she was a bum three weeks ago. she was a bum three weeks ago. she was a bum. a failed vice president and a failed administration. and rain and cooler temperatures bring some relief for firefighters battling wildfires in the historic canadian town of jasper but fires are still burning and officials say it's still too dangerous for evacuated people to return. now on bbc news, the travel show. this year, all eyes are on the french region of normandy as it prepares to celebrate some major anniversaries. it might not be as well visited as paris or as sunny as the south of the country but if you come here and explore, you're going

to fall in love with this part of france. it's the place that gave us a king that changed the course of history. it inspired the painter that started a movement that took the art world by storm. claude monet never painted any water lilies. what?! yes! he painted the light on top of the lilies. whilst 80 years ago its coastline was at the forefront of a fight for freedom. i want to say an enormous thank you to all those who have taken part. it was a team effort. this is the region that's seen it all. and its stories have all been woven into the tapestry of time.

whoa—ho—ho! this is so cool! you have to release the rope... yeah, 0k. ..until the sail is flapping. just... you can release, yes. so, the flapping starts... yes. ..and then from the flapping, we bring it injust... a little bit. just to stop. yes. that's perfect now. yes, you see. ah, look at me! i'm a sailor! france and england may be neighbours but in the middle ages, they were bitter rivals, mainly thanks to this man — william, the duke of normandy, who history would come to know better as william the conqueror. in the year 1066, he left these shores to invade england and set it on a new

course of history. william was descended from the fierce vikings, or norsemen, who gave normandy its name. in 2027, normandy will mark the 1,000th anniversary of william's birth but the preparations for this big occasion have already begun. la mora was the flagship of william's invasion fleet. and now, a historical society in the port town of honfleur are busy recreating the viking—style longship that would have carried william, his most trusted knights, their horses and 60 oarsmen to the brutal battle of hastings. and there's not a power tool in sight.

this is me splitting wood in what would be the norman way of doing it. yeah, and with this technique, you can split any tree. yeah, good. and that is how you split wood norseman—style. jean—marie is the president of the society and has some big plans for la mora when she's finished. so, it's all about timing — you start now so the boat is oh, wow! we hope, we hope! yeah! we hope that.

wow! the team made their plans for the new—look la mora by studying the 70—metre—long bayeux tapestry. so all of this is the battle of hastings? yes, it's all the battle. here is the famous death of king harold, which marks the end of the battle. where's the eye? where's the arrow in his eye? harold is just here. you can see it with the arrow in the eye. yeah! the tapestry was completed in the decade following the battle of hastings. martin is a historian

at the bayeux museum, whose job it is to study and interpret this priceless a rtefa ct. and on the next scene, you can see that william is taking off his helmet to being recognised by the helmet to show that he is alive and the battle have to continue to the victor. the story starts with the dying king of england, edward the confessor, promising the throne to william. he sends the message to william in france via a trusted nobleman called harold godwinson. but when edward dies, harold is offered the crown by the governing council of england and takes it for himself, ensuing william's rage. how factual is it? how factual? it's a representation, you know, of the events of the year 1064—1066. so, it's a story written by the victors, you know, and there is a lot, of course, of what we can call inaccuracy,

and so, mistake or choice to show some — only a point of view of the history. yeah. it's like we can call it propaganda, you know? now over 900 years old, the bayeux tapestry has survived major events like the french revolution and even acted as a potential crib sheet for those looking to invade england as recently as world war ii. then, it was confiscated by the germans. so, it did end up in german hands? it did end up in german hands here in bayeux for their study it and also to know how to invade england, of course. really?! yes, of course! so, germany were taking tips from william the conqueror�*s story? dives—sur—mer is the town william left from to invade england. though i must admit, it's hard to imagine a full—blown invasion force gathered here today. wow, look at this place!

where were all the knights in their suits of armour? i'm meeting francois, an archaeologist who, like many other normans, is in love with his history. wow! hello, steve. francois, bonjour! salut. nice to meet you. but what is it that separates normandy from other regions in france? what's so special here? there is so much history here. in dives—sur—mer, the past isn'tjust consigned to books and museums, it's part of everyday life.

even the weekly market takes place in a hall that dates back to the 1300s. this all looks so nice. yes. what have we got here? that doesn't look french. yeah? when i think french food, i think cheese, bread yeah? oh, really? i'd love to, please! thank you. when the baker finished with his oven, the villagers would make this? oui. 0h, amazing.

that's nice, eh? that's nice! look, all of these names, the people — it's bizarre. you thinkjust william the conqueror. notjust soldiers — archers, stable boys? oui. there's lots of people involved.

the names featured on the wall are william's top brass, the ones who helped him rule england and that become the cornerstone for the country's aristocracy. william the conqueror — a national hero? was he a tyrant, a kind king? what kind of person...? normandy�*s countryside is — well, let's face it — picture perfect.

