Paris1972-Versailles2003

I have written many post on this region dear to me as once was living closer and visit a lot more often ; this is Normandie of course, As a way of introduction and will be here again soon, let me tell you a bit in my black and white series ,no pictures. Nice experiences which had made us come back many times. Therefore, let me tell you about this is Bayeux !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The City of Bayeux is from the department 14 of Calvados and the Normandy region, and in my belle France, It has been headquarters of bishopric since the 4C and a viscounty of the time of the Duchy of Normandy until 1749. Bayeux is 7 km from the Côtes de la Manche coast of the landing invasion beaches, and 30 km from Caen.

So much to see here, need to come back myself, I will, In the meantime, these are the things to see other than the Notre Dame Cathedral (see post), me think,

The Jardin Public or public garden with a surface area of ​​2.6 hectares opened in 1864. The land was given to the city by Charlemagne Jean-Delamare to create a garden intended for horticultural education, but it was fitted into a public garden by Eugène Bühler. The botanical garden has changed little since that time. The park, the southern access ,and the two entrance pavilions. The most famous tree is the crying beech, its branches cover an area of ​​1,250 square meters and are supported by metal reinforcements.

In 1793, Joachim Langlois opened a porcelain factory in Valognes but it was to close in 1812 for financial reasons. He decides to transfer his activity to Bayeux in the former Benedictine convent vacant after the French revolution, There are three stages in the history of the manufacture that coincide with the three ruling families: Langlois era (1812-1849), the Gosse era (1849-1878) and the Morlent era (1878-1951). The lace of Bayeux is also famous. François de Nesmond entrusts the sisters of the hospital to take care of the children assisted in 1676. They embarked on lacemaking, but it was modest until the 18C before an important boom following the French revolution , the activity separated from the church, in 1824, twenty-five companies devoted itself to the manufacture of lace, the most famous of which are the Tardif and Carpentier-Delamare. A lace conservatory exists in Bayeux and specializes in luxury creation, worked for Hermès, Dior and Christian Lacroix. Bayeux lace is “built” with black silk threads and spindle crossings.Today, Bayeux’s lacers create models with contemporary graphics.

The Guillaume-le-Conquerrant Center exhibits the Bayeux tapestry ;previously called de La Reine Mathilde, The museum is in the old seminar whose construction began in 1693 under the impetus of the bishop François de Nesmond and who housed a community of Lazarist brothers. The bell tower of the Saint-Patrice Church is the only monument of architecture typically reborn from Bayeux, it was built from 1544 to 1548 and includes seven floors. The Saint-Exupère Church takes its name from the first bishop of Bayeux. Its origin is very old because it was the place of burial of the first bishops in the 5th century (Saint Exupère, Saint Rufinien, Saint Loup, Saint Patrice, Saint Contest, Saint Manvieu, Saint Gerbold, Saint Raspbold, Geretrand). The current building dates from the 19th century It was closed to the public. The convent of Charity is located 1 rue de Cabourg and rue du Marché. It was created in 1652 by two nuns from Protestantism in order to “fight poverty, libertinism and heresy”. A chapel was built in 1706-1708. Today the building houses the community of towns of Bayeux Intercom.

The episcopal palace is produced under the episcopate of Louis de Canossa, it now houses the City/Town hall. The sub-prefecture was built in 1864 on land facing the Place du Château (current Place de Gaulle) in a classic style. A courtyard precedes the symmetrical building flanked by two wings. The new construction replaces the old premises located on rue de la Masters and then from 1844 in the Cussy hotel. General de Gaulle, for his return to France after four years spent in England, went to the sub-prefecture on June 14, 1944 after crossing the city on foot accompanied by Maurice Schumann, received by the resistant Guillaume Mercader and an enthusiastic crowd.

The Baron-Gérard Museum of Art and History which brings together a rich collection of art objects and traces the history of the city is located in the old episcopal palace, at place de la Liberté. We can see, among others, works by Gustave Caillebotte, Jacques Louis David, Jean-Baptiste Corot, Eugène Boudin, Maurice Utrillo, Kees Van Dongen, Maurice de Vlaminck … The establishment has been bearing the name of the Baron Henri-Alexandre Gérard since 1959 , the donor of many works presented at the museum The Museum aims to retrace the history of Bayeux through its collections of archaeological objects, painting, graphic arts, furniture, porcelain and lace. The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy traces the 76 days following the landing of Normandy which were dramatic for the region but whose victorious outcome for the Allies announced the liberation of Europe. This museum is devoted to the memory of the fighters who participated in the fighting, in the pediment, a sentence in Latin recalls that in 1944, the British came to liberate their conquerors from 1066 (battle of Hastings).

