Caen and Bayeux

Caen fortress walls. 

After several days on the road, I welcomed a leisurely morning to explore old town and the remains of the medieval fortress. In 1346, Caen was second only in size to Rouen, founded by William the Conqueror.

As I strolled, I imagined the town officials in panic mode having heard the English army was bearing down upon them and witnessing the caravan of carts, wagons and people fleeing into town for safety.
The town's strong-walled fortress loomed ahead of me to the north. To the west stands the Abbaye aux Hommes; to the east, the Abbaye aux Dames, their ancient spires dominating the skyline.

Imagine scaling these walls! 

So much has changed, I had a harder time imagining the rest of the town that had been surrounded by low, poorly-reinforced walls.

Ramparts to the south were protected by the River Odon with a bridge guarded by towers on both sides. A bridge led to the Ile St-Jean, unwalled but completely surrounded by the River Orne, where the town's illustrious lived.

As the English approached, both Abbayes were abandoned in favor of rallying what few French forces there were to protect the town. Inside the town were the Count of Eu, the constable of France, and the Lord of Tancarville, with perhaps 1,500 men and 300 Genoese crossbowmen.

Looking down into
the Ditch now surrounding the fortress. 

King Edward's forces approached town from the south while the prince's vanguard approached from the north. Forces led by the earls of Warwick and Northhampton, of the prince's division, spread out along the river banks, set fire to several boats, and defenders found themselves under attack by lowbowmen and surrounded by men-at-arms. It was the beinning of the end for the French. Although sporadic fighting continued, the town surrendered.
In his wisdom, the Count of Eu surrended to a fellow crusader whom he recognized, Sir Thomas Holland. Tancarville surrendered to Sir Thomas Daniel, a retainer of the Black Prince. Some 2,500 bodies were said to have been found in the streets after the fighting while only one English man-at-arms is known to have been killed.

Count d'Eu's surrender to Thomas Holland changed the knight's life. Up until this time, while he was appreciated by the king for his military prowess, he still suffered under the cloud of his father's betrayal of the Earl of Lancaster many years before and his only means of survival was through his military endeavors.

Town well inside the fortress.

If you recall, Thomas Holland was the knight Joan of Kent secretly married when she was just twelve. The promise of Count d'Eu's ransom made it financially possible for Holland to consider court proceedings to have his marriage to Joan legitimized by the Church.

Keep in mind that for six years Joan had been in limbo 'married' to two different men but living with neither. She would not become aware of this change in Holland's circumstances, nor of his intentions toward her after their long separation, until months later when she traveled with Queen Philippa to celebrate Christmas in Calais with the king.

After Caen's surrender, officials of Bayeux, a prosperous town to the north, hearing of the assault and fearing they were next, sent peace emmissaries to Edward. Bayeux was spared and the English moved off east towards Rouen where King Philippe's army was assemblinig.

Bayeux Cathedral consecrated in 1077

You may or may not have heard of the Bayeux Tapestry, created just after William the Bastard's Norman victory over Harold at Hastings in 1066.  The Tapestry commemorates what led up to William's invasion, depicts the battle itself, and William's crowning as king afterwards. 

Visiting Bayeux was straying off course but I am truly delighted I made that decision. I had always envisioned the 'tapestry' as a needlepoint-style wall hanging similar to those adorning the walls in royal palaces. The real item couldn't be more dissimilar.  

The Bayeux Tapestry is actually an embroidery only about 18" tall on a light-colored linen backing ... and is amazingly more than 200 feet long, about 2/3 the length of a football field! The tapestry survives in its orginal state and is displayed in one piece in a very long, light- and climate-controlled, u-shaped case designed specifically to house this ancient work of art.

Medieval knights greet visitors.

Like most every town I visited, Bayeux is dominated by its catheral built upon the site of Roman sanctuaries and where Harold originally swore his oath of allegiance to William and then broke it.
The town has a population of about 15,000 and of all the places I visited, I felt more at home here than anywhere else on my travels.  It's obvious the townspeople take great pride in Duke William's history.

I had no trouble locating the Bayeux Museum.  Everywhere you turn there are reminders of this communitu's ties to William and influence in the region.

Modern day version of a portion of the Tapestry?

 Needless to say, photographs of the Tapestry are not allowed but I here is one of my favorites sections lifted from the internet.

The heat of the Battle. Note the dead lying on the ground.

Note the archers in front and movement of the horses from trot to gallop!

I left the museum quite in awe of what the women of Bayeux had accomplished with this art form and astounded that it survived two world wars in one piece; at one time wrapped around a barrell and stored away for protection!   

The town is so picturesque, it is quite easily my favorite of all the towns and villages we visited.  In this photo, on the far left in the distance you might just be able to make out the water wheel on the side of this restaurant just down the cobblestone walkway from the museum and adjacent to the parking area. 

Once again I wanted to get to Caen before dark and commute hour traffic.  However, much to my horror, our trustry 'steed' wouldn't start.  As I was unable to reach the Hertz emergency road service number from my cell phone, the two women staffing the gift shop provided their assistance.  In broken French I explained and in broken English they relayed what Hertz was proposing.  A 'mechanique' would be sent and would we wait with the car?  Only an hour later our second 'white knight' arrived on his 'white steed' (aka white van) to rescue us.  

2nd White Knight

He discovered the battery was drained, most likely due to the hatch not closing and locking properly.  Our second 'white knight' looked a great deal like the guy is this picture.  He spoke even less English than the ladies in gift shop but he pointed to the repair shop just on the other side of the roundabout and, once in the now-revived car, where I headed. 

It was now 5 pm and the repair shop was closed. After another call to Hertz (with help from the Peugot dealer staff) it seemed there were no available replacement cars in the vicinity - so a cab was sent to haul us back to Caen.  Although I was happy to sit back and let someone else naviate the city traffic, I was seriously concerned about plans for the next day as we had a three hour drive ahead of us ... to Fontevraud Abbey and Chinon Castle. We had planned a 7 a.m. departure to arrive there by 11:00 and I now knew those plans were in jeopardy.  The rental agency didn't even open until 8 a.m. 

The itineary for that Thursday and Friday was tight and timing crucial ... the rental car had to be dropped off in Cherbourg by 5 PM on Friday in order to catch the 6:30 p.m. ferry back to England.