Beyondships Cruise Destinations
  • Cruise Destinations and Ports
  • Beyondships Home Page
  • Cruise Travel News
  • Beyondships Cruise FAQs
  • What's New
  • Cruise Ship Profiles
  • Cruise Articles
  • Cruise Interviews
  • Cruise Links
  • Cruise Home Page
  • Canada New England Cruise Destinations
  • Caribbean Cruise Destinations
  • Cruise Ship Tours
  • Notices
  • Beyondships Art
  • Privacy Policy
  • Althorp
  • Blenheim Palace
  • Broadlands
  • Stratfield Saye
  • Hever Castle
  • Hatfield House
  • The Vyne
CRUISING TO NORTHERN FRANCE:


GOING ASHORE

IN
BAYEUX 
Bayeux France
A popular shore excursion during calls at Cherbourgh and Le Harve is a visit to the town of Bayeux.  Such tours usually involve a drive through the French countryside, a visit to the museum where the Bayeux Tapestry is housed, a tour of the cathedral and then some free time to look around the town.
  
Bayeux France
Bayeux is a charming town in the Calvados area of 
Normandy.  It has a number of historic attractions as well 
as being photogenic.
 
       The first permanent settlement at this location dates 
back to Roman times when a bishop and a Roman legion 
were based there. During the Middle Ages, Bayeux had a 
tumultuous existence being burned in Viking raids and 
repeatedly pilaged by one side or the other in the various 
wars between England and France. Nonetheless, the town 
grew and prospered.

       Not far from the British landing beaches, Bayeux was 
the first town liberated by the Allies following the D-Day 
landings in World War II.  Shortly thereafter, General 
Charles De Gaulle made an important speech in Bayeux 
regarding the direction of France.

       Today, the town is an important tourist center.  At 
the same time, it is an active commercial center for the 
surrounding area.
Bayeux Tapestry Museum, Bayeux France
Outside the Museum is a relica of a Viking boat.  The original Normans were Norsemen a.k.a. Vikings
The town’s most famous attraction is the Bayeux 
Tapestry now housed in the Musée de la Tapisserie 
de Bayeux
.  An embroidered linen cloth 231 feet long and 19 inches wide, the Tapestry recounts the story the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, a major turning point in British history.  In some fifty scenes, the Tapestry tells of William, Dule of Normandy’s  claim to the English throne, how the throne was usurped by the Saxon King Harold, and how William’s Norman forces triumphed over the Saxons at the Battle of Hastings.  In so doing, it is an invaluable record of the clothing, arms, ships, and life of those times.  It is believed that William the Conquer’s half-brother Bishop Odo of Conteville (whose seat was in Bayeux) commissioned the work, which was probably done in Kent in England.       
Cathedral, Bayeux France
Bayeux’s most visible landmark is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux.  Built between the 11th Century and the 19th Century, it encompasses a variety of styles including Norman-Romansque and Gothic.  It was consecrated in 1077 by Bishop Odo, in the presence of William the Conquerer and was for many years, the home of the Bayeur Tapestry
Cathedral, Bayeux France
Cathedral, Bayeux France
Picture
Cathedral, Bayeux France
Bayeux War Cemetery, Normandy, France
Bayeux France
Cathedral, Bayeux France
The Bayeux War Cemetery includes the largest 
British cemetery dating from the Second World War 
in France.   Most of those buried there were killed 
during the Allied liberation of Normandy, June 
through August 1944 .  Across from the cemetray is 
the  Musee Memorial de la Bataille de 
Normandie
, which tells the story of the D-Day 
landings and the subsequent battle.
Bayeux France
Although not far from the landing beaches in the British sector, Bayeux was spared much of the fighting.  As a result, many of its historic buildings survived the war unscathed.  Thus, one can still see a variety of traditional styles of French architecture when one walks the streets of the town.  This includes half-timbered buildings from the Middle Ages.

Across from the Cathedral in a timber-framed house called the House of Adam and Eve is the Conservatory workshop for Bayeux lace (below left).  The lace makers produce works for use in haute capture (Dior, Hermes) and for special orders.

The city hall was once the bishop's palace (below right).
Bayeux France
Bayeux France
Bayeux France
City Hall, Bayeux France
River Aure, Bayeux France
Bayeux France
River Aure, Bayeux France
Running through the town is the 
River Aure.  For centuries, the 
power created by the river’s waters 
was used by the town’s inhabitants to create commerce.  As a result, the riverside is adorned with picturesque mills, waterwheels, dams and stone bridges.

River Aure, Bayeux France
CLICK BELOW TO GO  TO OUR PAGES ON:
NORTHERN FRANCE OVERVIEW
CRUISE PORTS LE HARVE AND CHERBOURG
USEFUL LINKS
PARIS
THE D-DAY BEACHES
GIVERNY AND ROUEN
THE ALABASTER COAST
HONFLEUR, DEAUVILLE AND MONT SAINT MICHEL
Cruise destination Northern France - Bayeux
Beyondships.com
​(Cruise ship profiles, pictorials, reviews and interviews).

BeyondshipsArt.com
(Museum profiles, Art reviews, and Original art)
Beyondships LLC
Notices
Privacy Policy
Beyondships Cruise Ship Pictorials and Reviews
(Photos, videos and reviews of cruise ships)
Beyondships Cruise Ship Photo Tours
(Photo tours inside cruise ships)