The tapestry they talk about is quite famous for being the longest in the world, and has survived really well. It's one of a couple sights worth seeing in Bayea

The tapestry they talk about is quite famous for being the longest in the world, and has survived really well. It's one of a couple sights worth seeing in Bayeaux. The Normans were perhaps one of the most fearsome dynasties the modern world has known. They were birthed by a Viking Earl named Rollo, who basically pillaged his way into northern France around 876 and was so fearsome that the French actually gave him the lands he invaded in exchange for him not fucking them up so hardcore anymore. His descendants included William the Conqueror, and they ruled lands such as England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sicily and Antioch, and generally kicked ass for a few hundred years as feared warriors and mercenaries. (Btw, if you want to see a statue of Rollo and don't want to go all the way to Rouen, France, you can visit a replica in Fargo, North Dakota) Normandy was a powerful and independent region, even through its contested ownership over the hundred years' war, up to about 1468 when it began to cede its autonomy to Paris. Modern Normans are pretty proud of their heritage, and there's still a friendly rivalry with the neighboring Bretons. What really struck me was a kids theme park called Festyland outside Caen, sort of near Rouen. Lots of rides and attractions surrounding the battle of hastings and the Viking origins of the Normans. The billboards advertising Festyland shows a bunch of little Viking kids carrying off a princess tied to a wooden pole. Cute.