John and I were leaving Bayeux at lunchtime, but that left enough time to check out the awesome Bayuex tapestry. Bayeux is an epicentre of Norman culture, and the Bayeux tapestry depicts the 1066 invasion of England by William the Bastard, who got himself renamed in history as William the Conqueror.

The tapestry is preceded by a museum and a chintzy movie that repeat the story of the tapestry over and over again. This was completely unnecessary, especially since the tapestry includes headphones to interpret the pictures. This does not detract from the beauty and interest of the tapestry, originally made to wrap around the nave of Bayeux cathedral to inform peasants of the accomplishments of their overlord.

The tapestry is crowded with English tourists, and I wish it had been less crowded, with more time at the tapestry and less time with the museum. Englishmen like to crow that they have been successfully invaded only twice, and have appropriated William to their own cultural history. However the Norman conquest marked the end of Anglo-Saxon domination.

We then returned to Rouen by car, where John had a run in with a bad driver, which caused cursing that was heard throughout the land. We then toured the cathedral, where you can find the final resting place of a famous ''Englishman", King Richard the Lionheart, who was, indeed French. Normandy shares much history with England because of the Conquest, and it was a wonderful day of examining it.