (Bayeux Museum and Caen Museum.)

Itinerary

Day 1 (July 21, 2003)

Fly to Paris, France. Please choose a flight which arrives at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport on Day 2 of the tour between 09:00 am and 12:00 noon.

Day 2 (July 22, 2003)

You arrive at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport where you will be met by the tour director who will take you to your hotel in Vernon. In the evening there will be a WELCOME DINNER and the tour program will be explained.

Day 3 (July 23, 2003)

We begin our program today with a visit to Giverny where the Impressionest painter, Claude Monet, lived from 1883 to 1926. We will visit his house and Japanese-style garden with its water-lilies which he painted in his Les Nympheas.

Next stop is St-Clair-sur-Epte where, in 911, the Duchy of Normandy came into being when the French/Frankish king, Charles the Simple, entrusted the defense of Northwest France to the big experienced hands of Rollo, aka Rolf the Walker (a man allegedly too big to be carried by the small Northern horses?) It is generally believed that Rollo was a Norwegian prince, whilst most of his men are thought to have been Danes: research by Adigard des Gautries supports this thesis. Our sources for the history of Rollo are flimsy and the chronicles of Dudo of Saint-Quentin (De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae) and of Benoit de Sainte-More (Chronique des Ducs de Normandie) may throw more light on contemporary attitudes to the Viking invaders than on the actual events of the Scandinavian colonization.

What comes across clearly is the Vikings' love of freedom and equality: when the French emissary (Hasting) asks who they are, the answer is, "We are Danes, born in Denmark, like all our parents. From there we have decided to come to France to take it and conquer it."…When Hastings asks, "What is the name of your lord?" Rollo replies, "We have no leader. No prince, no baron commands over us. We are all lords, of equal authority; we all live as peers and equals. Each is his own master, and each is faithful to the other." (Benoit).

Also obvious is the Vikings' disregard of the airs and graces of kingship: when King Charles offers Rollo the task of ruling Normandy, and the bishops tell him to kiss the King's foot ("as it was reasonable and just") Rollo refuses; "No way will that be done. You will not see me kneel, bend my back, humiliate myself, lower myself at the knees of a mortal nor kiss his feet…" When the French indicate that it would be an insult to the King if he does not change his opinion, Rollo commands one of his knights, instead of himself, to kiss the King's foot. The knight, immediately takes hold of the foot and, remaining standing, takes it to his mouth. Thus he kisses it without bending in any way. He caused the King to fall backwards, which provoked much laughter. (Benoit).

The mental distance from this noble savage to the courtly manners of the courts of Frederick II in Palermo and the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople is striking.

From St-Clair-sur-Epte we will drive to Gisors to see the strategically positioned castle which Richard Lionheart surrendered to Philippe-Auguste and which in later years seems to have been associated with the Knights-Templar. From Gisors we drive to Château-Gaillard, the castle Lionheart built to replace Gisors. From here we drive to our hotel in Rouen.

Day 4 (July 24, 2003)

This morning we will explore the old city of Rouen, especially the Cathedral with the tombs of Rollo and his son, William Longsword. Also the abbey church of St-Ouen is worth a visit, and it is interesting to see the adjoining copy of the Danish Jelling Runic Stone. This was presented to the city in 1911 by Brewer Jacobsen of the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen at the millennium celebrations of the city's foundation in 911 "when Rouen was known as the Danish city."

We ought also to think of Joan of Arc, who was burnt at the stake in the Old Market in 1431.

After lunch we drive to Dieppe, where we spend the night.

Day 5 (July 25, 2003)

Dieppe was founded by the Vikings, and ships, shipping and ship-building have always been the main interests of this city. After a walk through town we will take you to Varengeville, west of Dieppe. This name looks Norse: the North-European (Swedish, Norwegian and English bodyguards of the East-Roman Empire in Constantinople were called "varings" - Harald Hardrada who died at Stamford Bridge in 1066 was a "varing". The reason for our visit to Varengeville is to see Jean Ango's Manor, a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, built in Normandy. Jean Ango was a great shipping man: he financed the expedition of Jean Fleury who, in 1521, seized the Spanish silver fleet on its return from Mexico to Spain. This was a stroke of freebooting genius to equal those of the Dutch Piet Hein and the English Francis Drake. Jean Ango promoted the Arts, financed expeditions of discovery (Verazzano to Manhattan in 1523), ordered the harbors of Rouen, Honfleur and Le Havre to be constructed. It was he who paid the enormous ransom for King Francis I to Emperor Charles V after the battle of Pavia.

