Today we got into Bayeux around 11 am, and we had a very strange introduction. After we got into the train station, we walked to our hotel to check in or at least drop our bags off before heading into town. We passed a field where a bunch of albino-looking cows kept staring at us. I’ve never seen cows that stared at me like that before. I guess they recognized that we were tourists and were just curious. Haha!
When we got to the hotel, we couldn’t find anyone at the desk. The cleaning lady brought the receptionist out from somewhere and she explained to us that check-in time was only between 9 am and 11am and then 5 pm to 9 pm, so she couldn’t check us in. We thought that was very strange. We’ve stayed in hotels that had limited hours, but we’ve never been to one where we couldn’t check in during the afternoon. She told us that there was an automatic check-in machine in the parking lot and that we could pull up our reservation using our name. We found the machine but it didn’t recognize our name, and after trying to spell it a few different ways, we gave up and tried to find the receptionist again. She then looked up our reservation and told us that she found it but that we must come back at 5 pm. Since Joe and I wanted to see the town anyway, that wasn’t a problem. We asked where we could store our bags for a few hours. She gave us a blank look, and told us there was no way that she could hold our bags. I asked if we could them in our room even if it wasn’t ready just for the time being. She said “No”. I asked what we should do with our stuff and she told us to take it with us. I have stayed in many hotels in my life, but I have never come across one where the staff was so unfriendly and unaccommodating. We also had other problems with same hotel, but I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s just say: I would not recommend this hotel to anybody.
After this experience, things improved greatly. Bayeux is a cute little town. Joe wanted to sit down and relax a bit, so we had lunch, and he stayed with the bags while I checked out the Cathedral and the Bayeux Tapestry. This 230-foot long embroidered cloth tells the story of the Norman conquest of England and William the Conqueror´s rise to the throne in the 11th century.
After that, Joe and I went on a guided tour of Bayeux before finally checking into our hotel for the evening.
Comments