"Untouched in the Eye of the Storm" a Bayeux Travel Page by hquittner

Bayeux (pop. 15K) is a plain small city with the good fortune not to be a railhead and far enough inland not to be a port, thus not worth defending. Its main attractions were thus fortunately spared the destruction of WWII and it was the first city liberated in France (unscathed). It has intact old buildings and a Norman Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral of great merit. And best of all it is the “guardian” of the historical evidences of the two modern military crossings of the English Channel (900 years apart).

We have stayed at Bayeux twice, each time to see the WWII invasion battlefields, the famous Bayeux Embroidery and the Cathedral. We have arrived from sightseeing to the West (Mont St. Michel) and the East (Caen).

The battlefields at the waters’ edge today have been smoothed with time and plant life (grass, etc). It takes motion pictures and photography to bring it to life (especially cinematic treatment). Just as gripping are the vast cemeteries and memorial monuments. Having missed being a participant here by a turn of fate, I can only stare and shudder. There are several cemeteries and monuments along this coast.