At some point towards the end of our tour de France, I was sleeping in the car as we drove towards Bayeux to see the magnificent Bayeux Tapestry. When The Frenchman realized where we were, he stopped the car and woke me up ever-so-gently. “Honey, I think you’re going to like this place!” he said excitedly. I thought I was half dreaming as I got out of the car and looked up: We were at the hauntingly gorgeous L’Abbaye de Jumieges, what Victor Hugo called “the most beautiful ruins in France.” The Abbaye had been destroyed twice: once by Vikings in 851, then rebuilt and again during the Revolution.

There are so many more pictures here.