7 August ’05, Sunday.
Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde as known to the French…or, “The Bayeux Tapestry”. Over 9 centuries ago this tapestry was embroidered (a seventy meter long strip of linen) to record the scenes of medieval life, popular fables and mythical beasts, along with the story of “The Norman Conquest of England”. Technically it’s not really a tapestry, but an embroidery. We were stunned at the stunning detail and the skill that it took to complete this “story”. The work was supposedly done by Monks in England, and completed in time for the inauguration of Bayeux Cathedral in 1077. It was commissioned by Bishop Oddo, who was William’s (King of England) half-brother. As we entered the room with our headsets on, the tapestry was rolled out on a wall in front of us. It looks and reads like a modern classic comic book…only 70 meters long… They say that it is “generally accurate”. The clash of William (the bastard son) and his cousin Harold on the battle field of Hastings over who would be King of England, (which we visited last May, at Battle where we were looking for more information on Thomas Goodman). The battle fields of Hastings near Battle, and that is where the Abby is located that we visited as well. The location where Harold fell dead from the arrow to the eye is found there. We had another incredible day... What a piece of “art history”. It is hard to imagine that the quality of this medieval work and linen of the time, it is almost perfect after all this time. You would have expected to have at least a few holes in the linen or possibly some of the wool thread of the embroidery faded out or eaten by moths…it was amazing. Oh yes, it even depicted Halley’s comet which appeared in 1066. Well on to lunch… we went into this little outdoor restaurant in the middle of town. In looking at the menu prior to entering the garden area, Louise pointed out that they were serving mussels…I’ve been wanting to have them for quite awhile, so today was the day. I had Mussels ala Normandie (in a cream sauce)…they were outstanding. Louise had a half a chicken and freits (fries) and we shared a carafe of rose wine to finish the meal off. MMMM… GOOD !!! Then back to “Bumble Bee”, and west to Saint Lô. Saint Lô is where some of the US forces came through to liberate the town after the landings at Utah Beach Normandy. In walking through Saint Lo, it was kind of like picturing in your mind just what it might have been like being one of the troops coming into the town to liberate those people from the Nazi’s. In looking at the pictures of the destruction from the invasion, that are in all the museums and some of the churches, it is not too hard feel the impact and despair that was happening at that time. I’m sure in the next few days we will see and feel a lot more.
Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde as known to the French…or, “The Bayeux Tapestry”. Over 9 centuries ago this tapestry was embroidered (a seventy meter long strip of linen) to record the scenes of medieval life, popular fables and mythical beasts, along with the story of “The Norman Conquest of England”. Technically it’s not really a tapestry, but an embroidery. We were stunned at the stunning detail and the skill that it took to complete this “story”. The work was supposedly done by Monks in England, and completed in time for the inauguration of Bayeux Cathedral in 1077. It was commissioned by Bishop Oddo, who was William’s (King of England) half-brother. As we entered the room with our headsets on, the tapestry was rolled out on a wall in front of us. It looks and reads like a modern classic comic book…only 70 meters long… They say that it is “generally accurate”. The clash of William (the bastard son) and his cousin Harold on the battle field of Hastings over who would be King of England, (which we visited last May, at Battle where we were looking for more information on Thomas Goodman). The battle fields of Hastings near Battle, and that is where the Abby is located that we visited as well. The location where Harold fell dead from the arrow to the eye is found there. We had another incredible day... What a piece of “art history”. It is hard to imagine that the quality of this medieval work and linen of the time, it is almost perfect after all this time. You would have expected to have at least a few holes in the linen or possibly some of the wool thread of the embroidery faded out or eaten by moths…it was amazing. Oh yes, it even depicted Halley’s comet which appeared in 1066. Well on to lunch… we went into this little outdoor restaurant in the middle of town. In looking at the menu prior to entering the garden area, Louise pointed out that they were serving mussels…I’ve been wanting to have them for quite awhile, so today was the day. I had Mussels ala Normandie (in a cream sauce)…they were outstanding. Louise had a half a chicken and freits (fries) and we shared a carafe of rose wine to finish the meal off. MMMM… GOOD !!! Then back to “Bumble Bee”, and west to Saint Lô. Saint Lô is where some of the US forces came through to liberate the town after the landings at Utah Beach Normandy. In walking through Saint Lo, it was kind of like picturing in your mind just what it might have been like being one of the troops coming into the town to liberate those people from the Nazi’s. In looking at the pictures of the destruction from the invasion, that are in all the museums and some of the churches, it is not too hard feel the impact and despair that was happening at that time. I’m sure in the next few days we will see and feel a lot more.