and there's only one way to see it — in the passenger seat of a french classic car, like the citroen 2cv. french culture has an abundance of style and a certain je ne sais quoi. so, it's no surprise france has produced some some of the world's finest artists. 2024 is a really important anniversary in the world of art — it's 150 years since the movement of impressionism was founded, giving the world artists like monet. i've come to the norman village of giverny. it's famed worldwide as being the home of french artist claude monet, who lived here from 1883 all the way up to his death in 1926.

the gardeners here do an amazing job. they must go around with one of monet's pictures. it's identical! patricia is a local artist and, with giverny being a major tourist attraction in normandy, she has a sideline running tours around monet's house and gardens. patricia, this place is as pretty as a picture. i think i recognise it. really?! yeah! is it possible? he painted this place more than 250 times. yeah? yeah. so, tell me, why did he paint it so many times? because he made series of the light, yeah? so, you see today, we have wonderful reflections, and this is what he loved.

so, he created this garden being inspired by the japanese art because at that time, in europe and all over the world, japan was the new fashion. and monet became a fashion victim. 0h, right! so, that makes sense. we've got the bamboo, we've got the very japanese—style bridge. yes. impressionism was groundbreaking. the year 1874 was a time of great change in france. claude monet and a group of his friends decided it was time for art to change, too. with the opening of new train lines and the invention of paints in tubes, they could leave their studios in paris and capture places like normandy on canvas. when they set up their own radical exhibition on their return to the city, a notable critic of the time compared their work to a sketch for a wallpaper pattern, a mere unfinished impression, which gave this movement its name.

but looking around this museum in giverny, it's clear to see who got the last laugh. how does yours already look better than mine? because i'm a painter! because you're a painter, yeah. so, tell me a little bit about monet's relationship with normandy. normandy became one of his major subjects because he loved the light changes. you know, monet always used to say, "here the light changes "changes every seven minutes." and if you look at that today, i think that's true. yeah. claude monet never painted any water lilies. what?! yes! he painted the light on top of the lilies. 0h... you get it? my mind is blown! i've come to that reflection part now and i don't really know what i'm doing. in fact, to paint the reflections, you should do vertical lines. this is what monet made.

and look — it's vertical. can you see? no. how is yours so different from mine? i don't understand. because you have a different style. i don't have a different style — i can't do it. it's starting to rain. i think we should better stop. what do you think? because otherwise, our paintings will be messy. we will never be able to sell them for $1 million. 0k? 0k! normandy�*s ever—changing weather has put an end to my lesson but that is my first — and possibly last — effort at impressionism art. it's no monet, but it's a steve brown. back here on the coast, scars from normandy�*s more recent history can still be felt today.

0njune 6th, 19114, 80 years ago, the d—day landings happened on a stretch of normandy�*s beaches. the objective of d—day was to secure a foothold in nazi—occupied europe. it was the largest naval, air and land operation in history. on that fateful summer's day, the allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to carry more than 150,000 troops to normandy�*s beaches, codenamed utah, 0maha, gold, juno and sword. 4,414 allied soldiers died on d—day itself. in 2021, the british normandy memorial was opened overlooking gold beach.

to mark the 80th anniversary of the d—day landings, dan and his team of volunteers from the arts group standing with giants will place 1,475 handmade silhouettes at the memorial to mark the number of servicemen who died on d—day itself under british command. applause. hey, look at that! give it a wiggle, ed. get your toes on it. so, that's the first one up, then. do they all look the same? no, we've got 11 different designs, all representing different groups that came over the beaches on that particular day. you don't want to leave anyone out, do you? well, no. we was told, apparently, we've left out frogmen. oh, no! do you know, my great uncle was a stretcher—bearer on d—day? 0h, right. you know, it's amazing, isn't it? everyone�*s got their stories. and did you meet your great uncle? no, i didn't, and if i'm honest with you, my understanding and the facts

that i've got from family are quite sparse but do you know, standing here with you, looking out across the beach that he would have been helping on, i'm certainly going to go back and find out more about him. because everyone played their role and the stretcher—bearers and the nurses — i mean, they were witnessing horror continuously — just continuously. and you know, it was just so hard for them. and because of that, we've also designed two nurses. there were two nurses on one of the boats that hit a mine and they got blown up and killed, so we've actually brought with us two giant nurses, laser—cut in steel, to represent the nurses and the ladies that took part and that worked so hard behind the scenes. i'm... i'm lost for words.

