Pictures from Bayeux

Nancy Donnelly
September 17, 2014

Our problems with posting anything in France meant that we just couldn’t get pictures from Bayeux up on the blog (mainly, our connections were so puny that everything just took forever, or just wouldn’t). So here are pictures of the town, and a couple of the Tapestry.

The museum people don’t want you taking pictures, so I just took a couple, but really, for Tapestry pictures, Google on “Bayeux Tapestry” and then click on “Images.” You will have more pictures than you can swallow at one sitting.

We arrived Saturday evening, and walked from our campground on the north edge of town down into the heart of town for supper. The sun was just setting.

 

The next morning we walked along the river again in daylight. The last time I was here, in 2004, this walking path didn’t exist, I think. Or maybe it was just that Rob Keyes-Back and I had rooms in a hotel on the south side of town, and we never found this beautiful walk? Anyway, you can pick it up from the tourist information center and walk about a mile north on it.

These are through glass in low light. Better to Google “Bayeux Tapestry” and check out “Images.” But anyway, the important thing to notice, from an artistic standpoint, is how the sense of 3-dimensions was achieved using very few colors and no depth of field. See how the far legs of the horses are a different color from the near legs? There’s also a lot to say about the techniques of embroidery, but I’ll let that go. Each scene is described in Latin, which helps understand it. There are edgings of decorative scenes (usually unrelated to the story) from local life, fantasy animals, tools, etc.

This is a story told by the winners, yet the enemy, Harald, is not described as weak or evil. He’s presented as a worthy opponent who lost mainly because his troops were tired, and, oh by the way, from the Norman point of view his cause was not just. One British commenter, however, described the Norman Conquest as the biggest catastrophe ever to strike the British. Everything depends on where you’re standing.

It’s an old town, not entirely touristed-up. There are also new areas, either because it has grown, or because parts were destroyed in the war. These are pictures of older parts.
This statue outside the plaza leading to the museum with the Tapestry.
Going toward the Tapestry, former princely buildings now state administrative offices. Same function, different government.
This tree was planted after the Revolution, as a marker of hope and renewal. We figured it survived all these years because it’s in a protected place, within a horseshoe of former royal buildings, and the cathedral on the fourth side.
Spire of the Cathedral in Bayeux. Below, a carving inside the Cathedral.
There is an art-and-history museum next to the Cathedral. The art is OK. They have a Caillebotte painting, but it’s not his best. The Bayeux area was inhabited by the Romans and before them by Celts, and the museum has a good selection of ancient artifacts. They have a lot of crockery, as Bayeux was a big center of porcelain production in the past, and a large display of lace and lace-making that was very interesting. The lace is a lot more intricate in its technique than the Bayeux Tapestry.
Ceiling in an court room from the 17th? century.
A pate-de-verre vase by Rene Lalique, really the best thing in the technology section. It’s a good 14″ tall.

 

In a courtyard, this pump which sadly didn’t work (Julianne tried).

 

On the outskirts of Bayeux, the museum dedicated to the Normandy Invasion. There’s a lot to say about WWII in Bayeux, which is very close to the Normandy beaches, especially Omaha Beach. This wasn’t the trip for that, but Julianne went to the museum. I had gone in 2004, with Rob Keyes-Bach. It’s very worthwhile, as are the beaches themselves – what those guys were up against!