Ancient Tapestries and Mont St. Michel Abbey

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Saturday, July 25
We wake to a French breakfast of croissants, baguette, and 4 kinds of confit (jam- strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, apricot, and currant) that our host, Michel and Marie, made themselves from their garden. Marie also bought some gluten-free rolls for Jackie, so we begin our day with a good breakfast. We have everything packed up, and will return for our luggage in the afternoon. Our plan is to see the Bayeux Tapestry. This tapestry is 70 yards long, and is made of linen. It was embroidered sometime after 1066, and tells the story of how William becomes the conqueror, besting Harold in battle for the throne of England and France. It is amazing that it has survived all these years despite being used during the revolution as a drape for a wagon (one of the revolutionaries was foresighted enough to rescue it), and being removed by the Nazis for examination, among other travels.
We arrive as the museum opens and rather than see the museum displays or the movie, we choose to pick up our audio guides, and view the tapestry. The colors are still vivid blues, golds, greens, and reds. There are all sorts of details that tell the story visually, as well as notes in Latin along the top describing the scenes from the point when Edward decides to name William as heir to the battle of Hastings. Afterward, we see the other displays regarding the Tapestry, but are happy that we were not in the crowds now mobbing the Tapestry area.
From the Tapestry, we walk up to the Cathedral St. Pierre, with architecture spanning Romanesque and Gothic styles. Filled with beautiful carvings and side chapels, including one to St. Joan and one to Michael, it has a crypt below the altar that was used to hide its treasures. Angel Musicians stand guard on the crypt’s pillars.
Across the street is the Lace Conservancy, where artisans still craft the beautiful hand made Normandy lace. We watch three of them working on their pieces. One’s fingers and spindles seem to fly as she went about crossing, braiding, and pinning the intricate work. The least expensive thing was a lace initial for 26 euros, so I just took a picture!
Today happened to be market day in Bayeux, and this was the largest one I had seen since Deauville. It was more crowded, and had many people selling clothes along with the fruit, cheese, and meat vendors. Pig heads stared out from one stall. - We walked by that one without stopping. The fruit vendors seem to see us coming, though. The last really good fruit we had from a market was in Deauville when Eric bought from people he knew. I think when the vendors realize that we are not natives, and they’ll never see us again, they feel around for the fruit that’s about to go, and that’s what we get in the bag! When the first vendor did this in Veules, I was thinking, “Isn’t that nice, he’s picking out the best ones for us.” Now I am more suspicious.
On our way back to the car we stop in a galette restaurant. Galettes are like crepes, only made from buckwheat, which is gluten free because it really isn’t wheat. The owner showed me the batter “no ble/no wheat” and cooking surfaces. Jackie tried a small piece, but she really doesn’t trust that restaurants know enough about celiac in France. Ireland and the States are much easier.
It was about 1:30 when we returned to the B&B. Michel was sleeping in his chair after working in the garden all morning. We loaded the car, and by the time we were done, he was up to say goodbye. He had a present for us - two jars of his homemade jam- apple and strawberry! He stood out in the road to wave au revoir, and we were off to Mt. St Michel. The trip was not hard, thanks to our GPS, and we arrived at Ferme la Jouvenelle by 4.
Again, our hosts spoke no English, but another couple checking in was bilingual, so they gave us all the particulars. We think the house was renovated inside to be a B&B. The front half of the first floor is a dining area with tables and chairs for 12, and there are four rooms, all with baths, on the second floor. Another stone house is attached, and we suspect that is where our hosts live. Our room is large, with a double and 2 twins. As in all the French homes we have been in, the toilet is in a separate room from the sinks/bath. We leave our luggage, and head to the Mont St. Michel.
When we arrive, it is low tide, but we are told that the tide will cover the parking lot by 9 pm. Since we have Dean’s handicapped sticker, we are allowed to park up on the causeway- so we have no worries. Once inside the walls, the main road up to the abbey is narrow, and crowded with people looking into the restaurants and stores. Rick Steve’s book told us to take a quick right, and climb the stairs to the ramparts to avoid this, which we do- good advice! It also says that we can buy our tickets now and stay through the evening, but we are told no. If we want to stay in the abbey after 7, we must wait and buy our tickets then so we have 90 minutes to kill. We don’t want to climb the hundreds of steps down only to come up again, so we descend one level to find stone benches on a tree-covered, grassy terrace. We have brought in some bread and cheese, so Jeff and I backtrack one level to a store for water, and we eat our dinner and people watch. Finally, at 7, we climb the stairs and enter the abbey.
The one drawback to the night tour is that we cannot have a guided tour or audio guides- so we rely on Rick Steve again. The rooms are on many levels (more stairs) and varied in purpose and style. There are two crypts (one with narrow pillars, and one with pillars 15 feet in circumference surround a shallow reflecting pool), halls for guests, but most beautiful areas are the Church, the West Terrace, and the Cloisters. The view from the terrace is almost 360 degrees. Since it is still low tide, we see the wide mud flats, the coast of Brittany, north to Normandy, and the nearby farmers’ fields that are all built on reclaimed land (which Dutch engineers helped the French take back from the sea). The church is cruciform, with its apse surrounded by side chapels. Down the stairs is the cloister: a square of arched walkways surrounding a garden, with three large arched windows (in the past, just open arches, but for safety reasons now glass covers the openings) that overlook the bay. We remain there for a while, and Dean sketches some of the intricate geometric designs found in the stained glass windows covering the narrow openings. Each window is different. Jackie and Jeff had moved ahead of us some time ago (we tend to take much longer in museums than they do), so after we move through the refectory, we join them at the exit. (What else is at an exit? A gift shop!)
We purchase a booklet and a few postcards, and walk out onto a lower terrace in time to see the incoming tide- what a sight! It comes in at 2 feet per second and rises as much as 50 feet! We can actually see the water advancing. We take some pictures, and start our descent through the town. Dean and Jeff buy ice creams, and I am intending to suggest that we find a café with a terrace and relax, when we see water lapping at the entrance gate! It seems as though the tide will soon cover the walkway into the town entirely, and we would be trapped until it goes out again. People are rolling up their pants, and removing their shoes to wade through the advancing water that has already submerged the wooden bridge walkway by at least one foot. Jackie insists that if we wait, she is the shortest, and it will be up over her knees. So we hurry and join the refugees of the tide. When we reach the causeway, we look back and see that they had opened a door that led to the ramparts higher on the causeway so that we could have stayed. However by this time, everyone is wet and has had enough, so we walk to the car (turning around and taking night-lit pictures on the way) and return to our B&B for the night. We decide to return tomorrow for Mass after we get a good night sleep.

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Comments

[Maria]

Just comment
Wow! Sounds better than anything I have read or taken in French classes in high school and college! Love the names of these ancient places -- having some idea of most. But actually being there must be amazing. I could not get the connection of why Ireland and France. BUt I see it is "Sweeney" and "DesRosiers". Very simple. We traced my mom's side back to Canadian French, where "King" was originally "Roy" and "Roi", but they are still working on connecting to the France. God bless you all for a wonderrful and safe trip!!