The day started off EARLY. On Friday we arrived on base at 5:30am and hit the road. We had a few stops along the way, and finally in the early afternoon we arrived in Giverny, France. Art has never been a big interest of mine, but history is, and knowing who Claude Monet was, I was looking forward to walking through his house. Shanna was looking forward to seeing the garden he painted, as well as the Lilly Pond in his back yard that inspired one of his more famous works. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was sunny, about 75 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky. It was peaceful walking around the pond.
After walking through the Pond area, we walked through his house. The preservation society that runs it has set it up so it looks identical to when he lived there, based on pictures and accounts of people who visited. When you walk in the front door, it's like stepping back in time.
We spent an hour or so total there, then it was time to get back on the bus for the last leg of the trip to the city of Caen in the Normandy region of France.
We finally pulled in around 8pm to the hotel. It had been a LONG day of travelling, but everyone was hungry. The tour had arranged a sit down dinner at a local steakhouse, but as soon as we heard it wasn't a pre-order meal, we decided not to go. With 80 people showing up and ordering at once, we'd be lucky if we were home by midnight. We ended up finding a McDonalds nearby to get something quick & easy. I was impressed with how hi-tech the McDonalds was. There was a lot of people there, so they had employees walking around with PDA's. They'd take your order, print a slip, and by the time you got to the front of the line, you just handed your slip in, paid, and took your food. The line flew because of it. They also had kiosks where you could order yourself and not wait for a person to come to you. I wanted to get something that you can't find at a typical McDonalds, so I got a McBaguette...it was actually pretty good!
After that we headed back to the hotel & called it a night.
The next morning we woke up to bright sunshine coming in the room. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and I couldn't have been happier. One of my biggest fears about this trip was we would have bad weather. After breakfast we hopped on the tour bus and hit the road. Our first stop was an interesting one...a German Military Cemetery. I had no idea they had these in France. While later on in the day we'd see plenty of people at the US memorial sites, aside from our tour, there was no one at the German one. It was a beautiful layout, and obviously well maintained and cared for. In the center of the cemetery was a giant hill with a cross on top that had stairs leading up to the top.
We spent about 20 minutes walking around there, then got back on the bus. Our next stop was St. Mere-Eglise, the first town on the western front of France liberated. They have an Airborne Museum there that was really neat to walk through. When we first pulled in to town there was a big church and you could see a parachute draped over one of the spires with a mannequin dressed up like an Airborne trooper hanging from it. The reason is a group of paratroopers had the bad luck to land right in the middle of town after jumping. Most were killed immediately, but this trooper, John Steele, got stuck on the church roof. He played dead, and when they went to cut him down, he got the drop on the German soldier and managed to escape. In reading about this, it turns out he made many trips back to the town, and it became a second home to him until his death.
It was neat reading about the stories from D-Day, including how the US Military dropped dolls in fake parachutes as well as inflatable tanks. They dropped them far away from the actual drop zone so that anyone looking through binoculars would think they were real. After we were done with the museum we walked around town for a bit. One of the best parts of visiting countries outside Germany is getting to try different local foods. It was almost lunch time, so we headed to a local baker in town and got cheese sandwiches. I then headed next door to a butcher and bought some salami to go on it. So I had a bree & salami sandwich on a fresh baguette roll for lunch...it was DELICIOUS. We walked around town for a bit more, then got on the bus to head to Utah Beach.
It was incredible to walk on this beach, with how quiet & peaceful it was, and imagine what it was like almost 68 years ago to the day. This particular section of Utah Beach didn't have too much. There was a museum, but we weren't there long enough to go through it. Instead we walked around reading the various memorials, and walked through the only remaining German Bunker. It was captured almost immediately and used as HQ to direct other attacks that day.
We then took the bus to our next stop, Point du Hoc on Omaha Beach. Point du Hoc is a huge cliff side that Army Rangers scaled on D-Day under heavy fire. The first thing you noticed as you approached the area near the top of the cliffs was all the hills. As you got closer, you realized those aren't man-made hills...those are the massive craters left from the Artillery shelling from the Allied attack. Some of these craters were at least 20 feet deep.
As we approached the cliffs and looked over, it was incredible....I don't know how they managed to scale these cliffs under a hail of bullets. There was a command bunker at the end that you could walk through. As we walked around the area we saw the remains of train tracks. It turns out the Germans had a small railway system going between all the underground bunkers so they could easily send supplies back & forth.
From there it was on to the American Military Cemetery build on the deadliest part of Omaha Beach. This was relatively flat land, so the initial wave of the D-Day attack suffered heavy casualties. You wouldn't know that know though...it looks like any other beach, albeit with headstone after headstone. When we first approached it after getting off the bus, we saw a marker on the ground. It was a time capsule of news footage from June 6th, 1944. I thought I'd seen somewhere that it was to be opened on June 6th, 2044, but in looking at the picture, I don't see that. So maybe I just thought I saw it. The cemetery wasn't too busy, but there were soldiers there practicing for the Memorial Day ceremony they were going to have on Sunday. I was glad we were there the day before, though, so we could still walk freely around.
The first part we went to was the small museum they had there. They had one room filled with stories of various soldiers, including the four brothers that inspired the Saving Private Ryan movie. They also had a story about soldiers from Bedford, VA. That was particularly interesting to me because I remember reading a book about the soldiers from Bedford. That small town in VA suffered the largest loss of life per capita in the nation. If you ever find yourself in Bedford, there's a great D-Day memorial there. There was a lot to see there, but it's best described by the pictures rather then words. What I will say is it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Walking through the cemetery, as well as along the upper part of the beach, was incredible and something everyone should do once in their lifetime.
