Two Norman Invasions

From our base in Lisieux, we made a few expeditions to other points in Normandy we wanted to explore. One of these was Bayeux!

It's a charming town, but for anyone interested in medieval history, it's most famous for its tapestry. The Bayeux tapestry records the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 (a very memorable date indeed) in embroidered pictures with simple Latin labels. Created not long after the Conquest, it's almost completely unique as a historical record. Because it tells its story through images, it offers all sorts details that written records don't bother with, and perhaps also the point of view of people who couldn't write and didn't rely on writing to remember their past.

Bayeux Cathedral

Because it's a piece of fabric that's almost a thousand years old (!), it's kept very carefully: hung up inside a glass temperature-controlled case in a dimly-lit room. Of course photos are forbidden! Here's a site where you can see some good ones of the whole thing, though. You can try scrolling through to get an idea of how the storytelling works. For an English explanation of what's going on, this page about a Victorian copy of the tapestry is the best I can find.

Anyway, I was ridiculously excited to see the thing. It's in its own museum without much else--besides some diorama castles and a reconstructed Viking ship and some creepy mannikins dressed as medieval Normans--but well worth the price of admission. The tapestry is thought to have been commissioned by Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and half-brother of William the Conqueror. In fact Odo was rather violent for a bishop and came along in the invasion, fighting in the battle of Hastings alongside William. The present cathedral of Bayeux has later Gothic elements alongside some Romanesque ones which date to Odo's day. It was exciting for me to see some of these typically Norman architectural elements, like the zig-zag pattern on the rounded arches, in a church in Normandy: previously I had only seen them on post-Conquest churches in England.

But interest in modern history also brings visitors to Bayeux, because it's the town closest to most of the Normandy beaches of the D-Day invasions. The museum in town about this is supposed to be good, but we ran out of time, and wanted to get out to actually see the beaches before sunset. So we drove out toward Omaha Beach:

Apparently on a clear day you can see England, but the coast was pretty profoundly grey when we got there. We also wanted to visit some of the cemeteries, but they were already closed for the evening. As you can see, they’re beautifully kept:

The drive there and back took us through more grey but beautifully countryside...

... as well as fields and fields devoted to growing the apples of Normandy. These in turn become its delicious cider and Calvados! 

Back in Lisieux, we had a rare dinner out at the "Au Vieux Normand" (approximately, "At the house or table of the old Norman guy") to enjoy some of these regional specialties. It was a sweet end to our stay in Lisieux and to exploring Normandy with our car, which we had to return at the end of the week.