A day of history

I may have expected to fit in a few too many things on our week away. Now we are here, there are even more places I would like to visit that are not on my list. There isn't much time for sitting about. Or so we thought. Waking this morning, we were greeted by a very overcast sky, and a forecast that said 22 degrees, feels like 16. Great weather for museums, so we headed to Bayeux after breakfast.

Many shops are closed on a Monday, but cafes are not, and we enjoyed a coffee at 11 in a nice cafe, where we sat outside the magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame, in the centre of Bayeux, before heading to the tapestry.

The tapestry I visited in about 1982, on a family holiday. I think its location, or at least the room, has changed. We had a commentary phone thing, which was brilliant, and brought the tapestry to life. I learnt so much. 1066 etc. I bought a book in the shop, and am eager to go home and do some tapestry....a new hobby perhaps ;) (joke) They had one for sale, but at 59 euros I decided no. It wouldn't get finished. I bought badges for our camp blankets instead.

When we came out, it was like a different day. Hot. We had jumpers on! We wandered slowly back to our car, then drove to Arromanches. The second history lesson - fast forward 878 years to D Day. We took our lunch onto the beach and sat looking out onto Mulberry Harbour B. The artificial harbour, dreamt up by Churchill as a way to transport troops and equipment from the ships onto the beaches. They specifically chose not to land troops on this stretch of the Normandy coastline, to ensure it was free of clutter so that the harbour idea could be initiated. They started to build it on 7th June 1944 and it took a week. The remains can still be seen. I've added extras.

Then after lunch, and an hour or so reading (I didn't read, I went along the beach searching for shells in the rock pools) we went into the Musee du debarquement. It gave us a background to the harbour, and had a good selection of effects, and lots of info, all in english. In a local shop I bought this little genuine WW2 British issue tin of foot powder - for my glass cabinet! Plus a glass bottle, Henry filled with sand from the beach at Arromanches.

We have had another packed day, but it hasn't seemed rushed, or tiring. I cooked for tea, and now we are relaxing! An evening in camp - yahtzee tonight! See if we can beat Henry - who slaughtered us both at scrabble last night!