The British military cemetery in Bayeux is the largest British military cemetery in France. It welcomes 4,648 graves of soldiers from the two camps, including 3,935 British, 17 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 25 Polish, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 7 Russians, 466 Germans and 1 non identified. On a memorial are registered the names of 2,808 disappeared soldiers: 1,537 British, 270 Canadians and 1 South African.

More than seventy mansions are disseminated throughout the historic heart, some of which date from the 14C. Among the most remarkable, we can cite the Grand Hotel d’Argouges, the Hôtel du Croissant (from the 15-16C), the Manoir d’Argouges Gratot 60 rue Saint-Malo, the Doyen hotel (18C, it dheltered the tapestry from the beginning of the 20C until 1983), Hôtel de Rubercy, Hôtel de Castilly built in the classic style, the Hôtel du Gouverneur (14C).

A bit of history I like (condense) tell us that the City was founded in the Gallo-Roman era, in the 1C BC. under the name of Augustodurum, the information we have on the ancient Bayeux remains succinct. Bayeux was then one of the most important cities in the second Lyonnaise which will become Normandy. It was one of the strengths of the Litus saxonicum, the coastal defense system of the Roman Lower Empire against the Saxon and Frisian pirates. A Roman garrison of Batavian is attested there in the notitia dignitatum. In the 5C, with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Bayeux was attached to Neustria, the bishops, sometimes from the royal family like Hugues, the nephew of Charles Martel, increased their power. During the Carolingian era, Bayeux had an important monetary workshop from which money came out. Curiously, pontifical states will create a few centuries later a copper currency called Baiocco in memory of this imperial practice, In 890, Rollon, at the head of the Normans (vikings) of Lower Seine, leads an expedition against the Count of Bayeux Bérenger II of Neustria, whose daughter Poppa was Rollon’s wife. Bayeux was rebuilt at the beginning of the 10C, during the reign of Bothon, traveling companion of Rollon and count of Bessin. In 846, the Bretons led a raid against the city and probably managed to annex in the Avranchin, Under the impulse of Bishop Hugues II and his successor, Odon de Conteville, half-brother of William the Conqueror, the City is enriched with a new cathedral, dedicated in 1077. William the Conqueror (Norman conqueror of England) deciding in 1050 to install the capital of his duchy in Caen. We can see on stage 22 of the Bayeux tapestry a representation of the strong city of Bayeux, The annexation of Normandy to the Royal Capetian domain in 1204 reinforces the political and economic importance of the latter. Bayeux then had around twenty parish or chapel churches; It was rich enough to buy a municipal charter in Richard Coeur de Lion (lionhearted),

Between the beginning of the 12C, and the end of the Hundred Years War, Bayeux suffered several times from looting, especially in 1356, where the city was burned down by Philippe III of Navarre, father of Charles Le Mauveau. Remained almost intact until 1417 unlike other Norman cities such as Avranches or Caen, after the siege and the capture of Caen by the King of England Henri V, the city opens its doors to the English who seized it , and ransack for many years by forcing it to submit to their king. On April 14, 1450, the King of France Charles VII starts the reconquest of Normandy with the Battle of Formigny and the siege of Bayeux where the English took refuge from May 4 to 16. The Count of Dunois takes over the city and Charles VII amnesty its inhabitants. Bayeux, in the 19C, from the time, we can discover the famous tapestry, called “Queen Mathilde”, which is the emblem of City, The railway line Paris-Cherbourg was inaugurated on August 4, 1858 by the Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.

In 1940, Bayeux was occupied by Nazis troops, which allows the latter to control the coasts. On June 7, 1944, the day after the Neptune operation, the British troops landed on the Gold beach entered
Bayeux , which became, for continental France, the first important and sub-prefecture city to be liberated. and was chosen to serve as a City/town hall to the British to welcome and treat thousands of wounded victims of the bombing or the battle of Normandy; The military victims who died there are also found in the largest British cemetery in WWII. On June 14, upon his arrival on French soil in Courseulles, General de Gaulle went to Bayeux that he crosses on foot, surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd, before delivering a speech in which he affirms the belonging of France to the Allied countries. Charles de Gaulle returned to Bayeux on June 16, 1946 to inaugurate a stele on the square that today bears his name. He then delivered Bayeux’s speech in which he presents the basics of what became the 1958 Constitution of the Fifth French Republic.(current),

The City of Bayeux on its heritage (see decouvrir Bayeux): https://www.bayeux.fr/fr/decouvrir-bayeux/la-ville

The local Bayeux Bessin tourist office on the City (see visits) : https://bayeux-bessin-tourisme.com/en/search

The Calvados dept 14 tourist office on Bayeux : https://www.calvados-tourisme.co.uk/bayeux/

The Normandie region tourist office on Bayeux : https://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/les-incontournables/bayeux/

There you go folks, another dandy in my belle France, never enough time to see it all, These memorable spots that should be visited more, me included. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Bayeux !!! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!