Adventures in Europe; Day 8

Buses, Beaches, and Art I don't understand

Day 8 started bright & early.  We had scheduled a group bus tour to Normandy and had to meet at 6:45 in the morning.  Early, right?

We made it to the bus and started our 3-hour drive across the French country side.  It was beautiful... what I saw of it... I slept through a lot of it.

Our first stop was a museum where we learned a lot about World War 1 & 2.  It was really interesting to learn about it from the perspective of the French.  We probably could have spent all day there.  But after a couple of hours we were scheduled for lunch. 

I wish I would have taken pics of lunch.  The French are serious about lunch.  We sat at tables set with china and nice linens and bottles of wine on every table.  You know I'm down with a country that's down with day drinking.

After lunch we made our way out to the beaches to learn about the D-Day invasions.  Our first stop was Pointe Du Hoc, the part of Omaha Beach that has steep cliffs.  Our guide was great and shared all kinds of information.

One of the guns set up by the Germans.

It was so crazy to actually walk around on the same ground where so much history happened.  The land was still littered with huge craters from when the Allies had bombed the area the night before D-Day.

Bomb Crater.

The Nazi bunkers are still standing along the banks.  This is where the German soldiers stayed and kept watch over the beaches.

German Bunker.

The area was gorgeous.  There were steep cliffs that American soldiers had to scale in order to access the land.

Cliffs at Pointe du Hoc.

Exploring the cliffs.



Inside the Nazi bunker

From there we traveled further down Omaha beach.  It was absolutely crazy to see that the area had been commercialized and is now full of vacation rentals.  It just seemed bizarre that people would want to vacation in the exact spot where so many people had been killed.



Omaha Beach

Memorial on the beach.

Omaha Beach.

Omaha Beach.

We visited several beaches and learned more about the history there.  We also visited a cemetery for American soldiers that died in France.  It was overwhelming how large the cemetery was. 

American cemetery in Normandy.

Normandy was absolutely beautiful.  The land is broken up with hedgerows that are dense areas of bushes that made it extremely difficult for the Allied soldiers to get through the area.  They had to specially equip their tanks in order to cut through the thick hedgerows.

Hedgerows in Normandy.

I loved this statue of Mary.  After occupying France, the German soldiers took her down so that she couldn't be used as a land marker by the Allies.  That's why she made it through the war and was able to be put up again after it was over.

Statue of Mary.

Our final stop was at Juno Beach, where Canadian soldiers had landed on D-Day.  This shows how much I don't know about history, but I hadn't even realized that Canada was involved in the war.  So it was cool to learn about just how involved they were.

Drew at Juno Beach.

Juno Beach.

After a long day of touring and learning, we boarded the bus and headed back to Paris.  This trip was one of the best things we did while in Europe.  I loved seeing the French country side and seeing history close up.  Both Drew & I are pretty interested in WW2 history, so the whole thing was pretty fascinating.  It was incredible to stand on the beaches where so many people fought bravely for the freedom of so many.

By the time we got back to Paris it was 10:00 PM.  However, it was still so light out!  We didn't even feel tired.  Our bus dropped us off near the Louvre, so we decided to walk through the Tullerie Gardens and check out the scene. 

The garden is absolutely beautiful with tons of interesting (???) sculptures and fountains.  Yet another place in Europe where people are drinking and hanging out. 

I don't understand art.

And that was our day.

Lessons Learned:
1.  Bus tours start early and the French are NOT okay with you being late.
2.  Old people on bus tours don't know how to take pictures.  Make sure you check your camera.
3.  The French used to have to fight off naked Centaurs.