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Published: August 10th 2009
Day 17: Wednesday, July 8, 2009
BAYEUX, FRANCE Bayeux is one of the closest towns to the Normandy D-Day beach landings and was the first town liberated. While most Normandy towns suffered great damage during WWII, Bayeux is one of the few to sustain none. This is due in part to how quickly it was liberated, but also I read somewhere that the mayor got word to the allies that the town was of no strategic importance and germans weren't there. As a result, a bombing mission planned for the town was cancelled.
Alarm 7:00am, but I rolled over. Breakfast wouldn't be served until 7:45-8:00 am anyway. I got up around 7:20 am. I'd already packed most of my things last night, so not much to do there. Took breakfast in Cafe at about 8:10 am. I'd prepaid for breakfast when paying for the room (6.10 euro). Per the norm in France, I was disappointed. Breakfast was so-called "continental", which consisted of choice of Coffee or Hot Chocolate (I had coffee), croisant, french bread (about 1 foot long), orange juice (small glass) and two jams and two butters for bread. Ok snack, but not a breakfast. The coffee
was good, though.
Regulars in cafe greeted with "Bonjour" and a quick little hand shake. I didn't notice until I was leaving, one of the regulars had ordered a beer.
Note: Unlike in the United States, in Europe it isn't uncommon to see beer consumed in public at any time of the day. Though this blog is for July 8th, I've been to several countries since and in a number of them you can see people walking down the street with a beer bottle in their hand. Even the quick sandwich places usually serve beer which you can take out on the street or park to consume with your meal. Though perhaps not the norm, you will also see people consuming beer in a cafe first thing in the morning. As a result, you can also expect to see the occasional broken beer bottle on the street in some cities. 8:30 am - Off to see the tapestry. They open at 9:00 am and want to be there to beat crowds and so I can get things done and get out of town. Took some pictures along the way. There was a market setting up on Rue
Market in Bayeux
Cheese stand with wide assortment to choose from.Saint Jean starting at intersection with Rue du Marechal Foch. There was a banner across the street which read: "Fetes Medievales; autour de la Cathedrale; 1st Week-end de Juillet" (in english: Medieval Festival, 1st week-end in July).
Arrived at
Tapestry Museum right when I wanted, just before they opened. I was about the sixth person there. Only waited about 4 minutes before they opened. Thought I'd get through without crowd. Wrong. The person in front of me was ready to purchase ticket when a tour group from Denmark arrived. They made us wait while the trip leader fished around for the money to pay for the 40+ people in her group. Then they had to print all the tickets. Then we had to wait for all of them in ticket taker line. I was so not happy.
The Bayeux Tapestry is a 50 cm by 70 m (20 in by 230 ft) long embroidered cloth illustrating the events of the Norman conquest of England. It's believed to have been made by monks in the south of England in 1066. Along it's length are different depictions of events leading upto and the actual invasion by William the conquerer. The Tapestry
Market in Bayeux
Fresh fish anyone? is vertically mounteded under a glass (naturally) for easy viewing.
Entry includes "Audopass" (another name for audio guide). This one is automated such that once you enter the Tapestry room, it turns on and tells you the story told by the tapestry. I think most the people didn't know there was a volume control, so you heard the audio blaring for each person. Fortunately, it's almost like a conveyer where the guide keeps you moving along the way. So once we go in the Tapestry room, the crowd really didn't matter. You continually move along it's length, then it turns a corner, and works it's way back to the exit near where you started.
Note: No photos are permitted (whatsoever) in the Tapestry room. However, this didn't prevent some people. In addition to the viewing the Tapestry, there is a section where they provide more information and context. There are maps showing the path of the Norman conquest, explanations of the people involved and the true history behind the events depicted in the Tapestry.
The Tapestry is definitely an interresting sight and worth a visit if you are in the area. The story it tells is
Market in Bayeux
Market starting to get busy. quite interresting.
After the tour, walked back through the market which was now fully setup. Mussels, cheese, big juicy strawberries (I mean large) which you could smell (yum), fresh fish, fruit, and other items (clothing, etc). There were a number of stands selling mussels. A large stand selling cheese had a rather large and interresting array to choose from. A couple of the cheeses I saw I wouldn't know if I were to eat it or throw it away. I never saw anything that looked quite like that.
