Relax... and release your inner Norman
IT’S estimated that four million British people have a direct family link with King Edward III, including, apparently, EastEnders’ Danny Dyer (according to a recent episode of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?).
Personally, I think I have more of a connection with William the Conqueror. He sailed with his army from Normandy in 1066 and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
I nurture an inner Norman. Whenever I visit Normandy I immediately feel as if I’ve come home, especially if I’m staying in the William the Conqueror-like environs of a Relais et Chateau hotel.
The Chateau d’Audrieu is more of a manor house than a castle, but there used to be a proper castle here because this was once the home of William de Percy, William the Conqueror’s personal chef.
I wasn’t aware medieval kings bothered about what they ate: if they felt peckish I imagined that someone would roast an ox. But apparently not; Percy was the Middle Ages’ answer to Jamie Oliver.
Audrieu is about 30 minutes’ drive from Bayeux. It’s an unwritten rule that if you’re ever less than an hour from Bayeux, you have to visit the Tapestry. Not a tapestry, of course, but an embroidery, but no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it always amazes me.
It’s incredible it has managed to survive the best part of a 1,000 years in good shape although it had some dodgy moments: during the French Revolution someone decided to use the tapestry as a tarpaulin to cover a cart.
Does anybody else think it’s odd that the Tapestry is in Normandy when really it should be in the UK? This is where it was probably embroidered and it’s about the Battle of Hastings, after all. If the Greeks ever get the Elgin Marbles back, we should make a pitch for the Tapestry.
The Chateau d’Audrieu has its own tragic link with history. In the immediate aftermath of D-Day, 23 Canadian infantrymen and two British soldiers were summarily executed in the grounds of the hotel which had been taken over by the Germany army.
Bayeux should have been taken on D-Day, but a successful landing in Normandy in June 1944 was only half the battle. The Allies, depending on tanks to make progress inland, found the high, thick hedges of Normandy made it hard going. At Tilly-sur-Seulles, a few miles from Audrieu, there was a ferocious tank battle which continued for days with possession of the town changing more than 20 times.
A lavish refurbishment of the Chateau has been capped with a new treehouse and deck that offers dreamy views over the lush Norman countryside. Accommodation fit for a king – if William had lived in this sort of comfort, he probably wouldn’t have bothered about conquering England…