Come stroll with me ...

... through the streets of Argentan, a small town in Normandy with a big history.  You may be surprised by what we find…

I’m camped here in Argentan.  The campsite is small and very well tended.  It is situated in a discreet corner of the grounds that surround the Lace Museum.  There is also a plan d’eau which is fed by the river Orne which flows along the western edge of the town.  With a population of a little over 13,000, it is the third largest municipality by population in Orne, which is one of the five départements that comprise the region of Normandie.

I’m here to visit places I’ve only previously driven past or through on my way elsewhere.  But I’m also here because of some research that I’ve been doing about the history of this region. As is always the case when I’m strolling through France, lunch will be on the hoof and I’ve already found a number of pâtisseries in town. If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know I have a passion for tarte-au-citron, and that’s today’s choice for lunch.

The campsite is a ten-minute walk from the centre of town but I’ve taken the long way around and here I am at La Désirée, a fabulous shop that sits at one side of place du Général Leclerc.  With my cake bought it’s a steady meander from here along rue E Panthou into the city centre.

As we stroll you will see both old and new buildings.  But the new significantly outnumber the old.  And that’s why I’m here.  Like the whole of the northern and western seaboard of France, Argentan was occupied between 1940 and 1944.  Back then the town showed the character of its very long history.

There has been habitation in this area since Gallo-Roman times.  Those pesky Romans began their incursions between 58 and 51 BC, that’s more than 2,000 years ago.  However, Argentan doesn’t warrant any specific mentions in records until about 1025 and from that period on, initially at least, the town thrived.  The name Argentan comes from the Gaulish words for ‘silver’ and ‘market’ which was probably one reason for the subsequent prosperity.

But, as has been shown in many past histories fortunes can change, and Argentan’s did quite dramatically.  Throughout the Middle Ages, the town was fought over with us Brits occupying the area and being routed several times.  But the town survived and gained in religious and traditional industrial importance.  During the 1914/18 conflict, it became a garrison town for the French 14th Infantry Brigade.

In 1940 the town was occupied until the D-Day landings in June 1944.  It was during the battle for Normandy and the Argentan-Falaise pocket that this place suffered the most.  If you take a right off place Henri 4 – please note the stunning medieval portico that is now the frame for a shoeshop on your right – you will come onto rue E. Denis which takes you into the market place which is dominated by the stunning Église St. Germain.  And that’s where I’m taking you next.

In here, away from the general bustle of the streets, you have a vast haven of peace exerting its dominance over the town and the many past centuries or so it seems.  But take a look at the photos displayed on a wall at the back.  They show the absolute destruction of the town that took place between June and August 1944.  There are information sheets, too.  As I stand here reading the details and looking at the photos I can't take in the extent of the devastation and destruction.  The town was practically flattened.  It took 40 years for the town to recover and for the church to be rebuilt to reflect its original gothic splendour.

Little did I realise, when I wrote these notes in my travel journal, that I would be seeing the same level of devastation happening again in another part of the world.