NI Day 9: Cemeteries and Tapestries

My blister now has a blister and my back hurts.  That is my complaining for this rainy day, because I can't even really complain about the rain.  They rearranged our schedule to accommodate the rain, and when wee had to be outside, it barely sprinkled.  While we were eating breakfast, it was pouring the rain.  This old man goes outside with a towel to swim laps.  Don't think that towel is going to do you much good, buddy.

Our first stop was so close to the hotel that I'm surprised we didn't walk.  It was the British Cemetery.  It was an interesting experience to see how other countries honor their fallen.  Families could put special phrases at the bottom of the stones.  The cemetary also included German dead, but their stones were a different color and laid out a little differently.  Across from the cemetary is a memorial to the British missing with the inscription "we, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conquerer's native land."  I wonder if they would have chosen that quote if the memorial was anywhere besides Bayeux.

Near the cemetery is the Bayeux Military Museum, which presents the liberation from the French perspective.  There were some neat photos of the British landings that I had not seen.  There was a short video, and even though I didn't want to, I kept finding myself nodding off.  We have gone hard on this trip.  I may celebrate the entire day of July 4 in bed.

We stopped in Saint Lo, a town essentially destroyed by the air bombings.  It is so different from Bayeux in architecture because if the age if the building.  We visited the cathedral, which has been reconstructed around the remains of the original building.  Nice surprise stop.

We ate lunch on our way to Bocage, or hedgerow country.  Rather than build fences, French farmers for centuries have lines their fields with cleared rock and allowed hedges to grow, which then created a nightmare for the soldiers fighting field to field.  It was ideal for defense.  One of the teachers is a Marine who fought in Afghanistan, and he likened it to urban warfare​, where you have to clear building to building.

Our final official stop of the day was the German Cemetary.  Most of the graves held two soldiers, many of them unknown and a good portion of them under age 20.  The stones were flat to the ground.  I wondered if they had vandalizing issues at this cemetary.  It's odd for me to think about the loser having a memorial in the territory, but it is appropriate.  I have found myself wondering frequently how World War II is taught in Germany today.

When we returned to Bayeux, we walked past the cathedral to the Tapestry Museum.  I remember Joan Britt talking about the tapestry when I was in world history and letting us watch the opening of Robin Hood which used the Tapestry as a background.  The tapestry is actually embroidery, is nearly 70 meters long, and is composed of 9 panels that have been sewn together.  The narration walked us through what was going on in each scene, from Harold's capture and pledge to support William, Edwards death and Harold's betrayal, to William conquering Harold at Hastings.  It was neat to see it in person.  Dr. Arnesen insisted we go into the Museum about the Tapestry and I realized that I am museumed out.  I did buy a fold out of the Tapestry.

Tonight was our night off, so we first had an ice cream (mint chocolate), and then we walked a block and went into a cafe for a drink (lemonade for me), and then we walked two blocks for supper.  I had onion soup, which was much better than Fox and Hounds, if you can believe it, and a kebab with steak, some kind of poultry, and lamb.  The lamb was cooked perfectly, which meant the beef and chicken were overcooked.  Another teacher ordered mussels and they were excellent.  I had a caramel creme for dessert.

When we got back to the room, I headed straight for my room and conked out for the night.

Today's steps 17618.