I Did See the Bayeux Tapestry

When I was in Ireland last time, I did not see the Book of Kells. What is the Book of Kells? I’m not sure. It’s something really old. I picture it being large. The guidebooks make much of it.

I don’t usually worry about seeing the big tourist sights. I figure the marathon itself and the attendant errands, e.g., finding the expo to pick up the race number, provide interesting views of the city I’m visiting. So I don’t feel guilty about not seeing the Book of Kells. Only then I think about the Bayeux Tapestry.

In college I studied French, and I spent a term in France with a group of other students. We took a bus trip through Normandy and Bretagne (I can’t call it Brittany) and stopped in the little town of Bayeux, which is most famous for its tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of England. The tapestry is long and narrow and runs along the wall in a dimmed room (to preserve it from the effects of strong light), and it wrapped me up in its tale from a thousand years ago. The tapestry itself is almost as old. It taught me that William the Conqueror was the legitimate heir to the English throne. I can still picture the image of the king of England on his deathbed. The people around him, who planned to go on living, weren’t keen on yielding to a French guy. It would be an adjustment. My sophomore English teacher explained that when William took over, the English people stopped sweating and began to perspire. Yes, perspiration is French; sweat is not.

I would not have wanted to miss the Bayeux Tapestry.

A friend once told me about some people he knew who had gone to Bayeux and had not seen the tapestry. What? They didn’t see the Bayeux Tapestry? They ran out of time. My friend and I both scoffed. We couldn’t believe they’d used their time so poorly.

So, I don’t know ... this time in Ireland, I may try to see the Book of Kells. Maybe.