After dropping our rental car in Caen we were back on the rails and took the short train trip to Bayeux. What a beautiful town! A very walkable size, and lots of scenic attractions.
We were just a short walk from the train station to our accommodation: “La Plus Petite Maison De France” (The smallest house in France.). Despite being just 16 sq.m. (that’s less than 200 sq.ft.!) this detached, standalone 2-storey house was the complete package with full kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, albeit in pretty tight quarters. It was formerly the lock-keeper’s house and straddled a narrow canal so a very unique place to stay. There wasn’t much of the day left after our arrival in the early evening, so we chilled in the park with a drink (yes, the park had sling chairs and bar service from the restaurant across the street!) and then went for dinner for Normandy specialties.
The following morning was a lazy morning for one of us, while half of the team enthusiastically embarked on a walking tour to see the half-timbered houses, medieval buildings, and the cathedral consecrated during the reign of William the Conqueror over a thousand years ago!
It’s only by luck that Bayeux wasn’t obliterated during the D-Day battles. Despite being the first French city liberated after D-Day, there was no fighting in Bayeux since the Allied forces looked at the main street through town, realized that they couldn’t move tanks and equipment between the buildings, and hurriedly constructed a bypass around the entire city.
During our first afternoon in Bayeux we visited the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, housing the unique tapestry (actually an embroidery) recounting the story of Normandy’s William the Conqueror’s conquest of England in the 11th century. (The Battle of Hastings in 1066 as every British schoolchild knows!). A huge, 70-metre long work of art that has somehow survived over 1,000 years.
Our second evening in Bayeux was spent touring the cathedral and then sheltering in the doorway from the rain until the sound and light show began. (We’d like to be able to say that we cleverly timed our visit to Bayeux to catch the first evening of the “son et lumière”, but it was just good luck!) And the rain added a bit more sparkle to the lighting effects so it was OK. There is a picture in our Flickr album (below), or you can check out this 30-second YouTube video:
On our second day in Bayeux we split our time between museums about ancient history and more modern times. We spent the morning at MAHB – Museum of Art and History Baron Gérard. Housed in a former episcopal palace, this well curated display gave the history of Bayeux from prehistoric times until the 20th century. The afternoon was rather more sobering. We went to the excellent Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy for every detail of D-Day and the subsequent Battle of Normandy. But before we even entered the museum we walked through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Bayeux. Despite being a huge final resting place for over 4,000 fallen from World War II, this is just one of over 23,000 cemeteries and memorials for a staggering 1,700,000 Commonwealth troops who lost their lives in both World Wars. And as the nearest cemetery to Juno Beach where the Canadian forces landed there are an awful lot of headstones with the maple leaf on them.
It was a rather quiet and reflective evening….
Our pics of Bayeux may be viewed in high resolution on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/100countries/albums/72177720310033269
