🇫🇷 A Day in Caen, Normandy: Between Strikes & Sunshine

🌧️ Night of the Strike (March 28th) The city center felt like a post-apocalyptic movie set 🎬: Shattered storefront glass crunching underfoot Dying flames in protest trash bins (rain couldn't kill the rebellion!) McDonald's dinner as we speed-walked past shuttered shops to our hotel 🍔🚶♀️ ☀️ Next Morning: Phoenix City By sunrise, Caen resurrected itself with French efficiency: Spotless streets (where did the debris go? ✨) Taped-up bank windows dancing in the sea breeze like modern art installations 🎨 Shopkeepers reopening with Gallic shrugs – "C'est la vie!" 🎨 Art & Soul in a Castle At the Musée des Beaux-Arts (€3.50 steal!): Monet's Étretat cliffs glowing in solitude 🖼️ School kids sketching masterpieces – proof France breeds art in DNA 🧑🎨 Empty galleries = private viewings! Bonus: The museum sits inside Caen Castle – where history echoes through medieval walls. Nearby, a cathedral's pipe organ (world's largest instrument!) shook our souls. Someone’s kid started dancing to Bach – pure magic! 💃🎶 🍽️ Lunch with a Side of English "Table for one?" The waiter switched to English effortlessly (hello, Channel neighbors! 🇬🇧). Over Normandy cider, I spotted more London accents than expected. 🌊 Seaside Whiplash 25-min drive to the coast revealed: Pensioners and dogs in slow-motion bliss 🐕 Polar opposites: Swimsuit warriors vs. my puffer jacket (April in Normandy = Russian roulette weather!) 🚗 Golden Drive Home Fields of blazing yellow rapeseed flowers set the countryside on fire. A perfect farewell to this city of contrasts – where protests and pastries coexist! #Normandy #Caen #ArtAndChaos #FrenchStrikes #SoloTravel