When we were done there, we headed to a section of Juno Beach where there was a large contingent of German heavy artillery guns. There wasn't much different from this location then other parts we'd visited with German Bunkers, except these had the large guns intact.
We spent about 45 minutes walking around the various bunkers, including the main command bunker located on the sea cliffs. Off in the distance we could see the remains of the artificial port the British built to keep the waters in that area calm for ships and transport vehicles. Finally it was time for dinner. Our guide had a restaurant picked out in a small seaside village that looked a lot like any seaside resort town in the US. In fact, it reminded me a bit like Ocean City, MD. The food was pretty good...not the best I'd ever had, but far from the worst. At the very least, it was nice just to sit for a bit and enjoy dinner and drinks. When we finished we still had some time, so we walked around town for a bit. There was a boardwalk area, a large carousel, and a bunch of shops, although those were closed.
We had one more stop for the day. Our guide swung by the hotel and gave people the option to call it a day if they wanted. The older people, and those with young kids, got off the bus, and the rest of us stayed on. Our final stop of the night was Pegasus Bridge. On the night of June 5th, several gliders flown by British soldiers landed at the bridge and secured it. It was a crucial entry point into the city of Caen, and the Germans had wired it to blow. Since they landed in gliders, it was quiet and they were able to secure the bridge without it being destroyed. The original bridge has been moved and set up as a museum. In 1994 they built a replica of the bridge in the same spot.
Finally it was time to call it a night. We came back to the hotel, took showers, and pretty much fell into bed because we were so tired.
The next morning, after breakfast, we piled into the bus again. The clear weather from the day before was gone, and it was now cloudy and slightly raining. I was bummed, but was glad we at least had the nice weather the day before with all the outside activities. It took us about 2 hours to get to Mont St. Michele, a large Monastery built on a rock, surrounded by water. Along the way, the weather slowly cleared, and by the time we got there, it was clear skies and sunny. As you approached, the Monastery was imposing on the skyline.
It was built in the 8th century, and over time a small village sprung up around it. Originally it was an island, but awhile back the French government decided they didn't want it to be an island, so they built a dam nearby. Recently they've changed their mind, and are part way through removing the dam and changing it back to being an island. Unfortunately it was low tide, so it was mostly sand around the rock, but it should be impressive when it's fully surrounded by water again.
The bus parked, and we walked to a shuttle area that took us closer to the Monastery. It was a steep hike up to the top, but once we were in, the view was amazing. Below you can see the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.
While we were walking through, there was a service going on. I'm not sure if it was Catholic, or something else, but it was still impressive. Inside the chapel area were large stained glass. They were burning incense, so because of the lite haze in the air, the sunlight looked like individual rays coming in as the choir was chanting. On the pictures page you'll see a picture of it, as well as video. It took about an hour to walk through the whole thing with our audio guide. It was interesting, but it kept describing these rich tapestries that were no longer there...I wish they'd had replicas at least up to see what it was like back then.
When we were done we walked through the small village within the walls. There really weren't houses anymore, they'd all been converted to gift shops and restaurants, but it was still neat to walk through the narrow streets.
When we were done, we took the shuttle back and had lunch. Again, it was baguette sandwiches...man were they good. We then headed to the town of Bayeux. The town is famous for having the Bayeux Tapestry on display, which is 70 meters long and showcases the story of William, Duke of Norman, and his conquest of King Harold of England at the battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. The tapestry itself was neat, but what really brought the story alive was the audio guide. It depicted in rich detail the story of what lead to the attack, as well as the battle itself. It was neat to see the story, as well as realizing this tapestry is over 1,000 years old.
When we finished there, we walked around the little museum for a bit, then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town. We snacked on Macaroons and spent the last 30 minutes or so sipping some Belgian beer at a local cafe. That's one of my favorite parts of traveling...eating or drinking at a local cafe and hearing people converse around us in the local language...French in this case, of course.
We headed back to our hotel, and that evening had lunch at a local steakhouse. I wasn't in the mood for steak, but this place had one of the best burgers I've had in Europe.
The next morning we hit the road to head home. We had one more stop, though...Paris! I'd never been, so I was looking forward to seeing the city, albeit for a short time. Our bus drove all through the city. We stopped in front of the Eiffel tower for a picture taking opportunity, then proceed to drive around the massive round about that goes around the Arc du Triumph, as well as the fashion district that stretches the Champs Élysées.
We also stopped in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral for a few pictures. Finally it was lunch time. Personally, I thought it was delicious. Our appetizer was shrimp cocktail, and the main dish was Beef Burgundy with potatoes. After lunch, we walked around for a few minutes, then that was it for our trip.
We saw some amazing sights, and some incredible places. Over all, this was by far one of the best trips we've gone on. There are some definite pros & cons of bus tour travel. It was nice to not have to plan anything, and just show up. I'm convinced we saw more in those 4 days because of the itinerary and them taking us everywhere then we would have if we'd done it ourselves. The cons were the bus drive was MUCH longer then a car drive because of the slow speed limits the buses have to maintain. Plus where ever you go, you bring the crowd when it's you & 40+ other people. While I'm not sure I'll do a long bus trip like this again, I have no regrets about this trip and am glad we did this. It's one of those trips I'll never forget.
The next blog post will probably be towards the end of June, after Shanna's Mom and her niece & nephew come visit. They'll be here for 2 weeks, so I might just post periodic updates instead of doing one large post at the end. We'll see.
To see the pictures, click here or any picture above.
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