Bayeux, Normandy, France

We left Reykjavik at 1 am on Monday the 22nd (my 28th birthday) and arrived in Paris around 6 am.  Then we got some euro and caught a 10 am train to the town of Bayeux.

Bayeux is a very picturesque town which was luck to have survived WWII without significant damage.  It was actually the first French town liberated by the Allies and I think it was seat of the free French government for about two months just before the liberation of Paris.

It is famous for the Bayeux Tapestry.  Thanks to Mike for mentioning the tapestry several months ago or we might have missed it!

We had to wait in line for about an hour to get in, mostly because buses of retirees kept arriving and they got to jump to the front of the line.  The only amusement we had was watching French people make a stink about how unfair this was. 

The tapestry itself is really cool.  It's something like 30 meters long and it was made right after 1066 (or so they believe) to tell the story of William the Conquerors victory.  It is, of course, a fairly biased account, but it is beautiful, lively and fascinating.  It is certainly the oldest textile I've seen and it's in quite good shape.  No photography is allowed, understandably, so here's one off the web.

Also, in Bayeux we went to the Musée Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie.  I sometimes avoid things related to WWII because they are too sad, but this was a really good museum and we learned a lot.  Between this museum and the tapestry, which depicts a lot of battle, I felt like a scholar of war.

Jack was suitably impressed by Bayeux Cathedral, his first old world cathedral (Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik is very beautiful but it is too new (20th century) and Lutheran to count).  I thought the windows in Bayeux were nice, but I generally like the outside more than the inside.