Passed a woman walking carrying about 10 long loafs of french bread. Can't imagine that is all for her. Probably from a bakery making a delivery to a restaurant.
10:20 am - Out of hotel. One order of business before I leave town,... laundry. I haven't seen many places to do laundry, but in Bayeux there is a place near the Information Center. My timing was perfect as the laundry was empty and it began to rain shortly after I arrived. Glad to be inside. Detergent cost .70 euro, a small washing machine load 3.70 euro. Took me a minute to decipher the french to determine the proper settings
on the washing machine. So I sat out the rain while the machine ran.
It wasn't long before others started so appear and the place came alive. On queue, the rain stopped and the sun came out about the time I was finishing (around 11:20 am).
Weather keeps changing between sunshine and rain. Crazy.
12:10 pm - I'm back at cafe/hotel where I'd stayed last night. Drinking a 50cl glass of 1664 beer, reading "Out of Range" by B. J. Box. It's raining quite steady now, but under the awning the weather is fine. In another 5 minutes, it will be sunny again. That's how it seems to go. Just as I wrote that, the rain suddenly stopped. I'ts not sunny yet, but I see this clowd moving on and a break before the next.
Can't recall where I got this book. I'm tired of it already and I'm only on page 11. It's like it was written by someone who is use to pumping out formulaic books. Just didn't hold my interrest.
After first beer, I still had about an hour before I had to go to train station. So ordered a Ham and
Cheese Panini sandwich and another 50cl beer. Before the order came, the sky opened up and it really started to poor. I was sitting just at the edge of the awning, but had to move in more as the wind had kicked up and blew the rain on me. Final bill came to 14.20 euro.
My original plans for this trip were to keep heading south, but I'd made of my mind that I was going to change that and head north. So caught 14:41 (2:41 pm) train bound for Paris. Train was relatively empty in Bayeux, but many got on in Caen so that it is almost full.
PARIS, FRANCE The idea was to catch the overnight train from Paris to Hannover, Germany at 20:20 (8:20 pm), but the train was full. I wanted to keep moving north. I'd already been to Paris and didn't have much reason to stay (sounds crazy, right?). So I opted for the Thalys train to Brussels. Hopefully from there I can get on main lines and get moving north to Scandenavia. To get on Thalys I had to pay additional 41 euro (57.42 USD). In first class, got good
meal with wine. Also they have free Wi-Fi Internet connection on board. This is so cool! I'm sorry the ride will be so short (a little over an hour). Wish I had more time, the Internet is actually pretty good on the train. It was probably the second best Internet connection I've had thus far on this trip! How is that possible? I was getting a lot done.
On the train I used Booking.com to book a hotel for the night. Found Euro Captial Brussels for 50 euro (70.02 USD) for one night. Big factors, price, proximity to Brussels Midi train station, and free Internet in rooms. Super!
On the train I had a good conversaiton with guy facing me. He is french, but currently lives in Belgium. Due to work, he's constantly going between Belgium and France. Spoke english well.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM I'm currently in Bussels, Belgium. I never intended to end up here duringthis trip, yet here I am. I've done a number of things I didn't expect, but it's been ok. Internet access has been an issue and as such, it hasn't been easy coordinating with train schedules. So I haven't been
Tapestry Museum
Here's a copy of a portion of the tapestry which gives an idea what the real one looks like. able to get around the way that I would like. Spent longer in parts of France than intended as a result.
The
Euro Capital Brussels hotel was not far from the train station. I would call it a solid 3 star hotel (perhaps better). The room was clean, spacious, with subdued lighting. Great Internet (not Wi-Fi, but I'm ok with that. At least it doesn't drop on me.) They provide a network cable if needed. Very nice.
I'd been to Brussels twice before, so visiting Brussels was not on my agenda this trip.
Notes & Misc Information: • USD = United States Dollars.
• Currency: The currency in the France and Belgium is the Euro (EUR). The exchange rate was 1.40042 USD = 1 EUR or 1 USD = 0.71407 EUR as of June 29, 2009.
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