This 7.5 hour
Le Havre shore trip visits the charming town of Bayeux. While you are here, you enjoy a guided visit of the famous Bayeux Tapestry. You also visit the Gothic Bayeux Cathedral and enjoy some free time to explore on your own and have lunch.
After meeting your guide at the pier in Le Havre, you depart for Bayeux, the former capital of the Bessin, and the first French town to be liberated by the Allies after D-Day. The town, fortunately, was not damaged during the war. The cathedral still keeps watch over the town and the Bayeux Tapestry presents its unique record of events of 1066, the rivalry between Harold and William to the conquest and final Norman victory.
The Bayeux tapestry is displayed in the William the Conqueror Center which is located in an impressive 18th century building which was a seminary until 1970. The famous tapestry is 230 feet long and about 3 feet high and is made of wool embroidered onto linen. On the tapestry the story of the Battle of Hastings and the events that led up to it are told in a series of 58 individual scenes, much like a comic book story. This is considered the most accurate and lively document to survive from the Middle Ages by providing detailed information about the clothes, ships, arms and general manners of the period.
Next you will walk to the fine cathedral which was consecrated on July 14, 1077 in the presence of William, the King of England and Duke of Normandy. The original building was Romanesque in style and held the tapestry hanging in the nave. The building was added onto from the 12th to the 15th centuries, giving it a very Gothic feel. This Gothic style, so popular in France, was often used in England and referred to as "Norman" art.
This afternoon you enjoy free time in the charming town of Bayeux. You might stop in the porcelain or lace museum, stroll the medieval streets and have a typical Norman lunch in a local cafe.
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