Bayeux, More D-Day beaches and Mont St. Michel, France – 05/19 – 05/20. “Hey, where are the poles at?”

(Michelle) That morning, we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. This extremely long original historical linen cloth has the story sewn in pictures only of the events leading up to and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings 1066. It was quite an item to see, but unfortunately, the audio guide sort of rushes you through it. I could have looked at it for much longer. We did a quick walking tour of Bayeux (cathedrals, historical markers etc.), then we went back out to the D-day beaches. We went to the US cemetery, Omaha Beach, Pont Du Hoc and the German cemetery. TJ commented on all this in the previous entry (he got ahead of himself a day), so I will move on.
Later that afternoon, we headed on to Mont St. Michel – Yes, that is my mountain, and quite a mountain it is! Especially at night, when there are fewer people and the lighting is so soft. I felt almost like a child at Casa Bonita, without the Mexican food and neon necklaces, and if Casa Bonita was French for old castle on a little rock island instead of Spanish for pretty house. This was an island (although not now with the road built across) but the tides are extreme here, so at certain times of the day you could walk out to it, before there was a road. It was built as an abbey and many people made pilgrimages here in history.
We hit our first snag on our camping trip with Nadirah and Nathan. Nathan had borrowed a tent for TJ and I to use on the trip. Unfortunately, the tent bag was missing the poles. Like most snags, though, while difficult at first turned out for the better later, as it opened our eyes to the concept of the camping ground “bungalow”. That particular campground near Mont St. Michel had these little one room shacks with 8 cots, a picnic table and electricity, and that is it (you still use the campground bathrooms etc.), so we enquired about those. As it turns out, it was only 5 Euro more per person than camping and we could hang out without the million mosquitoes that were chilling outside. Voila. The next day, we went up to Mont St. Michel again for the Abbey tour and lunch.

(TJ) The Bayeux Tapestry shows the story how William the Conqueror came to the thrown of England. William was the Duke of Normandy and was promised the crown by his Father in law (King of England). There were some shenanigans however and another person (Harold) claimed the English crown. These shenanigans lead to the battle of Hastings in 1066 which paved the way for Norman rule in England, and William as the King. The tapestry was used as a way of showing common people who could not read the story of William came to be king and also as way of justifying to them his rule. This was especially important since he was taking over from the native Saxons of England.

Mont St. Michel- WOW, a spectacular looking place right out of lord of the rings. The whole abbey and town are built right into a rock. This was a impregnable fortress back in the day when England controlled large swaths of France, not this place however. This is probably a top 10 coolest things that I have seen in person, it looks surreal from and distance and especially so at night.