{"id":12485,"date":"2023-04-23T09:12:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T07:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antimuseum.com\/?p=12485"},"modified":"2023-04-23T09:12:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T07:12:26","slug":"caen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antimuseum.com\/en\/2023\/04\/23\/caen\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing hide and seek with Saint Peter (in Caen)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I played hide and seek with Saint Peter (Saint-Pierre) in Caen.<\/p>\n

Playing hide and seek with Saint Peter (in Caen)<\/h2>\n

The first time I visited Caen, in Normandy, 40 years ago to the day (pronounced k\u0252\u0303, k\u0251\u02d0 n\u2009\u2013\u2009don\u2019t miss this hilarious YouTube video<\/a>). Caen was home to William the Conqueror, who got the better of arch-enemy Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066 and invaded Britain.<\/p>\n

I thought it was a rather pretty town, and that\u2019s quite an achievement considering what it\u2019s been through. Thirty percent of its area is said to have been destroyed, but that would have represented 68% of its buildings. Not to mention the 1,972 victims of the 1944 bombings. Some of the buildings miraculously survived [source, in French<\/a>].<\/p>\n

\"Saint
The bell tower of Saint-Pierre de\u00a0Caen standing above the castle ramparts. Modern buildings from the 1950s stand alongside older buildings that have been more fortunate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Terrible Destruction<\/h3>\n

In Normandy, from Ouistreham<\/a> to Caen, and everywhere else, in Lisieux, in Le Havre, not forgetting Falaise, the destruction was terrible. One could argue\u2009\u2013\u2009many do\u2009\u2013\u2009about the need to destroy all that, about the precision of the strikes, about their effectiveness. It even seems that military installations were not affected despite the bombings.<\/p>\n