We spent the past weekend (plus a couple of days) roadtripping around Normandy and Brittany, visiting beaches, wandering down cobbled streets, ascending ancient ramparts, and seeing the artifacts of wars, both recent and long ago. In many ways, it was a wonderful weekend with activities varied enough to satisfy all of us (Sandy included), but parts of it were also sobering and arresting.
We started the trip in Bayeux, home to the famous Bayeux Embroidery (also known as the Bayeux Tapestry, although it is not a tapestry). It is an extraordinary document detailing the events leading up to and including the Battle of Hastings in 1066 in three hand-embroidered friezes and occasional embroidered Latin phrases nearly the length of a football field. It has been said that history is written by the victor, which undoubtedly has some truth, but seeing these events documented from the Norman perspective emphasized the fact that different narratives can coexist. In the Bayeux Embroidery, a wronged William had no choice but to send his army to England to conquer the duplicitous Harold after Harold had lied and stolen the crown from him, despite Edward intending for William to accede. That may not be the standard narrative that one learns in Anglo-Saxon history lessons.
In any case, the embroidery was beautiful and cleverly structured and absolutely full of details and information. It was almost a cross between a work of art and a scientific chart or graph. It was one of the most interesting things I've seen this year. One disappointment, though: no photos allowed. So I will include these stock photos of the Embroidery, along with short descriptions based on my recollection.
In the first scene, Edward, near death, promises the crown to William. I believe the second scene below depicts a hurried dinner on the shore of Normandy before William's forces set sail. In the two battle scenes, the middle frieze depicts the nobility and pageantry of the royalty fighting on horseback---what often is reflected in the history books and in monumental pieces of battle art---while the bottom frieze records some of more galling and shocking aspects of hand-to-hand combat that the foot soldiers would have engaged in. I find the inclusion of those elements of battle interesting in its own right, but the fact that they are depicted in a parallel narrative in a frieze below the main one is amazing.
The Bayeux Embroidery is headed to the UK for a long-term loan in a couple of years. I highly recommend it.
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| New Yorker cover from 1944 depicting scenes from the Battle of Normandy in a style mimicing the Bayeux Embroidery |
Of course the Battle of Hastings is not the only battle that put Normandy on the map. I am referring, of course, to the D-Day Landing on the beaches of Normandy and the resulting months of battles to recapture parts of France from the Nazis. We visited several important sites related to those events: the remnants of the floating port at Arromanches-les-Bains, the intact German gun batteries at Longues-sur-Mer, and the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Hearing the stories of the battles and seeing the rows and rows of headstones was arresting. War is horrific and there are no winners. Still, it made me proud to be an American: proud of the enthusiasm and technical know-how of the American troops, but proud, especially, of their desire to save the world, not just their own country, and to fight for the principles of democracy and freedom over authoritarianism, hatred, and fear.
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| A remnant of the floating port beached at Arromanches |
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| The seaside town of Arromanches, with the Normandy bluffs in the distance and the flags of the liberating forces still flying above |
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| Sandy and Glenn walking towards one of the German batteries |
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