Wednesday, July 31st: Our second bike ride with major stops at Utah Beach, Monument, and Saint-Vaast-la-Houge. It was the "long loop" option suggested by the bike tour operator. There is lots of history here and we are only scratching the surface.
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Bike Ride to Utah Beach and Saint-Vaast-la-Houge
Monday, July 29, 2024
Around Bayeux, featuring the Tapestry and Cathedral, and then 46 miles to Normandy
Sunday, July 28th and Monday, July 30th: It has been a fun filled adventure for two days with sightseeing in Bayeux, bike check out, and then a long ride from Bayeux to Saint Marie du Mont, staying at the Domaine Utah Beach Hotel. I am seated outside in a courtyard in the sunshine writing this post. It is a bit hard to edit the photos which I will do later. [Note, I finished the post after dinner in our room.]
On Sunday, our first outing was to the famous Bayeux Tapestry. It is a 230+ feet long linen embroidery, showing the William the Conqueror's invasion in 1066. There are conflicting theories on who made it, but it was completed within 10 years of the invasion. It was displayed for two weeks every year in the Bayeux Cathedral. We each listened to an audioguide that as we strolled past the tapestry which described the 52 scenes of politics, betrayal, battles and ceremony vividly depicted in tiny stitches. The horses are particularly good but we also enjoyed the bare-legged men as they waded to and from shore. The tapestry has a central section that is about 2 feet tall, with 4 to 8-inch borders above and below. The borders were mostly ornamental but also supported the narrative, especially in the section showing men lost in battle.
From the tapestry, we walked over to the Bayeux Cathedral in time for mass. We listened to the organ for a few minutes but left. We returned later in the afternoon after picking up sandwiches at a boulangier, sat on outside steps to eat and then went into the Cathedral for a detailed look around.
We then got our bikes for the next days' rides from Karem. He also explained the rather fancy electronic navigation system/files which we will use for the rides. There are paper maps but the electronic maps can be sized and thus provide important detail. They also automatically tell the person where they are and alarms when we move off the route. We got a lot of experience with this system today on our ride from Bayeux to Saint Marie du Mont.
Monday morning - our gang is ready to depart on the first bike ride. Left to right -- Jan &Ron, Betsy & me, Brent, Dennis, Tyrae, and Leslie.
The ride started off to the northwest toward Omaha Beach, with our first major stop at the Normandy American Cemetery, which overlooks Omaha Beach.