The French Government, Europe and local authorities have decided to join forces to preserve this gem of humanity in its original setting. Launched in 2005, the operation to restore the Mont-Saint-Michel's maritime character strives to put the Mont back in phase with the tides gain and by 2015 to offer visitors welcome conditions that are in keeping both with their own expectations and the prestige of the site itself.
After breakfast we walked to the cathedral.
We walked through a lovely square where we learned that on June 14th General de Gaulle, arriving from London, addressed the inhabitants of Bayeux and reestablished republican law on the national soil by entrusting the administration of the liberated territories to a Regional Commissar of the Republic. Up to the liberation of Paris on August 25 Bayeux became the administrative capital of France.
When the allies landed in Normandy on the 6th of June, Bayeus was liberated the following day by British troops. Although in the center of the fighting Hanfleur, Bayeux, in the only town in Normandy to have been completely spared from destruction.
We made our way to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Bayeux, Normandy . This Cathedral is the same size as the the Notre-Dam Cathedral in Paris.
Gem of the Normand architecture, situated in the heart of the conservation area, the Bayeux Cathedral was consecrated on 14th July 1077, by Bishop Odo of Conteville, in the presence of his illustrious brother,William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy and king of England. It is believed that Odo commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry. The masterpiece from the Middle Ages was probably intended to be hung in the cathedral nave.
The Pulpit.
The vaulted ceiling and the magnificent stained glass windows.
We left the Cathedral and walked down the street in search of the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. Every where in Bayeux and the Normandy area are flags of the US, British, and Canada.
We ran across this statue of Catherine de Saint-Augustin.
Beatified by Pope Jean-Paul II in 1989, Catherine de Saint-Augustin is considered to be one of the founders of the Canadian Roman Catholic church. Born in Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte (Normandy, France) in 1632, Catherine de Longpré joined the ranks of the hospital order in Bayeux in 1644. A short time later she volunteered to assist the nuns operating the Quebec City Hôtel-Dieu hospital, and so, in 1648, she set foot in New France for the first time. In the land of her adoption, she led an exemplary life and died there of an illness at a very young age in 1668. Her growing renown in the Province of Quebec in the 19th century for her good works eventually opened the way for her to be venerated in her homeland of France.
We finally made it to the museum. Fortunately for us - no lines. We walked right in and paid our fee.
We were given our audio and away we went. It was not what I expected. Only because I envisioned the tapestry to be like most tapestries you see. The tapestry tells the story of King Edward of England who sends Harold to Normandy (1066). Harold is to let William know that he has been chosen Edward's successor on rhe throne. But upon the death of Edward in 1066, Harold seizes the crown of England. In response, William and his men fight Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Harold and his army are defeated on 14 October 1066. The tapestry tells this story in a film like sequence. It is under glass and each scene is numbered which goes along with the audio commentary. I can't remember the exact number but I believe there are around 55 scenes. We weren't able to take pictures of the tapestry unfortunately. It is really a well done presentation. The only thing you can adjust on the audio is the volume so once you start looking at the tapestry you must move along at the pace of the audio. No time to linger. The only place you can linger is in the museum store! They can get a lot of people through that museum in a day and I would imagine in the peak season this is important.
This picture was taken from a poster but gives you an idea of the tapestry itself. The only thing missing are the scenes at the bottom of the tapestry. In the battle scenes there are pictures of bodies strewn on the battlefield. The detail is phenomenal.
We had a little bowl of soup at a little restaurant near the museum and than just walked around the streets once again.
Poppies everywhere!
We returned to the hotel fairly early and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day since we had an all day tour of the Normandy Beaches scheduled the following day. Sharon and I did a little blogging and than I was still down stairs in the hotel area when some people from Seattle returned from their days adventure and we just sat around and talked. They were doing the beaches on their own today and when they went out to their car they had a flat tire. Oh joy! So glad it was them and not us. Of course I didn't tell them that, I'm entirely too nice. He did inform us that he had been told that the flat tire was his reponsibility and had he taken it back to Hertz they would have charged him 90 Euro's because he hadn't taken out the super duper costly car insurance. ( We did). Lucky for us we did because someone hit our car when we were parked today and left a beautiful dent.
That evening Sharon said she had found a restaurant close to the hotel and when we asked at the desk we were told that they had heard it was very good. Off we went. Well we had the address but still we couldn't find it. I mean, take a left out of the hotel and it should have been right there except across the street. Well, across the street there is a square so we crossed the square. Still no number 34. I ran into the hotel and she again told me just a short distance from the hotel on the right hand side of the street. We decided that the numbers across the street did not correlate to the numbers on the otherside of the street. With that logic in mind - we found it and guess what, it was closed. So now to find a retaurant. We had seen a cafe across the square so we decided to try that. How bad could it be? Well....
It's decor was lovely
Sharon and Sandra had hamburgers on the raw side, and I had a faux fillet. Actually the food wasn't terrible and the wine was actually very good and they served it in nice glasses so I was happy. I am a wine glass snob in case I haven't pointed that out before. I hate little wine glasses!!!!
Yes! Isn't that clever! Your check comes under a bone. 
Well we left the restaurant knowing that we had eaten but not really feeling satisfied. To get home all we had to do was walk across the street and we were back at the hotel.
We got ready for bed and before retiring we had Sandra give us our flu shots which we had purchased at the local pharmacy today for 7 Euro's. - about 8 dollars.
Good to have a nurse along although I did volunteer to give Sharon her shot. She gave me such a funny look. Guess she was glad her sister was along. I think Sandra looks like she's enjoying it far too much. Nurses should have empathetic expressions when giving shots.
Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the Normandy Beaches. Sharon and I both read Jeff Shaara's book on World War II to refreshen some of the history. I highly recommend the books - A Rising Tide, The Steel Wave, No Less the Victory about the war in Europe and lastly The Final Storm , the war in the a Pacific. They are fiction but based on fact, very well researched and extremely well written, and educational as well as enjoyable.
No comments :
Post a Comment