May 1

This may be my longest post yet.

Turns out that this bank holiday is the French version of Labour Day, except there nearly everything is closed. I got up after a 6:00 wakeup call and was over at the bus terminal at 6:30. The person in the Tourist Bureau thought there would not be any buses today but was good enough to call and find out that the only bus going today was at 7:00. I bought my ticket for €2.80 and was on my way right on time. It took about 25 minutes to go direct to Caen and there I was let off at the Train Station. I tried to read the schedule but it was a little confusing as a lot of trains go through here. So I went to the ticket office and between my French and their English we bought me a return ticket to Bayeux for €11.40. I also asked them to check on a hotel for me there and when they did they said they were all full. I suspect they have a few that they patronize but since I couldn’t take a chance on that for a change I asked them to try in Caen. They did and booked a room at the Hotel Mercure, same chain as last night. The cost was €85 but they said it was one of the best they use. I decided to see if I could find the hotel and the tourist bureau as I had lots of time before the train left at 10:04. I couldn’t but I still had a nice walk around town and got some good photographs. Caen is an unusual town for being in such an old part of the world. A lot of it was destroyed after the Allied Forces came ashore on D-Day 1944. The Germans were so entrenched the only way to get them to leave was to bombard the area. Thus you see a lot of post war homes mixed in with the much older ones and the Chateau. I didn’t get to tour that today but hope to in the morning as it is close to my hotel.

Breakfast this morning consisted of cheese and biscuits I had bought yesterday and a piece of pastry I was able to buy at the only shop that was open. I complimented that with a cup of coffee from a vending machine, which was quite good. The train arrived right on time and it is only a 15 minute ride to Bayeux in a fast passenger train not travelling on freight lines. It was clean and comfortable and uncrowded. I saw a ticket from Bayeux to Paris for only €43 return and was almost tempted but I won’t go to Paris without Carol. Getting off at the Bayeux station I was approached by an Irishman from England who asked me if I thought the museums in Caen would be open today. I don’t know how he knew I spoke English but with my concern about the tapestry maybe not being open, we came to the optimistic conclusion that they would be. He had spent yesterday in Bayeux so was able to point me in the direction of the Tapestry by showing me the steeple of the Cathedral in the distance and saying, rightly so, that everything was close to the Cathedral. I set off walking and in about six minutes came upon a sign showing the way. At that moment a couple had just arrived in an upper parking lot by car and the gentleman got out and in a very French accent asked me something. When I said I was sorry I didn’t speak French he apologised and said, pas de problem and started to leave. I thought even though I couldn’t understand him that maybe I could still help him, so I said “Monsieur. Cherchez vous la tapestrie?” He looked over at me and said “Oui.” I said. “Je crois qu’il est en bas”. He took a look at the sign and we both walked down the steps and around the corner to the main entrance. Now the question was, is it open? It was as it turned out and he was very appreciative but had never spoken a word of English.

At the entrance is a courtyard flying various country’s flags and I have a good shot of Canada’s. Unfortunately I was only able to take external photos as cameras are not allowed inside. Entrance fee is €7.40 and includes an audio guide. Before leaving England a few people had told me that they were somewhat underwhelmed as the tapestry was not as large as they had anticipated but it did not disappoint me. It is 70 meters long and about 1 meter wide. It is housed in a special building that controls light and humidity and considering it was made shortly after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, it is nearly one thousand years old and is impressive in many ways. It chronicles the story of how Edward, King of England, asked his brother-in-law Harold to advise William, Duke of Normandy,(bastard son of one of the King Richards), that he had been chosen to be Edward’s successor as he had no heir. The story line is a little murky but apparently, Harold had sworn an oath of allegiance to William and promised to help him ascend the throne of England when Edward died. That did not happen however as Harold, a Johnny on the spot at Edward's death, had himself crowned as King much to people’s rejoicing. However when Haley’s comet appeared they took it as a bad omen (I’m not making this up) and were uncomfortable with the situation. When William heard of the duplicity he set about organizing an army, building ships and sailing to Pevensey. Harold found out about William’s arrival and galvanized his army and a battle took place at Hastings. It only lasted one day and ended with Harold being killed by being struck with an arrow in the eye and the rest as they say is history. William was known first as “The Bastard” and from then on as “The Conqueror.” This was the last time that England was conquered. (Sarah and Jim I may not have all the facts right here, but I hope I captured the essence.) He still had a tough time gaining control of England, but that’s another story for another time. They had a good film that could be viewed afterward. It only lasted 16 minutes and I saw all but 4 of them. They also had some excellent dioramas and reproductions of what soldiers would have worn at the time. A visit to the gift shop for a book and a few postcards to replace untaken pictures and I was on my way.

I headed to the City Centre towards the Cathedral. On the way, hunger pangs set in so I stopped at one of the many restaurants that were open. I selected a pasta vigorelli (Alan you will know what this is) and a lovely white wine, though I didn’t get to see the label. The meal was huge, but the past was real and the sauce delicious. Carol and I would have reverted to our usual practise of sharing, had she been there. At any rate I polished it all off but didn’t have dessert. I sat beside three people from England and they were very nice but were late getting here as their tour bus was blockaded by a group of French people protesting working conditions. Apparently this is a common practise on this day. After lunch I went to the Cathedral which is a marvellous piece of engineering. It was built in 1077 so once again, very important historically. I have some lovely pictures of this but will only put one up today. Walking around the city, I saw a lot of flags flying and Canada was prominent. I checked in at the Tourist Centre and picked up a map and wanted to walk to the British War Memorial that Richard and I had walked through at midnight 4 ½ years ago. I will never forget that evening. So off I went and in about 15-20 minutes was on it’s doorstep. I took quite a few pictures, this time of individual headstones from different counties. I saw some from Arabia, Australia, Britain, Canada, Czech, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Soviet Union. So many young people died. It was once again very moving.

I next walked back to the Cathedral and found a public washroom which wasn’t near as neat and clean as Chichester. I stopped for some camera batteries at one of the few stores that was open and got 4 for €3.80. I wanted to rest my feet a little so stopped for a beer at the Tapestry Garden Restaurant. I had an Amstel and have arrived at the conclusion that the French don’t do beer well. It is a lovely sunny day and I sat there in my shirt sleeves. I walked to the train station to catch the 5:00 run. One appeared at 4:40 and left at 4:42. I got on and hoped I was going to the right place. The worst thing that would have happened is I would have had a new adventure. No problem, 15 minutes later it pulled into the Caen station. I was determined to find the TIC and my hotel this time. I knew what general direction it was in but after half an hour I found the TIC but was told by a French couple it was closed today. They offered to assist me by showing me a map and locating my hotel on it. I think I had nearly been circling it. I walked off down in that direction but streets are poorly marked here. I was about to go into another hotel and ask, even though it would be poor form, but as I looked up there was a big city map on a board by the marina. I located myself on the map and though “Gee I must be close.” I took two steps literally and looked across the street and saw my hotel. So help me it wasn’t there a moment ago.

I walked in, gave them my credit card. The reservation had already been charged. They gave me an adaptor to use so I could charge my computer. The place is very clean, bigger and more modern than last night’s and is close to a lot of restaurant and bars. Well this has been hard and thirsty work. I think I’ll go and have a libation.