Photo: Norman Morning

A man carries his briefcase in the early morning light in Bayeux, Normandy. Home to the Bayeux Tapestry, this ancient village is the gateway to the D-Day's infamous Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery on the bluffs above the water. After a night in an converted hostel that began life as a monastery, I left early to bus to the beaches and back before boarding a train to the Dordogne Valley in Central France.