Trip to Europe May 18 to May 31, 2002 --- Page 7

Friday, 24 May 2002: Paris --> Caen --> Bayeux
Oversleeping doesn't make a good start for a long day -- probably an AM/PM error on the alarm. But we hustle out in half an hour to make it to Gare St. Lazare and the train to Caen. We catch the 8:36 which gets us into Caen (after a pleasant, smooth, yet rainy ride) without losing any time. We find the Hertz counter easily, but our troubles begin: a busy person trying to handle everything alone, the numbers don't add up, how to get around the construction, and, worst of all, how do you put the car in reverse! After these travails, we finally get on our way, only to take some wrong turns and traverse the whole city to get to Le Memoriale -- a WWII museum.
We had high expectations for this museum, and it delivered.  After some lunch we sit through a great movie -- no narration, none needed (a neat way around the translation problem!) -- and then begin traversing the exhibits. We spend some more times looking at the exhibits, but quit with plenty more to see.

Halfway through, John runs into someone -- screams are heard -- it's Ellen Freas and Dennis Daniels from St. Mark's!  After squeals and hugs, sharing some stories, a couple of photos (gosh, Ellen is good -- instead of asking a stranger directly to take our picture, she's laying on all kinds of southern charm -- all in French!)  We had known that Dennis and Ellen were going to be in Europe at the same time -- we had shared itineraries -- our paths weren't supposed to cross!
 
 

Below are pictures of a few exhibits in the museum:
We stop to view the second movie 'Esperance' (hope) before we leave -- but it's not so hopeful.  We leave drained after seeing only half of the museum.
 
We struggle negotiating some road closures (the US president's visit is only a couple of days away), to get on the road to Bayeux -- not so difficult once we found the right road. After checking in at the charmless, but efficient Novotel, now late in the afternoon, we examine our options.  Carol asks how long to see the Tapestry -- 'an hour for a piece of cloth?!?' -- we pass on the Cathedral (next trip) and go to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry.
 

The tour begins with a brief tapestry -- a reproduction of sorts -- and a slideshow (in English!) -- we walk along a long corridor to view the tapestry behind glass.  The story is neat & well presented, and even after having read about the Norman Conquest many times, learned much more.  The Tapestry is in remarkable shape -- still vibrant colors -- after over 900 years!  We then walk along the outside of the cathedral -- screaming Norman architecture -- get some pictures -- then to 'Le Petit Norman' for a wonderful dinner of delicious fish soup and great ice cream (and lots of other tourists).
 
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