Really old buildings

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Saturday, May 28, 2005

Today started out about the same as yesterday ended I’m afraid. I woke up at 6am and knew from reading the train schedules that there was a train to Bayeuex at 6:55am. I went to the train station and again butchered the French language bought a ticket to Bayeux for 3.95 euro. I forgot that I get a youth discount for being under the age of 26. The train actually was not until 8:00am. I’m still not sure how I got that wrong. The train came at 8 and was only suppose to take about 15 minutes to reach Bayeux. It ended up taking me about two hours to reach Bayeux because about ten minutes into the trip the train broke down and we came to a complete stop on the tracks. One of the conductors came through and checked all of our tickets and told us that we would have to wait for another train to come and pick us up on the tracks that ran along side ours. I passed the time by half dozing in my seat and trying to read my French phrase book so that I could at least attempt to communicate with people. Finally the train came and picked us up. This was a small commuter train, almost like a subway train. It was completely packed with people and I ended up having to stand for the rest of the trip, all the while drawing lots of stares from the locals.

About ten o’clock I arrived in Bayeux and luckily there was a map of the town in the train station because I didn’t have the first clue where I was going. I knew the address of the hotel that I had made reservations for the day before so I headed in that direction with the info from the map. After walking about 400 yards the first thing I saw was the biggest cathedral that I have ever seen. It had two spires that reached probably twenty stories into the air on one end and one at the other end that went even higher. The entire thing was done in the gothic style with gargoyles, flying buttresses, and intricate carving all over it. I found out later that it is called Cathedral Notre-Dame. Not to be confused with Notre Dame in Paris and Quasimodo. It was consecrated on July 14, 1077 in the presence of William, Duke of Normandy, more commonly known as William I, the first king of England. It was a spectacular sight. Especially when it is the first thing you see in a town with hardly a building over three or four stories tall. I checked into my hotel and began to check out the town.

Bayeux is a wonderful little town that is only about 20 minutes from the D-Day beaches of Normandy. It is one of only two towns that escaped the bombings of WWII intact. Most of the town dates back to around 1077 and 500 years afterward (that is my estimate, I don’t actually know.) Every building that you see is built entirely of stone and has wall anywhere from 1-3 feet thick. Since the town is one of only two that escaped all of the bombing it is a pretty big tourist draw both for its architecture and for the cathedral. I went out and was initially looking for an ATM because I wanted to have more than 30 euro on me in case I ran into another day like yesterday. Right next to the first ATM I found was kind of flea market that they apparently construct every Saturday in a parking lot on Rue Royale, their street with all of the shops. It was full of all kinds of things just like one in America (crafts, clothes, trinkets) except for the fact that at least half of it was booths set up just like in the olden days with every kind of fruit, vegetables, fish, meat imaginable, including fish on ice. I felt like I was back in the 1300s doing my daily shopping. I also found out the next day that it was Mother’s Day in France with explained to me why everyone was walking around with flowers. Regardless of that though, I have never seen a city with so many flowers and flower shops everywhere. I then walked down the main shopping street and checked out all of the shops. The main thing that is different here is that there are no Walmarts or department stores, at least not in the main part of this town. You have to go to a different shop for everything. Since their biggest draw in tourism though they have everything from small mom and pop bakeries to high-end stores all down Rue Royale. This also has to be the best smelling town that I have ever been in. Between the flower shops, bakeries, restaurants, and cafes, it smelled absolutely wonderful. It is a great town to just spend the day walking around with your camera because it is a photographer’s dream. Around every corner is a piece of architecture, alley, storefront, that is just begging you to take a picture of it. I obliged it. So far I have taken 81 photos of this city. The people are all friendly here, especially if you at least try to speak the language. I am glad that I decided to spend a day here before I went on my D-Day tour.

My first real meal of the trip also happened today. I stopped into a small restaurant that was off on a side street away from all the shops. Luckily the manager spoke pretty good English and he offered to translate anything on the menu for me. I ordered salmon for my meal and when it arrived I’m pretty sure the fillets were raw. (maybe I should have had him translate) If they had been cooked it couldn’t have been any longer that a second of each side. It had a kind of olive oil on it and came with lettuce, tomatoes, and bread. I was little worried about eating it but surprisingly it was really good. It didn’t even have a fishy taste. For desert I ended up having crème brullee, which is basically a pudding with a baked caramel crust on top. It was really good as well.

The rest of the day I spent exploring the rest of the town and I don’t think that there is a street that I didn’t go down. I ended up in a little bar not far from my hotel where I had a pizza for dinner that was nothing short of a culinary masterpiece. While there I also met two Americans from the army 1st Division Infantry, 119th Regiment based in Schweinburg, Germany. They were on a 4-day pass and had ended up in Bayeux after seeing a bunch of D-Day sights. I’d have to say that was really nice to see an American again. I hadn’t seen another American or anyone that could speak English well since I had left Ouistreham. I sat and talked with them for a couple of hours and then headed back to my hotel for the night.

Lessons for the day: 1. Everything in Europe is expensive, especially eating. It is hard to find anything to eat for lunch that costs less than $10.00. Dinner menus can routinely start at $15.00 and up. This may only be the case in Bayeux, but in general things are just more expensive over here. 2. Watch out for poo de poo la chien. That is “dog poop” in English. The people here take their dogs everywhere with them, into stores, restaurants, etc. and the sidewalk is apparently as good a place for their dog to relieve themselves as in a park or anywhere else that you might be walking.

P.S. If you are suddenly wondering why these got so long is because I have not been able to get on the internet for almost three days and have had lots of time to write.

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