From Varengeville we drive on to Fecamp to see the Trinity Church with the Relic of the Precious Blood of Jesus, originally gathered by Joseph of Arimathea, given to Joseph's nephew, Isaac, who hid it in the trunk of a figtree which, having been cast into the sea was conveniently retrieved on the Normandy coast by a priest of St-Denis of Paris. Even more fortunately, a great Benedictine abbey came into being leading first to the creation of a great center of research and learning and secondly to the liqueur of Benedictine. From Fecamp we drive via Etretat and Le Havre to the great new bridge, Pont de Normandie which will lead us to our hotel in Honfleur.

Day 6 (July 26, 2003)

We begin this morning with a walk through the picturesque little town of Honfleur. You can enjoy the sight of La Lieutenance, the residence of the king's representative, see the Old Port with its many leisure craft, and walk down the Rue de l'Homme de Bois. Don't miss the surprising all-wooden church of Sainte-Catherine built, it is said, by the boatbuilders to celebrate the French victory at Castillon-la-Bataille in 1453 when the English were defeated and finally kicked out of France. You might also visit the Boudin museum or perhaps enjoy the seafood lunch of your life at one of the many open-air restaurants.

After Honfleur we will take you to see the Castle of the Dukes of Normandy at Bonneville-sur-Touques. This is said to have been William's favorite residence. Next stop is Canapville with the Manorhouse of the Bishops of Lisieux. Both these buildings are fine examples of robust Norman architecture.

From Canapville we drive to the battlefield of Val-es-Dunes, which has been located in the triangle around the villages of Chibouville, Bourguebus and Secqueville. It was here that the young William crushed his rebellious barons and, it is said, the last time in Normandy that an army (the rebels) shouted the ancient pagan battle cry of "Thor aïe!" (May Thor help us!), to be answered by the Christian battle cry "Dex aïe!"(May God help us!)

From Val-es-Dunes we drive to Caen to see the Abbaye aux Hommes, or what remains of it: the St-Stephen's Church where William the Conqueror's tomb can be seen. From Caen we drive to Bayeux where we stay for two nights.

Day 7 (July 27, 2003)

Bayeux is a small, very well-preserved historical city. It suffered very little damage during the Second World War as its closeness to the invasion beaches allowed the British to overrun the Germans here. However it is the Bayeux Tapestry which assures the city of enduring fame. This is a narrow strip of linen, embroidered in England, illustrating scenes from the Norman Conquest and its background. It is housed in a splendid museum which is a pleasure to visit and worthy of the tapestry's historical importance.

After viewing the Bayeux Tapestry and lunch we devote the afternoon to the other great invasion associated with this area: D-Day. We first drive to Arromanches to see the transportable harbor.Next we drive to Bloody Omaha Beach where American Infantry divisions lost over 3000 men before midday on 6 June 1944. We will visit the moving memorial park with the military cemetery at St Laurent.

After Omaha we will show you the Pointe-du-Hoc which the Ranger Regiment conquered from the Germans on D-Day. Then back to Bayeux.

Day 8 (July 28, 2003)

Today we drive from Bayeux to Mont-St-Michel where we will spend the night. Our first stop will be Cerisi-la-Forêt, a beautiful Norman Romanesque abbey which Duke Robert the Magnificent started building. From Cerisi we drive to Hauteville-le-Guichard, the property of Tancred of Hauteville, the father of the leaders of the Norman conquest of Italy: Robert Guiscard, Humphrey, Drogo, Roger and William Iron-Arm, conquerors of Campania, Apulia and Sicily from 1035 onwards. On to Coutances Cathedral which they seem to have helped to finance. Until the French Revolution there were statues of Tancred and six of his sons in the cathedral.

From Coutances we drive to our hotel at Mont-St-Michel.

