A Morning in Bayeux, France
We spent the night with France Passion at Le Grand Fumichon, Vaux Sur Aure in our RV. The farm also has a B&B with 4 bedrooms, if you’re not traveling with your RV.
Thanks to some night rain that lulled everyone into a deep slumber the boys slept in. We enjoyed some breakfast burritos sitting in the orchard and then headed to nearby Bayeux.
The Rick Steves France guidebook gives the tapestry in Bayeux “three triangles” so we had to check it out. Parking the RV in Bayeaux was a bit of a challenge. We ended up in a paid lot where the pay machines were all broken. We parked across three spots so as to not block the road.
We arrived at the Bayeux Tapestry around 9:30am and, amazingly, found no line.
We purchased a fun kids guidebook for our Big Little. They have the books in English, just ask. You will need to have your own pen though as they do not have any to use or purchase!
The tapestry runs 70m long and has its own special curved room for display. (No photos are allowed in the tapestry room.) An audio guide is included in your visit. In order to keep everyone moving the guide cannot be advanced or rewound – so listen carefully!
The kids each got special kids guides as well. Our Big Little was very into the recording and seeing the tapestry, which we had been billed to him as an old comic strip. Our Middle Little was not so much into it. He was in the stroller playing with his audio recorder (and headphones so he didn’t have to hold his recorder up to his ear) but eventually got tired of that. We gave him an iPhone to play with in order to keep him quiet for the 25 min visit.
The tapestry is seriously interesting (Rick didn’t lead us wrong!). It tells the story of the Normandy wars and the backstory of how it all happened. Upstairs there is a short video presentation that goes into a bit more detail. The boys sat quietly through this presentation. We did not explore the additional galleries though as we could tell their interest was waning.
A block further into town you will find the Bayeux Cathedral. The cathedral was the tapestry’s original home. Twice a year it was displayed running around the interior of the church. The cathedral is (supposedly) larger than Notre Dame, in Paris.
It is quite stunning. Our Big Little’s activity book from the tapestry museum covered the cathedral as well. He was excited to continue his exploration.
The cathedral has so many little details.
Outside it is guarded by many gargoyles. The boys love spotting gargoyles and pondering what they are doing.
The kids got hungry super early. None of the lunch options were open. Instead Jeff popped into a boulangerie and picked up some pizzas and quiches.
We had lunch on a bench in the middle of this cute town. I was honestly dying for some wifi and a sit down meal, so was a bit cranky at the time.
Looking back though it was a good way to enjoy the city when nothing was open. We popped into the local grocery store for some RV supplies before setting off again.
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