I realize I said I was going to talk about the "Tapisserie" in a subsequent post, and it seems I have been lazy about truly staying updated. I should go into more detail regarding the last couple of "driving" days, but will do my best to summarize most of it and move us along to the past day and a half in Paris in post deux.
The Bayeux Tapestry - way cooler than expected. After seeing tapestries in the chateaux, the Victoria and Albert museum and Mont St-Michel, I figured i was just going to be looking at another floor to ceiling, wall to wall monster that - while neat - doesn't make much of an impression. There is usually so much going on in the scenes, that your eye can't pick up the nuances. Wrong, wrong, wrong I was. The tapestry is only about a foot and a half in height but it's the length that is impressive...224.3 feet long!! It is encased in glass and wraps around a HUGE room. It is also not technically a "tapestry" as it is not woven; rather, it is an embroidered cloth.
It tells the tale of how upon nearing death, England's King, Edward the Confessor - decided that William, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, should succeed him on the throne of England since Edward had no heirs. He dispatches a dude named Harold who manages to get captured immediately upon landing in France (the tapestry shows him as not even having shoes on when he gets off the boat and is captured). William saves Harold, they fight together in another battle, Harold delivers his message and William makes Harold swear his loyalty to him on "saintly relics" that he will support William when the time comes. Harold returns, the King dies and the devilish Harold finds it too tempting not to take the throne for himself - which he does. William hears of this and prepares his army. Meanwhile, a comet appears close to the time that Harold had been "crowned" - this was Hailey's Comet and the first record of its appearance. Comets were thought to be a bad omen back in these times. Turns out....it was. William sails, the Normans fight the Saxons, Harold dies from an arrow to the eye and William is crowned King.
The tapestry is incredibly detailed and the museum does a good job of moving you by it with an audio guide that talks about each numbered panel. It points out the little details you might normally miss - like Harold missing his shoes upon landing in Normandy, the detail of William's preparations...the guns, the animals, the chains of mail, etc., Harold dying from the arrow....The guy's voice narrating it is the best - kind of tongue in cheek as he points out the various details. He uses one tone, rarely takes a breath, makes you laugh out loud at times, and gets you through the exhibit with a good understanding of the entire story.
The tapestry was amazing. I absolutely classify it as "worthy" and at only 7E, it's a bargain to get the audio guide included!!
Onwards to Rouen - I arrived around 6:30 for my first couchsurfing experience on this trip. I reaffirm that I love this method of traveling. My host, Greg, first took me up to a famous lookout in Rouen so I could get a perspective of the city. We then grabbed a friend of his and headed to the "Right Side" of the river - which is the old section - and hit a sushi place that Greg likes for dinner. Before finding the sushi place, Greg and Sebastian were so thoughtful to take me by the Rouen Cathedral - the reason I decided to visit Rouen in the first place! They brought me around the corner, knowing the Cathedral would be smack dab in my line of vision - and quite a sight it was. The sun was setting so it was a gorgeous, shining vision that totally dominated the end of the street. Unfortunately, like most things in Europe - due to its age, it is undergoing a restoration and is covered in scaffolding. I'll just have to go back in a couple of years to see it in all its splendor. Rouen is charming but looks like more of a Swiss town than a French town. The buildings in the old section have this interesting detail about them - they look as though they have painted strips on them in blue, coral, brown and yellow. These are not, in fact, painted lines - but painted wood set into the plaster. Apparently this is unique to this particular section of Normandy and nowhere else. Cool. Dinner was great, the company better and the evening ended at a hip, French bar where another friend of Greg's - Johan - joined us. Mojitos are mojitos, though - I can't say the French ones were any better than any place else in the US. They still cram the glasses full of lime and mint so they don't have to give you as much alcohol! ;)) A fun guy stopped by our table - who just happened to be a magician. You would never have guessed this - he looked like a hipster from Portland - but, he definitely made me laugh and even more so when I discovered that the coin he was using for his tricks was a Kennedy 1/2 dollar....who has those anymore??!! We popped by the site where Joan of Arc was burned and called it a night! A great first evening in Rouen.
The next day, Greg and I had a lovely lunch at a typical French bistro called Le Socrate where I had a delicious salad (Gawd, I had been craving something lighter!) followed by time at Rouen's Musee des Beaux Artes. Great museum with a really nice collection - I liked how they had some of their rooms arranged. Painters in the 15th, 16th and early 17th century often didn't vary their themes much - many biblical depictions or mythological themes - the Musee des Beaux Artes in Rouen grouped many of these together so you could see how different painters interpreted the same scene. I like this. A little more walking around, back to Greg's for a nap and then a great dinner that night at a traditional creperie. I had a whole wheat crepe with smoked sausage, cheese and potatoes - delicious - and finished off with a sweet crepe covered in salted caramel...mmmmmmm.
After waking up the next day, getting packed and saying goodbye to my great French host - I set off for Giverny. Mecca for Monet lovers...of which both my Mom and I are. I had no idea so many people would be there but perhaps should have expected it since it was a Sunday. I had to wait in a long queue for about 30 minutes to get into the gardens and house area. I entered the gardens finally and walked amongst them for about an hour - also visiting the famous Japanese Bridge and the Water Lily pond. Monet turned out some of his most famous works while living here at Giverny - obviously, he did his Water Lilies, also the Japanese Bridge, Mornings on the Seine and he painted Rouen's cathedral over 30 times. This area of France was a huge inspiration to him and I can see why.
His gardens are filled with a proliferation of roses, hydrangeas, black-eyed susans, hollyhocks, gladiolas and every wildflower imaginable. It is set up in rows but you can only walk up and down some of them. It isn't a large garden like you might expect, but it would require quite a bit of tending if it belonged to you personally...lots and lots of flowers. The Japanese Bridge and the Lily Pond are a little bit away from the main house and garden. You go under the road and emerge on the other side to view these 2 famous areas. Of course, they were packed with people so you are unable to just sit in silence and reflect on the genius who lived and worked here. I did take lots of pictures and managed to get most of them sans people. Mom would have loved this place and sadly, I'm not sure if she ever visited it. I'll have to ask her friends and read back through her trip diaries. She would have been in heaven.
The house is sweet - it is painted in very bright colors and wasn't at all what I expected. However, it IS filled with light - which I would expect. The 3 best rooms are Monet's studio, the dining room and the kitchen. The studiod is filled floor to ceiling with replicas of 64 of his paintings. Through intense study, it is believed this is how it looked and these are the exact works contained at Giverny in 1920. The dining room is a bright yellow, covered floor to ceiling with Japanese prints and is set with his Limoges china. The kitchen is one I would have been at home cooking in. It is a gorgeous blue and covered with blue and white tiles. These set off the copper pots and cookware beautifully - with a large stone sink, a huge stove/oven and sweet little blue gingham curtains - I could definitely whip up some goodies there. The kitchen opens right out into the gardens and is the exit point from the house.
Leaving Giverny marked the end of the "driving" part of my French adventures. It was time to return to Beauvais, drop off the car and grab the bus to Paris. Done, done and done....
Next posting....PARIS!!!
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