The Unknown Lessons We Learn

---

A long, long time ago there was a famous man who went by the name of William the Conqueror. Perhaps you have heard of him? Well this William the Conqueror, William I, or some liked to call William the Bastard, decided that he should build himself a beautiful castle. I often think I should do the same, but I don't have an empire so it would seem a little silly to have one. Where to build? Because he was the ruler of such a vast territory, he had many options. I can see him walking around pondering this question just a few years short of a thousand years ago, "On the sea, in the forrest, in the mountains? How about Caen!" Caen, Really Bill?

To avoid all confusion, due to the multiple names that he goes by, I will refer to him as Bill. Bill seems to be a more personable name. Plus I know him on a personal level, we met while he was lying around in his tomb at Abbaye-aux-Hommes. Real quiet guy though. Anyway, in 1060 he decided that a castle in Caen should be build and construction began right away. He probably need a place to rest after a long hard day of winning battles, and conquering England.

Thanks to Bill, I had one of the greatest travel treasures of my life. This is the treasure of the unknown. When we plan out a trip, we seek out the things that interest us. Once we have found the places we want to see, we then begin to build expectations for those experiences. We seek out information, how much does it cost to get it, how will we get there, what does it look like, when should we go? All of these aspects are added up, and expectations are formed. In the end we ask ourselves without knowing "is that what I had expected?" We are left feeling satisfied or not. To avoid any unsatisfied expectations, you have to find things that interest you be accident. And that is how I fell onto the castle of Caen, unexpectedly.

I had an hour to kill before my bus to the D-Day beaches departed. So I just walked north. I didn't have any plans, I didn't know much about the city, for it was more of just a place to sleep and eat. As the roads and sidewalks began to incline after a turn, I lifted up my head to see a rising stone wall coming up over the blue sky. Intrigued, I made my way toward that wall. Once I got closer I could see that it was castle. A huge castle, one with an enormous wall protecting whatever lay inside. These walls were delicately placed on top of a rocky cliff where lush vegetation grew thickly. Walking around I saw a public entrance where a few people were walking in. With some extra time still to kill, I decided that this would be worth it to go and see what was inside.

It is hard to explain the feeling of insignificance I felt as I walked around the court yard. Everything was so...old. I tried imagining all that had taken place on that royal land. How many kings had walked this path, how many people tried to take it from him, how many people like me had visited this place before. Humans have tried to destroy the castle on numerous occasions. In 1204, it was taken by King Philip Augustus of France, while Normandy was annexed to the French. King Edward III held siege and looted the city of Caen, along with this castle in 1346. Then in 1417 it was captured by King Henry V of England. The castle and Caen are recaptured again, but this time by France, after Charles VII in 1450. Then 1811, the little guy Napoleon wanted to completely destroy the castle, jerk. Modern war couldn't bring down the castle in 1944 during WWII. Just thinking of everything it had been through was head spinning. Things had changed, certain buildings had been destroyed, and others had been rejuvenated. But the there stood the original castle and its walls. Incredible.

Time has its ways of tearing things down, but some can stand, some can find a way to fend of all opposers. When they do, they provide the world with priceless gifts to tell the stories that would have been lost in the rubble of the modern world. So for that, thank you Bill for sharing your castle with us, I bet you didn't think it would stand for this long, did ya?

---

Photos

Main Entrance
This is what Bill walked through while leaving his humble abode. I doubt there were this many buildings back in 1060 though.

Old School
Ever wonder how they lifted those huge boulders? This replica is one of the few that shows the pulley system that helped workers build huge stone walls.

Oops
Walking off the path, I literally tripped on this grave stone. Covered in moss, you could barely see it in the shade of the large oak trees.