Day One of our Trip to Normandy and Brittany

We took a long weekend at the end of March to go on a driving trip of Normandy and Brittany. It was almost canceled because Howard had the stomach flu and was horribly ill the few days before. But the day we were to leave, we packed up the car and drove off with high hopes and excitement. Two hours into the drive I came down with "Howard's Stomach Flu" and made multiple mad dashes out of the side of the car into the French countryside for the remainder of the drive. Thankfully after a good 24 hours, we were both well and ready to go!

Our first stop was Rouen, a 2,000 year old city, whose claim to fame is that Claude Monet lived there as did Joan of Arc. Where Monet painted the cathedral, Joan was burned at the stake in the main place.


Rouen's other claim to fame is pottery. I almost bought this one that I saw in the shop window!

Next, we drove to Bayeux, only six miles from the D-Day beaches where we spent the night. I went straight to bed to recover from the flu while Howard toured around the town. Bayeau was the first city to be liberated after the landing. Incredibly, the town was spared the bombs of World War II. It is a cute town with an wonderful cathedral. Here's a picture of one of the water wheels we saw while walking around town.

The cathedral.

Probably one of the most amazing things in Bayeux is the tapestry museum. It is a 70 yard long, almost 1000 year old, hand embroidered, wool and linen cloth "document" that tells the story of William the Conqueror's rise from duke of Normandy to king of England and shows his victory over Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Here's a shot from their website. There was a fantastic audio guide that explained each scene. How does material like that remain intact after 1000 years?