SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012

BAYEUX, FRANCE

Sunday morning we planned to meet in the lobby of our hotel at 8:00 to take the train from Paris to Bayeux. David and I got ready a little early so I could have coffee before we left. We went down to the lobby and Carol was there, waiting on the shuttle to take her to the airport so she could fly home. We were delighted we had another half hour or so to visit with her before she left! Tom had been down earlier and ordered two taxis to take us to the train station at 8:15 to catch a 9:10 train. He and Sheryl came down ready to go and then Sue came down to say goodbye so we had another few minutes with her too. Because the sun was shining, Sheryl made a quick trip to Notre Dame to take pictures. The shuttle arrived and off Carol went. The first taxi arrived and David and I took it. Soon after the second taxi arrived for Sheryl, Tom and Noel. Of course the taxis dropped us off at opposite sides of the station so we fumbled a bit before we found one another.

We met on the platform and Sheryl and David went shopping for breakfast. They picked up delicious muffins and croissants and water. When our train time was posted we made our way to the track and walked to the far end of the train so it was easy for all of us to get on and sit close together. It was about a two hour trip and we all relaxed and enjoyed it.

When we arrived in Bayeux, everyone got off the train and walked out front looking for taxis. It is a very small town and there were no taxis there. We knew it wouldn't be too far to walk but we had luggage so we didn't want to do that. Resourceful Sheryl called our hotel and asked them to send a taxi for us and it quickly arrived. Because we loaded it up with luggage, David and Noel walked to the hotel.

We arrived at the Hotel Villa Lara and it is very beautiful. Sheryl had read about it in her National Geograpic Magazine while it was being built. It only opened in March so it is very new. We checked in and discovered our rooms are huge and modern and gorgeous. The bathroom is large and it has a big shower with a rain shower head and also a hand held shower. There is also a separate bathtub. It is a fabulous hotel and we are very happy here.

Noel booked a hotel at a B&B down the street. It is charming and lovely and has a beautiful garden. The view out his window is of the garden. I wouldn't have minded staying there either.

After we all checked in, we gathered and headed out for lunch. We only walked one block and decided to eat at Brasserie Reine Mathilde. They had lovely tables outside but we decided to eat inside this time. The waiter spoke excellent English and we had very good food. David had an omelet, I had a sandwich -- croque monsieur which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Delish! David and I both had french fries with our lunches. At the moment I can't remember what the others had to eat but I will check my notes and update this later.

It was time to walk around and check out Bayeux. We first walked to the Bayeux Cathedral. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux is a Norman-Romanesque cathedral. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bayeux. It was the original home of the Bayeux Tapestry and is a national monument of France. The site is an ancient one and was once occupied by Roman sanctuaries. The present cathedral was consecrated on July 14, 1077, in the presence of William, Duke of Normandy and King of England. It was here that William forced Harold Godwinson to take the oath, the breaking of which led to the Norman conquest of England. We spent a lot of time there because it is so beautiful. We hope our pictures turned out.

We saw there was a British cemetery and we walked there. It was a small cemetery -- about 4,000 graves. It was very manicured and well maintained.

After that we walked back into the little city and decided to go see the Bayeux Tapestry which is now displayed at a museum right behind our hotel. The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth — not an actual tapestry — nearly 230 ft. long, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. The tapestry consists of fifty scenes embroidered on linen with colored wool yarns. With the price of admission you got a headset which described the scenes in detail and it was very interesting.

Then it was time for a rest. We decided to meet for dinner at 7:00 p.m. and then we all went to our rooms to get settled in.

We asked the desk clerk where to have dinner and he recommended La Drakkar which was just a short walk from our hotel. It was funny because we all thought Bayeux was just a small town with one main road -- mostly just a place where people gathered to take tours of Normandy. Nope! When we got to the street where the restaurant was we discovered a wonderful, long street of shops and restaurants. Really, really nice! The restaurant was lovely and the food was delicious! Sheryl and David had french onion soup and they shared a cheese pizza. Noel had mussels, I believe Tom had a salad with corn, etc. and I had a delicious rib eye steak with a twice baked potato! The dessert menu featured many ice cream sundaes and most of us had one.

After dinner we returned to our rooms to get some sleep because the next day we had scheduled a full-day tour of Normandy and the D-Day Beaches with a private tour guide.

It was another fabulous day!!!