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Caen is today noteworthy for its splendid university
and academy of arts.
From Caen to Bayeux is but a brief journey
through a beautiful landscape. Bayeux is situated
on the River Aure and has a population of about
7,900. It is a sleepy old town, rich in quaint old
buildings from past ages. The streets are roughly
set with boulders of all sizes, evidently strong and
lasting hut hard on the feet. The rattle of the
heavy Norman carts is about the only real
disturbance in the town. Half timbered houses, quite high,
and with the upper stories reaching out over the
lower, make the narrow’ streets rather dark. But
for the gossiping women they were excellent, be-
+
cause a lengthy conversation could easily he carried
on from the windows without going down the street.
Bayeux is famous for its cathedral, considered one
of the finest Gothic churches in all Normandy. , t
was built by Bishop Henry of Boumont during the
years 1183-1205. A much older structure stood here
before.
Perhaps the most interesting curiosity of the old
town is the famous Bayeux tapestry preserved in
the Biblioteque Publique, said to have been made
by William the Conqueror’s queen, Mathilda, and
her ladies. Though crude and even comical in
design, yet it conveys an idea and reality of Norman
life and conditions which words could never convey
to the mind.
The tapestry measures 226 feet in length with 20
inches in width. One-third of the strip is covered
by the border. The background is of fine linen,
which has assumed the tinge of brown holland. The
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