a.tapestry.with.a.history

what makes a tapestry so famous? the textile, the woven, the embroidery or the story? you wanted to visit this tapestry on your way to saint-malo, but you spent too much time in dauville and so you still remembered that what he said “the tapestry can wait, it has been there for thousand years, and so it can wait for a few more days..”. so you didn’t visit the tapestry until your return journey where you drove all the way to bayeux just to have a glimpse of this long tapestry that holds a record of history about the norman conquest of england.

fourth september

bayeux cathedral, this is quite a predominant landmark for a small city like bayeux, the cathederal is visible as you approaching the city

you parked your car somewhere nearby the cathedral and then walk your way to the tapestry

the entrance to la tapisserie de bayeux, there is a replicate of viking boat apparently with some history that you have forgotten...

the bayeux tapestry has been housed in a building which also houses the town’s multimedia library...

there are quite a few sun chairs for sun seekers, but you are not desperate anymore for your already stock up your sunshine for the entire autumn and winter

you are not allowed to take any photo on the actual tour of the tapestry. at the entry, the staff handed you an audio player based on your choice of language. you opt for english, he opts for dutch. from that moment onwards you are transported to a different world, the narrator explains the story of the legendary animals, ships, vikings, norman and saxon cavalries that illustrate the exploits of william and his opponent harold, another pretender to the throne of england. the background music or sound enhances the atmosphere further.. you sometime have to pause the audio as there is so much to see for every section (the scroll is numbered and the narration is based on the number as well), you try to observe the minute details of the embroidery and try to re-live in the history...

at the exit of the museum that leading to the bookshop, here there are a few reproductions, an extraction of certain sections of the lengthy carpet

you are done with this tapestry visit, just outside the museum, this water mill catches your attention

you think this is a beautiful wall story to add to your collection

you adjourn to a bistro nearby for lunch.  your picardie duck salad is full of the internal organs, from duck liver to whatever you can see in this picture.  this is really too much for you, you can take duck liver with pleasure but other duck organs? no..no... he has to help you up with this salad

his galettes with ham and cheese (some sort of savory crepe that is quite common in the region of normandy and brittany) is a lot lighter to the palette.

you both are so full now.  you are refueled. you know your next meal will be at your home, where you belong because the vacation is officially over ...