From Wikitravel

Bayeux [1] is a small town (population 16,000) in northern France within the region of Basse-Normandie. Bayeux is best known for the remarkable Bayeux Tapestry that chronicles in visual form the conquest of England by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1066.

Understand

Bayeux is known for two famous trans-Channel invasions. The conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 started from Bayeux, while on June 6th, 1944 the Allied D-Day (French: Jour-J) invasion force struck the beaches just north of the town. Bayeux was the first French town to be liberated from Nazi occupation during the 1944 Battle of Normandy and survived almost completely unscathed. On 16 June 1946 General Charles de Gaulle made his first important speech on liberated French soil in Bayeux. The town hosts the largest British war cemetery in Normandy and is an excellent base for visiting the Normandy beaches.

See

• the Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie de Bayeux), Centre Guillaume le Conquérant, Rue de Nesmond, tel 02 31 51 25 50, fax 02 31 51 25 59, open daily all year, except for the 2nd week in January, 24-26 December, 31 Dec-2 Jan, hours: (mid-March-October) 9am-6.30pm (summer an extra half hour) (November-February) 9.30am-12.30pm and 2pm-6pm, admission: adults €7.50, students €3 - the historically unique Bayeux Tapestry is a 70 metre-long, 50 cm high embroidery made from wool on a linen canvas in the late 11th century to chronicle the conquest of England by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1066. Scenes include the Channel crossing, the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), the death of the Saxon English king Harold and the subsequent coronation of Duke William as King of England. Audioguides available. Allow 1-2 hours to visit.

Get out

• World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial[2]: Take Highway N-13 west to Formigny, then follow D-517 to St. Laurent-sur-Mer and D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer. Open daily except for December 25 and January 1; 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The cemetery is the final resting place for 9,387 American military dead, most lost during the Normandy Invasion. A monument is inscribed with the names of 1,557 Americans whose remains were never found or identified. The memorial contains maps and narratives of the military operations in Normandy. Free.

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