Day 16: Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Location: Bayeux and Omaha Beach (Sunny and cool); Major sites visited: Bayeux Tapestry, American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, Normandy; Meals together: breakfast and dinner.
This morning we hopped into our coach and embarked upon our journey into the north of France. As the cheery French countryside rolled by, we settled in for the day long trip. The first stop of the day was the medieval-feeling town of Bayeux. It was filled with stone-paved streets lined by half-timbered and stone buildings. After some lunch, we went to see the amazing tapestry depicting the victory of William the Bastard (he then took the title of Conqueror) at the battle of Hastings. The detail and creativity of the tapestry were incredible! Everyone refers to it as a tapestry but it really is a massive work of embroidery. Measuring about three feet high by some two-hundred feet long, the tapestry was housed in a long curving display that we walked slowly along as we listened to the audio program that explained each scene. The tapestry depicted the whole story of the seizure of England’s throne from William the duke of Normandy and his resulting advance on England. The story culminates as William’s army crosses the channel and prevails against Harold’s forces in the battle of Hastings in 1066. I loved how creatively the medieval artists portrayed the story in the difficult medium! I particularly noticed the unrealistic but effective use of the color. For example the horses were all diversely colored: one red, another green, a third yellow. The individual planks of the ships were similarly colored.
After viewing the tapestry twice, we continued on to nearby Omaha Beach. There we toured the memorial museum and walked down the steep hill to the beach below. The tide was high and the gray water calm as we quietly walked the beach, imaging the landing that had taken place there years ago. After climbing back up the same hill that soldiers once stormed, the met the director of the memorial who was good enough to give us a brief tour of the grounds and American cemetery. We stopped by a display of the invasion that overlooked the beach and the director explained some of the details to us. The cemetery was vast: thousands of neatly arranged white marble crosses. According to the director, the average age of those buried is a mere twenty-four years. He showed us a few graves in particular: one of the few women buried there and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. who lies beside his brother Quentin. The director let a few of us assist in retiring the memorial’s flags for the night. Cody and I folded one of the flags after it had been lowered. Chelsea and Aly got to fold the other. It was a special experience. From there we climbed back into our coach and covered the remaining kilometers, finally arriving at the tiny town of Pontorson near Mt. St. Michel to eat and stay the night. At the hotel we had, in my opinion, possibly one of the best meals of the whole trip! Others, I gathered, weren’t so sure. We were the only group in the hotel dining room, and the table was set immaculately for us, though, after a long day, our appearance didn’t equal that of the table! The appetizer was a delicious pâté served cold with bread, current sauce, and wine. For the main course we were served extremely tender and flavorful leg of duck with creamy mashed potatoes. The meal was topped off with delicious crème brule.
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--Andrew Ritchie
