After the gastronomic delights of the night before Sylvia and I woke up later than normal and as the rest of the party had decided on a day in Paris we had the cottages to ourselves. The skies were a little overcast but it was still warm as we got ourselves ready for our day out. First on the agenda was a trip to Bayeux to view the famous tapestry.
The short trip up the dual carriage way to Caen brought home once again how quiet French roads are. With the traffic flowing freely we were able to cruise along at 65 mph with little bother.Parking in Bayeux however was a different matter as we drove through the narrow streets of the town looking for poorly signposted car parks.
The tapestry is one of the most popular attractions in Normandy and therefore the queues that we experienced were to be expected. The tapestry measures around 230 feet long and you guided along the various scenes by a personal audio commentary. Unfortunately no photos are allowed in the room but here is one courtesy of UNESCO.
This was the first time that I had viewed this impressive piece of needlework and it was well worth the wait. The tapestry used to be housed in the cathedral which was the next port of call.
A beautiful predominantly 13th century building has many English connections including a fresco of Thomas Becket’s murder…….
……………. and a memorial to the dead in both World Wars a theme I return to later.
The town itself is absolutely delightful with beautiful buildings…..
…a floral watermill……………………………….
……but I couldn’t work out what these were! [Any Ideas?]
After a spot of lunch in the car, not much was required after last night’s feast, we made our way to the coast and the D-Day beaches.
Having just seen a depiction of a battle fought nearly a thousand years ago it was quite sobering to be on a battle field that was almost in my lifetime. Certainly as a child the 2nd World War was a large part of many people’s lives and without the deaths of hundreds of young men on this and similar beaches, how different would that childhood have been?
Many relics of the conflict are still very apparent such as these bunkers.
The fallen being remembered by these monuments
It is difficult to believe that over 1500 American soldiers died on one day in June 1944 on this beautiful beach.
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