Bayeux - And the Famous Bayeux Tapestry

Saturday – No sleeping in today. Up at 07:30, quick wash and final pack and down to breakfast. When we were ready the hotel reception ordered a taxi to take us to Avis at the Gare de Caen. Following completion of the necessary paperwork and introduction to the car we took possession of a Citroen C4 automatic. I was a bit apprehensive with driving on the right side (or for me the wrong side) of the road but everything fell into place quickly and other then coming too close to parked cars and giving Sylvie the occasional heart attack all went well. On the way we stopped in “Creully sur Seulles” to buy lunch from the only open bakery and visited the castle. There’s not much open on a Saturday afternoon in the small villages. We continued to Bayeux, arriving by 14:00 at hotel “Lion D’ Or”. After checking in we walked into the old town, visited the cathedral and decided to also do the famous Bayeux Tapestry. A wonderful historical masterpiece only marred by the numerous people there, but well worth the effort. Dinner tonight in the elegantly classy hotel restaurant followed by a peaceful and contented sleep.

Origins
Founded as a Gallo-Roman settlement in the 1st century BC under the name Augustodurum, Bayeux is the capital of the former territory of the Baiocasses people of Gaul, whose name appears in Pliny's Natural History (iv.107). Evidence of earlier human occupation of the territory comes from fortified Celtic camps, but there is no evidence of any major pre-existing Celtic town before the organization of Gaul in Roman civitates. Any settlement was more likely confined to scattered Druid huts along the banks of the Aure and Drome rivers or on Mount Phaunus where they worshipped. Cemeteries have been found on the nearby Mount Phaunus indicating the area as a Druid center. Titus Sabinus, a lieutenant of Julius Caesar, subjected the Bessin region to Roman domination. The 5th-century Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Galliae mentions Suevi that had been officially settled here.Read more