Mes adventures en France: Normandy/Mont St. Michel Trip

The beginning, middle and end of this story are that they were wonderful. A warning: this blog is picture intensive - a picture is worth a thousand words after all!

We set out on Saturday morning at the early hour of 6:30 AM to get to the meeting place on time. The Metro doesn’t have trains that come by as often in the mornings on weekends however, so we were a little late regardless of our preparation. Not to worry though, we weren't the last one's there and the unwritten rule is don't be the last to arrive (although I suppose it's written now . . .) Our first stop was a memorial museum for WWII in Normandy. Pretty cool, even though I’d just covered all of that information in history last year. I was guiltily happy that we didn't have enough time to go into the Holocaust in depth (we only had 2 hours for the museum, lunch and a short film.) It's absolutely necessary that we remember so nothing like it is done again, but it's tough on the emotions.

Hitler and Petain shaking hands signifying the Collaboration between the Germans and the Vichy Regime

Prisoner smiling before his death. Haunting.

Read this - it's an interesting view of a German soldier's feelings after murdering.

Next on the agenda were Omaha beach where the American troops landed and the American cemetery. The beach was beautiful, although the water was very cold (I know, I trekked over the sand to put my feet in!) The cemetery was beautiful too – all of the crosses (or stars of David) were lined up and it was very scenic. It was sad to see how many Americans lost their lives during the attack. I had a hard time multiplying the American losses that I saw by the number of different countries helping.

Omaha

Proof I was there! Like the tan lines on my feet? Thanks sandals!

Pretty little spring :)

American Cemetery. Behind that building in the distance are numerous more graves.

Still at the American Cemetery. Lilies!

After Omaha, we headed over to Pont du Hoc. That’s where American Special Forces invaded German bunkers. They invaded after the area had been bombed, so they had to scale the cliffs and navigate through the holes in the ground.

We then had a surprise: apple cider mill visit! It was very interesting to see how they make the cider, pommeau and calbados that they sell. We even got to taste everything. It turns out I only like the apple juice over here, haha. It was cool and surprising that they gave us pommeau and calbados to try; the surprise is because calbados is 40% alcohol!

By the time we got to the hotel, we were starving. And what’s the number one rule about restaurant service when you’re starving? You guessed it: it was slow as could be. But there was great conversation to be had and after dinner we were tired enough to opt for a good night's rest instead of finding something else to do and losing more sleep.

The next morning we set off for Mont St. Michel. I’ve been dreaming of seeing it in person since I first learned about it in high-school. It met my expectations of excellence and surpassed them by far! Everything was beautiful from the fortress to the weather and surrounding scenery. I felt like I could have been in a fantasy book with the random suits of armor and the impressive architecture that surrounded me. Stephanie and I had lunch outside on a terrace and had a great time wandering around the shops. My only regret is that we didn’t have more time there. I’m so glad I got to be there and I miss it already!