Date: October 2nd, 2009
Distance: 30 km
Country: France
Song of the Day: It'll All Work Out - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Rode into Bayeux and went to see the Bayeux tapestry. Despite not actually being a tapestry (it is embroidered cloth, not designs woven into the fabric), it is amazing. The embroidery work is excellent. Plus it really looks like a medieval movie. It is quite easy to see how it was used to explain the story to an illiterate audience.
If it were a movie, it would go kind of like this:
Beginning: The King of England, Edward the Confessor, is dying. He sends Harold to Normandy to announce that William will be the next king.
Middle: Harold and William meet and become friends. The go to war together and have great adventures. William has Harold swear an oath (on holy relics) that he will support William as king. Harold goes back to England. When Edward the confessor dies, Harold breaks his oath and crowns himself king. William must avenge the oath breaking. He prepares ships and knights for battle.
End: William and Harold meet with their armies at Hastings. The fighting is long and bloody. Eventually Harold is killed as divine punishment for breaking his oath.
Just like a movie.
I also went over the British military cemetery in Bayeux. I think the saddest headstones are the ones that say just "Known only unto God."
Then it was back out to the coast. I didn't feel like doing a big day. So I just found a place to camp. Did a bit of bike maintenance. Then made some dinner and went to bed.
-Dravis
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