cafe gondree was the first french home to be liberated on d—day. it's so good to meet you. thank you very much. it's still run by the same family. and i'm meeting arlette, who was just four years old in 1944. but what a cafe! i mean, look around. there seems to be so many bits of memorabilia. it seems like everybody wants to share things with you. that's absolutely right. they want to come in because it's a house, a little house from the surface, that has lived history. we were woken up, or half asleep, by a tremendous crashing noise and then, different movements around the house. and then, suddenly the shutter from our dining room was being forced open and window panes were being broken and we heard footsteps above our head.

we thought the germans had come in to get us, but fortunately... that is... ..fortunately, daddy left us for a short time, walked up the little steps and was faced by soldiers saying to daddy, "it's all right, we've arrived. "we're british." so, he brought them in the cellar. and, naturally, i was very frightened, so i went to hide behind the barrels but then, one of them took some chocolate out of his jacket with some biscuits and so, i came forward. mummy started kissing them. and then after that, daddy said, "it's all for you, "this house," and opened the door. and by then, casualties were brought in. i want to say an enormous thank you to all those who have taken part. it was a team effort. here, it's the british, but within the british army there were other nationalities that were trained together.

and this is to be commemorated for the 80th anniversary. and i can see you mean that as well. i can see you mean that from the bottom of your heart. d—day didn't end world war ii but it was the beginning of the end, and there were still dark days ahead and many more lives would be lost on all sides. the final stop on myjourney through time is the german war graves at la cambe. above the cemetery is a statue of a mother and father. it was placed there to watch over the sons that are buried below. history isn't just about buildings and museum pieces, it's about people. when you come to somewhere like normandy and see the places where it all happened, you start to realise that every name on a stone

or in a textbook is a real person, and that offers you a perspective like no other. hello there. it's hotting up this weekend, particularly sunday onwards into next week. temperatures could reach the low 30s in one or two spots but humidity will also increase as well. this weekend's a bit of a mixture. saturday will be one of sunshine and showers. sunday — drier, sunnier and warmer as high pressure starts to establish itself across the country. the reason for more showers around saturday is this feature pushing in from the west, bringing showery rain to northern ireland, parts of southern scotland,

northern england and into wales. this will fragment and become showery through the day. elsewhere, we start off with sunshine but then, even the clouds bubbling up here to allow for a few showers to develop but most of the showers will be through central, northern and western areas. the odd heavier one. winds will be light so the showers will be slow—moving, but there's a chance many places, particularly into the south and east, may escape them and stay dry. temperatures reaching 24—25 celsius in the warmest spots. otherwise, it's the high teens, the low 20s further north. those showers fade away during saturday night. it does turn dry as high pressure starts to build in across the uk with light winds, clearskies. could see some mist and fog patches parts of scotland, northern ireland, western england and wales the most favoured spots there. a cool night to come, i think, out of towns and cities. 0therwise, just into double figures in urban areas. we start sunday, then, on a cool note. early mist and fog clears away and looks like it will be a dry, sunny day for most of us. widespread sunshine. a bit more cloud for northern and western scotland.

more of a breeze there. temperatures high teens here but low 20s, southern and eastern scotland, northern ireland and high 20s parts of central, southern and eastern england. as we move into monday and tuesday, we start to import some very warm air from the near continent on a south—easterly breeze. humidity levels will be rising. this weather front, though, out west will start to push into scotland and northern ireland, bringing more of a breeze, some showers and cloud. but elsewhere, dry. a sunny day on monday. those temperatures climbing further to the high 20s. one or two spots could get close to 30 celsius on monday, and that chance increases again on tuesday. but we'll start to see low pressure taking over around the middle part of the week. that could bring a thundery breakdown to the country with some showers and thunderstorms at times. so, a very warm start to the week. by tuesday and wednesday, we start to see some showers and thunderstorms developing and temperatures slowly coming back down closer to normal.

good morning. welcome to breakfast with charlie stayt and naga munchetty. 0ur headlines today: celine dion brings the curtain down on a spectacular evening in paris — as the 2024 olympic games officially get under way.

in an ambitious opening ceremony — thousands of athletes sailed down the river seine past some of the city's most famous landmarks. and now here in paris, team gb begins— and now here in paris, team gb begins its— and now here in paris, team gb begins its chase for their first medal— begins its chase for their first medal of— begins its chase for their first medal of these games. there are opportunities in diving and road cycling — opportunities in diving and road cycling while british stars matt whitlock and adam peaty get their competitions under way. a wildfire in a popular tourist resort in western canada still burns out of control — as officials warn it could have destroyed up to a third of the historic town of jasper. and while they would be some sunshine — and while they would be some sunshine around today, some sunshine, _ sunshine around today, some sunshine, but looking at a really lovely _ sunshine, but looking at a really lovely summer '5 day. you are on break_ lovely summer '5 day. you are on break breakfast. the olympic games in paris have now officially begun, with stars like celine dion and lady gaga performing

in an elaborate but rain—soaked ceremony.