A Thousand Years of History in One Morning
Trip Start
May 05, 2007
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Trip End
May 15, 2007
Bayeux,
Normandy,
France
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
First stop in Bayeux, the Cathedral. Medieval (of course), but greatly damaged in World War II and since restored, it was to be our first real encounter with how much history was part of Normandy. The building of the church went back many centuries, and old tombs reflected the importance of certain gentry buried in the church's vault ages ago. Other plaques and memorials were barely fifty years old - commemorating different sacrifices and the history of the German occupation, the Resistance, and the lives of French people trying to survive the bombings, the invasion by the Allies and subsequent battles as Germans and Allies fought in the area
Bayeux Cathedral
.We then plunged into the world of William the Conqueror, and the first invasion of Normandy, in 1066, with a visit to the museum where the world-famous Tapisserie de Bayeux, woven in the eleventh century, is beautifully preserved and displayed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry). Listening to an excellent audio tape, we slowly walked around the horseshoe-shaped exhibit, learning the details of each panel of the tapestry. Very interesting (even my Dad liked it!) and very well presented.
Once again crossing periods of history like time-travellers, we took a long walk to the Musée Mémorial du Débarquement, which commemorates the D-Day invasion of June 1944. Our first true venture into this piece of history, and the beginning of our "almost-pilgrimmage" to Normandy.
The museum was fascinating, and sobering. Tour groups as well as school children, and tourists like us, visit daily, and the museum succeeds in making history come alive. It doesn't feel like a period from the past - it feels very much alive still, like a time that should never be forgotten.
We attempted to walk back, but decided it was too far to make it in one stretch back to the hotel -- in the rain... So we took a taxi, driving through streets that we had just seen in 60 year-old pictures. More in tune with the history of the place, we noticed pock-marked façades and narrow streets where combat had taken place. Amazingly thought-provoking. How fortunate we are, in Canada, where battles and wars have not been waged in modern times...
After lunch at the Taverne des Ducs, we took the car out of the garage at the hotel, and with somewhat serious and somber thoughts, we took the road towards the coast.
