Agincourt!

Photos are here.

Today Agincourt is not much to look at, but in the early 15th century it was the scene of the a pivotal battle in the hundred years war and is where Henry V of the England, together with Shakespear's help in later years, assured his place in history. Visiting the site was well worth the trip.

The story is familiar to military history phials like myself. Starving, and outnumbered, the English defeat a large, well trained and overly confident (arrogant even) force of French soldiers, noblemen and mercenaries. The French had every advantage and proceeded to discard them all for defeat by choosing to drive heavy cavalry head on into prepared positions, in muddy ground, and under the range English longbows. The faintest leadership in the French ranks would have changed history in incalculable ways.

The photos show a a view of the field from the French and English side. You can get an idea for the size and layout of the field as well as the distance between the sides prior to actual engagement.

Probably the most interesting part of the visit is the still creepy French burial mounds where thousands of French soldiers and nobles where buried in mass graves that today remains and undisturbed barrow where trees mingle with clingy vines and darkness.

On to Normandy

We stayed in Bayeux at the Liod d' Or Hotel. Great accommodation--I would recommend it. We went right for the tapestry. It was great to see it in person, and you get a good idea for the time and effort that went into it. Seeing it all at once I found the relative few colors used/available to be surprising and the stitches where not quit as close or small as they appear in pictures. Some of the reds where more "red" the others, but all where some version of Brown-Red. For the most part there was great consistency in the color. To our shock and surprise some new scenes from the tapestry have been recently discovered and can be seen here.

For more of this nonsense visit here and to create you own silliness go here. Real pictures of the tapestry are here if you’re interested.

We spent hours driving around the countryside in Normandy with visits to Cain, Falaise and their fortresses. Though we did not know it at the time we stopped and had lunch in the town of Harfleur. This was the city besieged by Henry V just before Agincourt and is included in the Shakespeare tale of the same name. At the time Harfleur was the major shipping port and control point for access to the Seine.

All pictures are here.