Wednesday, August 18, 2010

August 7th - 14th, The Big Trek to Normandy

What a great trip this was. We knew we wanted to get out to see the Normandy region of France while we were stationed here. However, with such a big drive, we also wanted to see a lot of other places on the way there and back. This is a big post, for a very big trip!!!


The Cathedral in Reims.





Time for a prayer.

Absolutely amazing stained glass window done by famous Russian painter, Marc Chagall.

Statue of Joan of Arc (there are images of her all over this region).

On to our champagne cellar tour, which was quite impressive!

Nolan learned how they used to turn the bottles.

Happy Birthday to me.



Day two, wake up early, drive to Paris, see the Eiffel Tower!!!!!

The view from halfway up.







Next, we drove to see the Arc de Triomphe.



After the Arc de Triomphe, we walked to the Jardin de Tulieries where we walked around and took the kids to a street carnival.

Nolan was not thrilled about this ride.



Near the Louvre.

Day three, on to Giverny where Monet lived and painted some of his most famous paintings!

Giverny was actually on Nolan's "to do" list. He learned all about Claude Monet in his summer enrichment class so he was thrilled to come here.

After Giverny, we drove about 2 hours to Rouen. It is a beautiful town, rich with history. Here we sit where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

The town of Rouen, with the beautiful clock in the background.

Our first day in Normandy was a bit misty so we decided to do the museum in Caen. It is an amazing museum which details the war extremely well.

After the museum, we drove out to Arromanches (Port Winston) to see the beach and the Mulberries (used in the war as floating pontoons with bridging equipment to create an artificial harbor)!









Next, we drove to Longues Sur Mer, gun battery. This was built by the Germans as part of Fortress Europa.

Every post has to have a climbing picture!

While at Longues Sur Mer, we were suprised with a fly by from a French Alpha Jet.



Inside one of the bunkers.

The next day we got up early and drove to Le Mont St. Michel!!!



Even as early as we were, the only street that leads to the Abbey was packed!





A nice moment at the top of the Abbey.



"words....words....words...blah, blah, blah"

Billy, admittedly, was an angel on this trip, never complaining about anything, thank you Billy!!!

This was taken right near the Iron Mike statue at La Fière. It is one of two bridges over the causeway that leads into Ste Mere Eglise and was a primary objective for the 82nd Airborne on D-Day.

On this church steeple, hangs a replica of John Steele's unlucky D-Day landing. He hung here for several hours pretending to be shot, but was later captured by the Germans.



Pointe du Hoc. The Army Rangers had a very important objective to capture the gun battery here because it overlooks both Utah and Omaha beaches.

The ground here is still cratered from the heavy Naval bombardment that preceded the Rangers mission.



Omaha Beach.

The American Cemetary in St. Laurent sur Mer

This cemetery is both awe inspiring and beautiful.

Our final day we got up early, said goodbye to where we stayed in Bayeux and headed out to Honfleur. It is a beautiful little fishing village and port. This was a very popular place to paint for some of the early and famous impressionist painters.



Our last stop of the day was in Verdun, sight the bloodiest battle of WWI. Behind us is the Ossuary. Through the windows at the bottom, you can see the bones of over 130,000 soldiers.







With the help of some Easter Bunny magic, the kids found some old rusty bullets.



woo hoo!

The end.