First cross-Channel flight commemorated in Vire, Normandy

The floral composition on the Vire town central round-about this summer commemorates the centennary of Louis Bleriot's historic Channel crossing in his 'flying bicycle', a monoplane aircraft. In 1909 Blériot won the the coveted thousand-pound prize offered by the London Daily Mail for a successful crossing of the English Channel. His plane was flying at an average airspeed of approximately 40 miles per hour (64 kilometers per hour) and an altitude of about 250 feet (76 m).

The Vire round-about is famous for its floral compositions.

Photo: The Blériot XI,
on which Blériot crossed the Channel in 1909.
Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris.