On the way there we did a quick stop at Caen, the city of William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who in 1066, upon the Norman conquest of England, became King of England. Caen is also known for the Battle for Caen, the heavy fighting that took place during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, which destroyed much of the city. We saw the Chateau de Caen, built in 1060 by William the Conqueror, and visited the Abbaye aux Hommes (the Men's Abbey), which was completed in 1063 and is dedicated to Saint Stephen. William the Conqueror is buried there.
We also stopped at the Chateau Gaillard, a medieval castle overlooking the Seine that was built in 1198 by Richard the Lionheart (William the Conqueror’s great-great-grandson). It was intended to
prevent King Philip II of France from invading the Duchy of Normandy. The site was chosen because the Seine curves sharply and
there’s a cliff about 100 meters high over the river, so the castle had a
strategic position over potential invaders coming down the Seine from France. In the end, however, the effort was in vain: King Philip launched the conquest of Normandy and after a long siege, Chateau Gaillard fell. In 1204, mainland Normandy became part of the Kingdom of France.
The fortress consisted of three enclosures separated by dry moats, with a fortified tower within the inner enclosure. It's pretty ruined, but the following picture shows what it would've looked like.
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