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.

Example of tapestry scene (from Gift shop)

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.

Norman style building below...

Gothic style above.

Organ.

In the crypt, the first original church.

Just before we need to be at the hotel for bike orientation, J&R, Betsy and I walked up to the Bayeux War Cemetery, which contains graves of British servicemen who died in either WWI or WWII.  The grave markers were very intricately carved with the person's regiment or service - see photos.

Flying Service

Tank Regiment.

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.

Entrance to the cemetery.

The details.

The Western Europe Invasion and subsequent assault on Germany.

The detail for Normandy.

Omaha Beach.

The D-Day Landings

One of many who died on D-Day.

We next rode down to the Beach itself.

Monument to the 1st Infantry Division at Omaha Beach.  It was refreshing to see lots of families with young children visiting this site.

A comparative sculpture in the sand.

The side of the monument.

We then rode the remainder of the 46-mile route to our hotel outside of Saint Marie du Mont, with frequent breaks, passing through farmland and small villages.  We saw a lot of commemorative banners and American flags.  We stayed together as a group and was challenged by the traffic on the roads.  The electric bikes worked well and most everyone arrived with lots of remaining battery capacity.  We can splurge a bit more in the coming rides now that we have some experience with bikes and their batteries.  We rode for about 7 hours.

After arriving at the attractive and comfortable Domaine Hotel Utah, we showered and rehydrated.  Then we had dinner at the onsite restaurant, and promptly crashed.