Day 9 (July 29, 2003)

First of all we will visit Mont-St-Michel, perhaps France's best known tourist attraction. The church is dedicated to the Archangel Michael who, reportedly, appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranches in 708 and demanded that a church be built for him. Since then the building activity on the Mount has continued, and there are now both a church and an abbey and military buildings: King Louis XI having added a Knights' Hall for the members of his Military Order of St-Michael in 1469.

From Mont-St-Michel we drive to Domfront to see the remains of the castle where Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine once held court and promoted the writers of poetry and the Arthurian romances, the most famous being Chretien de Troyes (see bibliography). It might be interesting to see, in this connection, a couple of nearby localities: Lonlay-l'Abbaye, St-Bomer-les-Forges, Gorron, St-Fraimbault-de-Lassay, We will spend the night in Flers.

Day 10 (July 30, 2003)

From Flers we drive to Falaise where William the Conqueror was born in 1028. After seeing the castle here we will drive through the beautiful Pays d'Auge with such gems as, St-Pierre-sur-Dives, Crevecoeur, Cambremer with the best cider in France, the castle and the stud farm at Victot (only the exterior), Beuvron-en-Auge, the chessboard-walled castle of St-Germain-de-Livet, the beautiful county-town of Livarot (whose cheese you probably know well by now). Alas the lovely manorhouse of Bellou may also only be viewed from outside. After Orbec with its attractive Vieux Manoir, we come to our lovely hotel in Bernay where we stay for two nights. (There is a fine abbey church in Bernay.)

Day 11 (July 31, 2003)

From Bernay we drive out to see three fine castles. First Beaumesnil (begun in 1633 and the scene for Jean de La Varende's novel Nez-de-Cuir (Leather-Nose). Next to Harcourt (built in the 14^th century and originally the home of the great Harcourt family). Thirdly to the splendid Champ de Bataille (on the site of the battle, in 935, between Bernard le Dunois and Riouf, Count of the Cotentin). We end the day with a visit to Le Neubourg, an attractive market town, where Henry Short-coat, the Young King and eldest son of Henry II, was married to Marguerite of France, daughter of Louis VII of France, ie the first husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine - this must have been a lively wedding!

From Le Neubourg we return to our hotel in Bernay, where we will have our FAREWELL DINNER in the evening.

Day 12 (August 1, 2003)

It is the last day. We will take you to Charles-de-Gaulle Airport. When you make your flight arrangements, please ask your travel agent to choose a departure no earlier than 14.00 hours (ie 2.00 pm)

BON VOYAGE

Bibliography

Henry Adams, Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
J. Adigard des Gautries, Les noms de personnes scandinaves en Normandie de 911 à 1066, Lund, 1954
Georges Bernage, La Normandie et les Vikings and La Normandie Mediévale
M. de Boüard, Histoire de la Normandie, Toulouse, 1970
Brian Branston, Gods of the North
R. Allen Brown, The Normans
D.C. Douglas, William the Conqueror, London, 1964
Same, The Norman Achievement, London, 1969 and The Norman Fate, London, 1974
P.G. Foote and D.M. Wilson, The Viking Achievement
E.A. Freeman, History of the Norman Conquest
Paddy Griffith, The Viking Art of War
Charles Homer Haskins, The Normans in European History
John Hayward, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings
Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings
Jean de La Varende, Guillaume le Batard Conquerant
J. Le Patourel, The Norman Empire, Oxford, 1976
Jack Lindsay, The Normans and their World
Lucien Musset, Les Invasions: Le Second Assaut contre l'Europe Chretienne
Same, Les Peuples Scandinaves au Moyen-Age
J.J. Norwich, The Normans in the South, London, 1966 and The Kingdom in the Sun, London, 1970
Jean Charles Payen (ed.), La legende arthurienne et la Normandie, 1983
Frank M. Stenton, The Scandinavian Colonies in England & Normandy, reprinted in Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford, 1970
Chretien de Troyes, Le Chevalier de la Charrette and Le Chevalier au Lion
G. Turville-Petre, Myth and religion of the North, London, 1964
Same, The Heroic Age of Scandinavia, London, 1951