A trip to Northern France (Part 3)
November 11, 2020After we were finished at Mont Saint-Michel, we drove to Bayeux for the night, and walked around the town a bit before sleeping. Orlando mentioned something about a tapestry in town and my Art History class came flooding back to me! BAYEUX! THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY WAS IN THIS TOWN. I was so excited and knew I’d have to see it before we left tomorrow. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll link to the Wikipedia page. It’s very cool. (Check it out here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry)
Jonathan and I checked out the tapestry the next morning after having a wonderful breakfast at our hotel. So far on our trip our breakfasts had been much more French, i.e. croissants, pain au chocolat and more carbs. This breakfast had actual protein, so we Americans felt quite at home.
At the tapestry museum, we were given audio guides to explain the different sections of the story told in the tapestry. It was really cool getting to see it so up close and know what the different images meant. At the gift shop, we found an ornament of Harold getting shot in the eye with an arrow and dying (one of the final scenes from the tapestry) and now I think it’s my most favorite ornament we have. It’s perfect.
We left Bayeux and drove along the coast of Normandy, stopping at Pointe du Hoc and ending at the Normandy American Cemetery. Pointe du Hoc was really interesting because the ground was covered with giant blast holes but grass and wildflowers had grown back over them creating a strange juxtaposition. A lot of the German bunkers and gun pits were still there. It was such an odd feeling of seeing this place where so much violence had occurred, but now it was so quiet and peaceful. It was hard for us to wrap our minds around it.
Omaha beach was a very similar experience. It was just a long, flat beach, but we knew what had occurred there just 76 years ago. We also visited the Overlord Museum, which had a bunch of old tanks and military equipment to view outside.
The American Cemetery was also powerful. Crosses and Stars of David as far as the eye could see.
After such a sobering and humbling day, it was weird to get into our car and drive 3 hours to Paris, knowing that tomorrow we would be in Disneyland. I’ll wait until the next post to share photos from Disney.