Saturday (day 4 of our excursion) was spent in the town of Bayeux. We started the day with a visit to a museum that houses La Tapisserie de Bayeux, aka the tapestry of Bayeux. It’s a long tapestry (68.3 meters long, 50 centimeters high) that recounts the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the victory of William the Conqueror, the duke of Normandy who then became the king of England. It’s amazing that the tapestry has survived as long as it has and has stayed in relatively good condition. I’m also continually amazed at what people were able to construct in the Middle Ages, including cathedrals and other works of art.
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| Bayeux |
After the museum, we had time to walk around the city before a group lunch, so a few of us found the Saturday morning market where there were vendors selling all sorts of produce and meats and clothes. We wandered around some shops for a little while and then sat on the lawn of the cathedral until we met up with everyone else for lunch.
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| Brittany, me, and Jeff in front of the antique store |
After a delicious lunch of pizza covered in camembert and goat cheese and ham, we had more free time in Bayeux. I walked around with our professor and a couple of other girls in search of a lace museum one of them had read about in a guide. We happened upon to an antique store that sold dentelles (lace) dating from the 19th century and the Napoleon III era. I found these really cool little posters with drawings of Paris fashion that I found out also dated from the middle of the 19th century. The woman that owned the shop explained that women would receive these papers in the mail and they would then take them to their dressmaker to have fashionable dresses made. They were almost the equivalent of today’s fashion magazines. I decided I had to have three of them to hang on my wall at home, but they were a little overpriced. With a little bartering and help from my professor, I was able to talk the woman down to half of what three would have originally cost. The shop owner could tell I was torn over the papers, and she loved meeting American students that understood French well, so she let me have them for cheaper. Success.
The lace shop was right across from the cathedral entrance, and when we walked out, a bride was arriving for her wedding. In France, couples are officially married before, and then they do the whole white dress and tux thing for a mass that they invite their family and friends to. The bride arrived and there were tons of family members and friends waiting outside for her, and they stood in front of the church chatting and waiting for the groom to show up so they could start the mass.
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| Wedding! |
The place we thought was a lace museum was right in the same area, so we walked there next, but it was really just a tiny shop where they sold some antique lace and there were two places for someone to sit and make lace. Unfortunately, no one was actually working, so we just glanced around and left.
I wasn’t expecting much out of Bayeux, but once I got to see the whole town, find some cool antiques, and see the wedding, I was a little bit in love with it. We left that afternoon to go to Mont St. Michel, a breathtaking abbey built on an island. We got to our hotel in time for dinner, where I had tartiflette to eat, which was basically cheesy potatoes, but the cheese was camembert and there were pieces of ham, too. It was so cheesy and melty and delicious and comforting. It was nice after the shock of getting an entire crawfish, pinchers and all, with my appetizer (I was brave and took it apart and ate the meat). Then, our bus driver, Stephan (who was so much fun), took us over to Mont St. Michel to see it at night. Our official guided tour would be the next day, so stay tuned for the next post!
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| Mont St. Michel |
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