Wars and Pretty Sights in Bayeux

Wednesday, April 13
I got to Bayeux in the evening so I went to dinner right by the Cathedral since it is really close to my hotel!

A pretty sunset in front of a pretty cathedral

 Bayeux Cathedral

Thursday, April 14
This morning was a beautiful, sunny morning. I walked around Bayeux just seeing what there is before my afternoon tour up to the Normandy beaches.

Bayeux

 l'Aure river in Bayeux

Walking around Bayeux

 More of Bayeux

 I went into the Cathédrale de Bayeux

 Bayeux Cathedral

 facade of the Bayeux Cathedral

 Place de Gaulle. A nice little park

A very old building in Bayeux

 my hotel in Bayeux was a beautiful mansion 

 Eglise Saint Patrice

On the bus making our way up to Normandy. 

There was another family on the tour with me, and they were from Springfield, and the daughter was also an English assistant here in France! It's a small world. Our first stop on the tour was at Pointe du Hoc. Then we went to the American Cemetery and Memorial; our last stop was Omaha Beach.

One of the guns at Pointe du Hoc

 The Germans built these structures at Pointe du Hoc to protect their guns but never used them.

 Pointe du Hoc

Rangers Dagger at Pointe du Hoc

 The bombing on this sight must have been insane to leave so many large craters

 Sheep chilling at Pointe du Hoc

American Cemetery and Memorial. The memorial wall of all the men missing. There are little bronze starts next to the few bodies that have been found.

 Reflection pool and memorial

American Cemetery

American Cemetery

 The chapel in the cemetery

Around 4:30pm everyday they have a little ceremony for taking down the flags.

There is a viewpoint out to Omaha Beach

 Memorial at Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

 Omaha Beach. We didn't spend a lot of time here because it was raining.

Along the side of the road across from Omaha Beach

Despite the rain, I am really glad I was able to do the tour up in Normandy and learn more about what happened there during WWII.

Friday, April 15
Today I went to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, which was my main reason for coming to Bayeux. I had studied it a little bit in both my English and French classes, so naturally I had to come see it. Unfortunately you cannot take any pictures of the actual tapestry, but after looking at it while listening to an audio-guide, there was an exhibit about the tapestry and the time after William the Conqueror became king. For those who don't know, the tapestry is telling the story of when William the Duke of Normandy invaded England and won at the Battle of Hastings.

Bayeux Tapestry Museum

Enlarged picture of a scene on the Bayeux Tapestry

The tapestry is actually embroidery.

Showing what the back of the tapestry looks like, and it's almost as good as the front.

Thorvald, a traditional Viking boat

 Some examples of the weaponry

 Chainmail armor

There was also a video at the end talking about the tapestry. It was a very extensive museum, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in that time period of history.

Then I went to Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Baron Gerard, which is just an art and history museum of Bayeux.

 Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Baron Gerard

Queen Matilda working on the "Telle du Conquest" (Bayeux Tapestry). It was believed that King William's wife, Queen Mathilde, was the one who commissioned the tapestry, but that is unlikely.

Part of the original wall of the palace that is now the museum.

Looking out at the cathedral

 Bayeux is known for it's lace, so naturally there was a whole section on it in the museum. It was my favorite part.

There were so many examples of lace and tools for making lace.

 A pretty lace butterfly

Another major product in Bayeux was porcelain. I had no idea!

Saturday, April 16
Since this area was impacted greatly during WWII, I went to Musée de la Bataille de Normandie.

Musée de la Bataille de Normandie

A great quotation by General Eisenhower.

 They had a little section on the reporters in WWII.

 There was a lot of machinery from WWII in the museum and a lot of information about all of the battles in Normandy.

 Outside the museum was a memorial for all reporters who have lost their lives in a war since WWII.

 Across the street was a British cemetery 

 I walked around the cemetery a little bit.

I sat by the cathedral and ate lunch.

 Then I walked along the river.

 Blooming trees by l'Aure.

 L'Aure

Walking back into the center of town.

Sunday, April 17
I saw and did everything there was to do in Bayeux, so today I just sat by the cathedral and read. I walked around a little bit, but I just kept going down the same streets, which got boring quickly. As much as I enjoyed Bayeux, I was glad to leave in the afternoon to go to Rennes.

Having a delicious chocolate tart by the cathedral.