Bayeux stuff (week 1)

Bayeux (week 1)

We have been touring around the various sites in Bayeux as we've had time.  There are a number of interesting sites, of which we've checked out the following:

View of cathedral from Pomme Canelle

1. Bayeux Cathedral and the old town.  Bayeux was founded by the Romans, and part of the old Roman wall is visible outside the cathedral.  The cathedral itself was built piecemeal over various time periods.  The town has only 15 000 inhabitants, so it's easy to walk around the core area.  We also took the tourist "train" (a Shriner-esque road vehicle with a running commentary in English and French).  Bayeux was unharmed by the invasion unlike most of the surrounding communities.  As a result, it was the administrative centre of de Gaulle's liberation forces for a few months in 1944.

We had a nice meal just beside the cathedral at a café/crêperie called Pomme Canelle.  The bells ring every hour, but the 2pm bell was the full spread that went on for 10 minutes.... just as we were trying to order and understand the waitress's French.

2. Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandy.  A museum covering the Battle of Normandy, with lots of artifacts.  There is an especially cool diorama that includes wrecked German equipment, plus lots of mannequins dressed as various soldiers in their full kits (David and Andrew were particularly interested in the latter).  There are a variety of tanks located outside.

L.Cpl. McKinnon marker on the right

3. Cimetière Militaire Britannique.  This is the main British war cemetary in Normandy; it also includes a number of other nations including Canadian, South Africa, and even German.  This picture is beside the grave of Lance Corporal D.M. McKinnon of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.  As far as we know, he's unrelated to us, but the boys wanted to see if there were any MacKinnons in the cemetery.