Bonjour all! I had a great trip to Normandy this weekend. I left my apartment early Friday morning and met up with everyone in central Paris. We got on our coach bus and met our tour guide who explained to what we would be doing the next two days. The first stop of the trip was Bayeux, a small french town, about 4 hours from Paris. We visited the tapestries museum there, which houses the largest tapestry in the world (at least in my opinion!) It was interesting to look at but not worth spending an hour listening to the portable audio guide we were each given. My friend Kathryn and I opted to head to lunch after quickly viewing the work of art. We found a cute little restaurant near the cathedral. I had a very good Niçoise salad (greens with potatoes, tuna, o
lives, carrots, and some type of vinaigrette. It was delicious! Afterward, we headed to the cathedral--it was much less ornate compared to the cathedrals I've seen elsewhere in France. The we walked through the town and found some of the other people in our group who were getting gelato, so of course we followed suit and got some as well (mint and cafe for me). By 2pm we were back on the bus waiting for everyone else to arrive. Unfortunately one person did not arrive back to the bus and we were forced to leave a half an hour later.
Next, we traveled 45 minutes to Omaha beach, one of the famous American DDay landing sites. It was something I had been waiting to see since I had learned about DDay in grade school. I am not really into history, especially compared to the rest of my extended family who are all history buffs, but I have always been fascinated with WWII. The beach looked like just a regular resort town beach, but I tried to imagine what it had looked like on June 6, 1944. I constantly was thinking back to the movie "Saving Private Ryan", a favorite of mine. As I turned away from the beach, I noticed the steep hills, something that probably proved to be problematic for the Allies. There was a memorial sculpture built on the sand of Omaha Beach, which commemorated the DDay landing and remembered those who were lost on that day and the days after the first landing.
Following our visit to Omaha, we drove to the American Cemetery, which is located on a hill next to the water. As we drove up to the cemetery, the gloomy weather seemed to only get worse, and it began to rain. The rain seemed fitting--it would have been strange to be there in beautiful weather. The walk from the parking lot to the cemetery
seemed as if it took forever. When I finally got there, I couldn't believe my eyes. Thousands upon thousands of white crosses and stars laid before me. All of the men (and a few women) had died in either WWI or WWII. Some were brothers, some were fathers and sons, and some were unknown. Our tour guide had given us the plot numbers of famous Americans who were buried here, like the sons of Teddy Roosevelt and the brothers who inspired the movie "Saving Private Ryan, but the cemetery was too overwhelming for me to navigate and figure out who was buried where so I just started walking around, looking at names, where they came friend, when they died, etc. At the two end of the cemetery stood beautiful memorials. On the backside of the memorial in the front was a courtyard enclosed by a wall. The wall bore the names of all those who were never found.
seemed as if it took forever. When I finally got there, I couldn't believe my eyes. Thousands upon thousands of white crosses and stars laid before me. All of the men (and a few women) had died in either WWI or WWII. Some were brothers, some were fathers and sons, and some were unknown. Our tour guide had given us the plot numbers of famous Americans who were buried here, like the sons of Teddy Roosevelt and the brothers who inspired the movie "Saving Private Ryan, but the cemetery was too overwhelming for me to navigate and figure out who was buried where so I just started walking around, looking at names, where they came friend, when they died, etc. At the two end of the cemetery stood beautiful memorials. On the backside of the memorial in the front was a courtyard enclosed by a wall. The wall bore the names of all those who were never found.
After this emotional visit, we headed to Arromanches, where Gold Beach, a UK DDay landing site, is located. The "caissons" are are retaining walls that were used to create a harbor during the war. Some of these caissons are still in the sea, as well as on the beach. After a short stop there, we traveled to the town where we would be staying the night, Trouville. Trouville is a seaside town that is very busy in the summertime. Many people come to Trouville from Paris just for the day to go to the beach. The hotel we stayed at was much nicer than I had expected. We had dinner together as a group and then were free to do as we pleased. Some people headed to the casino across the street from the hotel, but Kathryn, Michael, and I decided to walk around town. It was raining pretty hard outside, so we didn't stay out too long but I got to see a lot of the town.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the Chateau Breuil, a calvados distillery. This region does not produce wine, but it is known for its calvados. Calvados is a very strong alcohol made with apples. We toured the distillery and then tasted a drink called pommeau, which only had 17%alcohol in it. I like it a lot--it had a very apple-y taste to it and the alcohol was not overbearing. The second tasting was a calvados aged for 15yrs. This was 40% alcohol and it tasted like it. The look on everyones' faces as they tried the drink was priceless. 
It was very very very strong. I barely could take a sip of it. After the two tastings, we walked over to another building where we sat down and had some water or apple cidre. The staff brought out apple pie, a Norman speciality. This apple pie was out of this world. I have had some excellent apple pies back in the States, but this was incredible. I could have eaten the entire pie, it was that good.Our next stop was the city of Caen. Caen was almost completely destroyed during the battle of Normandy. The castle of William the Conqueror still stands today, despite some missing sections. My friends and I walked around town and grabbed something light to eat at a cafe. Later, we
drove to the Caen Peace Memorial, which is a museum that has exhibits on the DDay invasion, the events leading up to WWII, and the aftermath of the war. There is also an exhibit about the Nobel Prize. The museum is regarded as the best WWII museum in France. The movie that is played in its theatre describes the events of DDay with video footage which was incredible to see. It also featured speeches from Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill, FDR, and Hitler.
The museum was our last stop of the trip. We raced to the bus after the movie so that we could leave as soon as possible in order to miss traffic in Caen and Paris. We got back to Paris late that night. I was exhausted from everything we had done and slept very well that night.
So far this week, nothing major to report on. This Friday I am going to the Selon de Vins (Wine Fair) with my Oenology class. I will make sure to report back on my findings next post. Au revoir!
-MEP
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