Wrapping it up.
We had a bit more time to spend in Bayeux before boarding the buses to meet the ship that had sailed on to Caudebec-en-Caux. If you look at a map, you’ll see that we’d traveled west while our ship sailed east and a bit south. We were scheduled to leave Bayeux at about 14:30. By the time we’d finished lunch, this meant we had enough time to walk about in the immediate local area and take some pictures but we didn’t have time to explore Bayeux in any depth.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention two other particularly significant moments in Bayeux’s history both related to the Second World War. It was the first town – or at least among the first towns liberated as part of the Allied D-Day assault. The honor of first liberated could certainly belong to Sainte Mère Église on the Cotentin Peninsula since the U S Army’s 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment took control of the town at 05:00 on 6 June 1944 fully an hour and a half before the assault on the beaches began. However, American troops from Utah Beach didn’t reach there until 7 June.
Or, one could look to the bridge over the Caen Canal at Bénouville which was captured by British troops sometime between 00:15 and 06:30 on 6 June. Capturing and holding this bridge was crucial because it blocked at least one route that German Panzers might use to counterattack the forces on the beaches.
Generally, however, the title of first town liberated is conferred on Bayeux. Although the Allied plan was to take Bayeux (together with Caen and Saint Lo) on the first day of fighting, the objective wasn’t met. By the morning of 7 June, however, the Allies did control Bayeux.
The other significant World War II moments for Bayeux came on 14 and 16 June. These are the dates when Charles de Gaulle returned to France and made a pair of speeches from the Place du Château known as the Bayeux speeches in which he expressed his ideas for a new French Constitution. And now you know most of what I know about Bayeux.
Caudebec-En-Caux.
The bus ride to Caudebec required about two hours and when we reached there, the Amadeus Diamond was hidden from view. Another river cruiser had arrived before our ship and claimed the primary docking spot. We’d have to first board that ship, cross through its lobby, climb to the top deck and cross another small gangplank to board the Diamond. Pat and I did this a few times because we’d spotted a small café nearby and went off to have a beer before supper.
Tuesday night after supper would be a bit like the first night of Passover – different from all other nights. On all other nights of the trip we’d either had a Perf Chat featuring Jie, Tim, or the pair of them or we’d disembarked to attend a land based concert. On this night, we’d have a chat and some music but both would be quite different from those we’d had up to this point.
The chat,
in which Jie became the interviewer, gave her the chance to turn the tables on Fred. I don’t know if any of her questions made him at all uncomfortable but if they did, he hid any anxiety well.
Later that night, we had our musical performance and it not only came from an unexpected and unusual source but with a surprising twist. After setting up his own small sound system, our ship’s captain, Jerome, opened the show by singing CCR’s version of Proud Mary (quite appropriate) and the Doobie Brothers hit Drift Away. Amy (from MPR) particularly relished Jerome’s performance reminding me several times that having the captain let loose “just didn’t happen on these cruises.”
After Jerome’s set, our Hungarian bartender, Andrey, took the mike and, in cowboy hat and black pants entertained us by singing Ring of Fire and another song or two by Johnny Cash. Before the evening ended, Amy had joined in a duet with Jerome and sung her own version of Take Me Home, Country Roads. (By the way, I think the Wikipedia page about this song is worth a read.) In all, la soirée était très amusante.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the cruise – though not the last day of the trip for Patricia and me. I hope you’ll join me when I describe our brief stop in Vernon, our visit to Giverny where we’ll see Monet’s home and garden, and where we will hear the world premiere of the composition Jie had begun after the Perf Chat in the American Church in Paris.
And if there’s any mystery about the title of today’s post, here’s your answer.
MY-LIFE-HAS-BEEN-A-TA-PES-TRY-OF-RICH-AND-ROY-AL-HUE
(sing along)
BA-YEUX-MIGHT-HAVE-A-TA-PES-TRY-BUT-NOT-THE-FA-MOUS-ONE
Can I get a rim shot? An eye roll? A Tah–ahd?
Thank you Missus Loopner.