Today was dedicated to indoor activities, the weather prognosticators said a high chance of rain today but the weather gods had other ideas, lots of clouds with scattered showers but not near us. God bless them gods!

Our first stop was to see the Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the events surrounding the Battle of Hastings in 1066. My parents indulged my interest in all things space related when I was in elementary school by giving me a subscription to a publication for youth on this topic and in the discussions on comets the image to depict how comets were a bad omen in the middle ages was panels 32-33 in the tapestry showing the reaction of King Harold and others of the appearance of what was later named Halley’s Comet. I found it fascinating at the time, never forgot it and had to see the tapestry given the chance. The tapestry itself is over 200 feet long (for the American audience) and is very vivid.  The viewing itself had an audio tour and although all thought the tour moved too fast it illustrated the tapestry brilliantly and really brought the depictions to life. A must if you find yourself in this part of France.

Next up was the Bayeux Cathedral where the tapestry was on display at annually and where some of the events depicted in the tapestry are have said to occurred. A Gothic style cathedral with a long construction history what made it stand out to me was that where there would be stained glass in most cathedrals this one had large clear glass which allowed in lots of light. Very beautiful.

The Mémorial de Cain was our final stop of the day which depicts events surrounding World War 2 including what caused it, what occurred during the war itself and the aftermath. Very moving, the museum not only had war materials but also things from the ordinary person affected by the war including documents, clothes and other items. Sydney was strongly moved by the museum but found it a bit much saying towards the end “When do we get to the part where Hitler loses?” A strong kid this one is, she needs to face history as she can understand it.

Not a great picture production day, no pictures allowed of the tapestry. Darn, there was several hundred I wanted to take… The cathedral yielded a nice set, as for the war memorial, well… Not the kind of pictures I want to put in a blog. But I did find one.

Fois gras followed by Steak-frites. Yum!