We spent the weekend in Bayeux. Why? On Friday afternoon walking from French Class to the train station, I asked Ron the same question: what were we thinking when we booked this weekend in Bayeux? My grumbling got a tad worse when after a few hours on the train we arrived tired and hungry at a tiny train depot just outside the little town of Bayeux, in Normandy, about six kilometers from the English Channel. A wet cold drizzle greeted us. We could see the spires of the Cathedral in the distance and started walking, heads bent down into a 25 mph wind that made 50 degrees feel like 40. Grumble, grumble, grumble...
And then we were there, standing in front of a tiny metal sign swinging from an ancient eave "Manoir Sainte Victoire" The home was built in the 1500's. The family that owns the home now has preserved the "tower" for a Bed & Breakfast. There are only three rooms. We ducked through a tiny door, and started up a narrow circular stone-lined staircase. There were no landings at all, just a door with a name plate announcing the first room, then higher up, one after another, the other two rooms. The innkeeper, Franc, graciously pointed out all of the amenities in our room (and there were many!) but I didn't hear a word. The room was just magnificent. The view of the Cathedral and the old town was jaw-dropping.
For the entire weekend, Ron kept asking me how I could possible blog about Bayeux. It is one of those places that has to be experienced first hand- words cannot describe. I tried my best to capture it in photos, taking hundreds, but again, I fell woefully short.
We had been here before. A few years back while on a family European adventure, the young people in the group went to Disney Paris, and Ron and I made a day trip to the beaches of Normandy instead. We visited Omaha Beach, and spent hours at the museum and the American cemetery. Holy ground. On the way back to Paris that day, we spent a few hours in Bayeux waiting for our train. We saw the Bayeux Tapestry, and of course the Cathedral (you cannot be in Bayeux and NOT see the Cathedral - it dwarfs everything). Bayeux was the first French town liberated after D-Day. Literally, D-Day plus one. And it is the only town in the entire region that was not destroyed in the war. Ron and I were so taken by the little town that we promised ourselves we would return one day.
That's the back story. I could write an entire book about our weekend, but Ron assures me that a book will have to keep for another day, and another forum. For now, I will just share a pictorial of Bayeux.
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