Thus passes Normandy

After the new experience of meeting my host father, leaving my new-found friends, and sleeping in an unfamiliar place without anything really familiar, I left Tours the next morning to meet with everyone else to start a new part of the trip, the excursion to Normandy for four days. It took about 3.5 hours to reach our first destination, the Memorial at Caen, which is a huge museum of WWII history. After picnicing in front of the memorial with the lunches our host families packed for us, we ventured inside and I was thoroughly impressed. The exhibits started you at the end of WWI and the events that led up to WWII, then it presented artifacts and timelines and all sorts of information of things that happened during WWII. I was so overwhelmed and it was quite an emotional experience. We were there until 4pmish. We then got into the car and drove a little further to Arromanches, the beach town where Winston Churchill commissioned a temporary dock to be built so that supplies could be delivered to the Allied troops after they invaded Normandy. There were a few old metal docks there, covered with seaweed and the metal rusting away, but it was so cool to see. You could also see the wave-breakers in the distance, the huge concrete boxes that were sunk there 65 years ago. We walked along the beach and I picked up some shells, reminding me of when I was in California with my family this summer, but this was at the same time completely different.
Our hotel, La Marine, was situated right above the beach and was very comfortable. I shared a room with Abbey and Maureen for two nights there and the whole group at dinner at the hotel restaurant. That was a real treat because they had amazing seafood there. My first night, I tried the soupe de poisson (The waiter didn't hear anything I ordered except for the dessert, but it turned out better in the end) and cod layered with spices and on a bed of veggies in some kind of citrusy vinagrette. I liked that so much, I had the same thing the next night, but I got pumpkin soup instead, which was also very tasty.
I thoroughly enjoyed that place because we, meaning all 11 of us, were together again and laughing and hanging out. I'm glad that this trip came when it did because I was not ready to be separated from all of them. The next day, breakfast consisted of glorious croissants and baguettes, supplimented with French cottage cheese (much like plain yogurt), ham, cereal... stuff like that. I'm so thankful that I'm in a country that likes coffee... and likes it strong! :)
The first full day of the trip, we went to the museum right across the parking lot of the hotel. It was small in comparison to the one the day before, but it was nice to know the historical significance of where we were staying. We then had free time to do lunch and explore the town. Abbey and I decided to just get sandwiches while the other people we were with decided to do a sit down type of meal. Abbey and I went to sit on the wall above the beach to eat our sandwiches and that was great. The seagulls were going crazy... It's probably because people are stupid and they normally feed the wildlife, so now people who want to eat their lunch have to worry about little gifts from the birds as they squawk and zoom over their heads... It was all ok though... We saw this group of older people down on the beach eating lunch and one made a heart in the sand with initials and kept looking up at the sky, as if he was making it for his deceased wife... It was very cute.
We then got into the mini bus and traveled to the American Cemetery. That was quite an experience all of it's own. I had heard and seen pictures of this place since I can remember, so I knew what to expect, but seeing the thing in real life was completely different. I think everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime... After going through the new visitor center, the cemetery has a different, more personal feeling. I walked into the cemetery, and honestly, I wasn't all that impressed, as horrible as it sounds... But I kept walking... and as I passed the chapel, I expected that to be the end of the rows of crosses, but they kept going. That is when I felt like all the air had been knocked out of me... I felt like I wasn't even worthy enough to walk on the grass and approach the crosses to see the names. I don't even understand what it was like that morning in 1944... And I don't think that I fully comprehend the sacrifice behind it. I was getting emotional (again) until I heard this lady shouting at her husband that they had to leave in 15 minutes. This wouldn't have really been a huge deal, except she kept yelling at him... "Are you keeping track of the time?" and "I'm not waiting for you if you're late!" I wanted to toss her over the wall onto Omaha Beach...
After hearing that for a while, I decided to leave the cemetery and head down to the beach. On my way over to the path, I saw someone riding a horse on the beach... which I thought was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. That was a beautiful walk and it took about 10 minutes to get to the actual sand. I kept thinking about what it would have been like to climb such a hill under enemy fire... Again, I don't think I was able to fully understand. I stood with a couple of friends on Omaha beach for a while before realizing we needed to get back to the mini bus.
The next stop was at Pointe du Hoc, a battle site where American Rangers landed and scaled the cliffs to capture what they believed to be a very powerful gun that could have completely ruined the landings on D-Day, but after heavy losses and finally securing the position, they realized that the gun had never been activated. The site now is full of bomb craters and remnants of the German post. You can mosey on into some of the concrete buildings and walk all around, which is something new because there used to be signs saying that you shouldn't step off of the path because there were still mines... Yeah... I stepped off the path...
The last stop of the day was at the German Cemetery. This made me even more sad than the American Cemetery. The visitor center was small and the displays looked like someone's 8th grade project on poster boards. Exiting the small building, I went into the cemetery where over 22,000 German soldiers are buried. For each small rounded plaque in the ground, there lies two soldiers. Compared to the rigid white crosses of the 9,000 some American soldiers, it was a sobering experience. I read a few of the stones and most of the soldiers were 22 and younger. That broke my heart. There was no pride here, no victory. It was almost as if they were trying to honor the dead while trying to mention why they died.
The next day, we packed up and headed toward Mont-Saint-Michel, the fortified abbey that has been built up over the centuries on a peninsula of sorts. On our way, we stopped in Bayeux to look at the Bayeux tapestry and the town. That was interesting, but quite different from the two previous days. When we arrived at Mont-Saint-Michel, we unloaded our things and began the hike to our hotel. Yes. We stayed in the medieval city. The hotel was spread into three different buildings. The first we went to was the restaurant and reception. The other two were the rooms. Abbey and I roomed again, for probably one of the last times (sad thought), in the higher building, which offered a little bit of a view. If I had to choose which place to spend the night at out of the two hotels that I experienced this trip, I would have a really hard time. The rooms were better at Arromanches, but the food at Mont-Saint-Michel was terrific. It was the best meal I've ever had in my life. 5 courses: an appetizer of raw salmon in tomato sauce (kinda spicy), then soupe de poisson, then salmon and rice and ratatouille, then a cheese plate, then tarte aux pommes (kinda like apple pie, but different). This event/meal took about 2.5 hours to complete. It was so much fun to sit there and talk with friends and laugh and eat good food. After, we, meaning Abbey, Alan, and I went out exploring. It was late, but we knew that the island would be brimming with tourists the following day, so we decided to be adventurous. It was so cool and I made the decision that I'm definitely coming back when I'm married. Hands down. It was such a cool place and so full of things to look at and walk around...
We left after our tour the next day, so we got home around 8:50 pm, after visiting St. Malo and St. Lo, both cities that were decimated by bombings during WWII, but were rebuilt. I decided to try and walk home, which I think was not the best idea, but I eventually made it and I had dinner with my host parents after meeting my host mom for the first time.
I'm going to cut this post short because it's saying that it's getting a little long, which is true. Thanks for bearing through this long update. I hope it was worth your time!