1025-2025 Caen celebrates its millenium !

The city of Caen is very young compared to many other cities of Europe : the first written mention of "Cadomus" dates from 1025, in a charter signed by the grandfather of William the Conqueror. Even though it's really under William the Conqueror that it extended, and embellished.

This year is, then, a special year and I was very happy to participate to this important birthday with other guides of Normandy Guides Federation with 2 different operations financed by the "GIE Millénaire de Caen" :

• special lectures offered to older people in retirement homes, about the 1000 years of history. It was great to spend time with them and exchange with people who are the true memory of the city !

• a treasure hunt in the form of enigmas to resolve over 9 weeks in order to discover the "secret place" inside which the treasure was hidden : a whole trunk full of pieces of "Caen stone" !

Caen city has been built on stone quarries : a very fine limestone, dense, homogeneous, with a bright creamy-white colour which is at the origin of the beauty of Caen monuments, but also English monuments, such as the "White Tower" of the Tower of London, as William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy and King of England after 1066, had a lot of Caen stone imported in the Kingdom.

In the 19th C., the cathedral St Patrick in New York, such as parts of skyscrapers were built in Caen stone as well.

So the treasure hunters went back home with their little piece of Caen Stone, many of them were very emoved, proof that they are very aware of how symbolic it is and that they are very attached to their city.

I felt so happy of this experience shared with my friends, guides, and so proud of giving people some happiness and fun.

I love my job !