France, Sept. 20 -- "When you're from Bayeux, you grow up with the tapestry," said Mathis Laîne, who works at a restaurant opposite the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. "You go to see it at school, everyone talks about it, and then you see the tourists streaming in all year round."

The embroidery has not been on view in Bayeux since September 2025, when the museum that houses it closed for renovation. Local businesses felt the effects immediately.

"We noticed a drop in footfall straight away," Laîne said. "It's knocked 20 percent off our takings at lunchtime and at least 10 percent in the evening."

In July, the Bayeux Tapestry left France for the first time in more than 900 years. The 70-metre chronicle of the Norman conquest of Engla...