Paris by C

Today was a more relaxed day. We needed it. We have been getting up at 7:00 and driving and driving and getting home around midnight. Today, we met some friends (the girls' italian teacher and her french husband) at a cafe in front of the Louvre for cafe, the, and croissants. It was quite lovely! We spoke a bit of French, a bit of Italian, and lots of English. From there we caught the metro and toured the Marmottan museum that holds a collection of Monet's works from his caricatures through his water lillies. It was fun to see the paintings of Giverny and Rouen since we have now visited both. After that we traveled to the Catacombs where we traveled 35 meters below the surface and down 83 steps to see the anonymous bones of 6 million parisians. In 1785, the revolutionary government of Paris decided to improve sanitary conditions by removing the city cemeteries to an official ossuary. They decided on the underground tunnels that had been created when the area was mined for limestone. For decades, priests led processions of black-veiled bone laden carts to the quarries where the bones were stacked into piles five feet high and as much as 80 feet deep behind walls of neatly stacked skulls and tibia. It was quite interesting although a bit creepy. We stopped for a quick treat (la glace et les crepes) and headed home on the RER and back to our villa where we had a homemade dinner. Nice relaxing day. Tomorrow evening we head to Venice on an overnight train. No plans yet for the day time.

Normandy Day 2 by J

When we woke this morning, we were served a continental breakfast by Odile, our hostess. Juices, coffee, tea, fresh pastries and bread, and of course, cheese. Fresh fruit was plentiful including the cherries that T and H picked last night.

After breakfast, we said au revoir to Odile et la ferme and headed to Mont St Michel, an island abbey on the Normandy coast. The day was foggy but it burned off some by the time we left. We were early enough that we beat the heaviest crowds. From AD708 until 2001 this abbey was home to the Benedictine Monks who lived in this high spartan spot in an effort to be closer to God. It is hard to imagine how such a place could have been built - an engineering marvel. We all really enjoyed seeing this abbey and the cloisters and of course the views out over the water and to the grazing sheep.

Leaving Mont St Michel, we headed to Honfleur where Monet painted the harbor. Cute little town with some small art galleries - we found a sculpture we wanted by DeVille Charbrolle - only cost 14,000 euros! T and H found a cute gelato place, so all were happy.

Rouen, a large city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the 1400s in front of the Cathedral in the city square, seems to be a little down in the dumps. The Cathedral of Notre Dame, a beautiful structure with a very unique spire, was damaged severely in 1944 when the Allies bombed the city to rid it of the Germans. Though obvious work has been done, there is much to do still; it even seems dirty and unkempt, as does the city itself. Glad to have seen it, however. Long, circuitous ride back home. Another great day!

Normandy by T

After getting dressed, we had breakfast (strawberry tarte, raspberries, strawberries, eggs, croissants). Then we headed to Normandy in the car. It took about four hours to reach the coast. On the way, we played games where everyone had to name something that started with each letter of the alphabet. We did fruits/vegetables, words in any language, colors, countries, cities, etc. Finally, we arrived in Arromanches (one of the sites where the Americans landed on D-Day). We learned about the attack and the great planning that preceded it. We learned that the Americans had to get out of their boats and swim/run to land with their weapons and packs, all while the Germans were shooting at them. Later they had to climb the cliffs with fire ladders. The Americans sunk their ships to create a barricade that made it easier to land. We watched a movie that was 360 degrees and it had pictures from D-Day and present day. It was very moving and depressing in a way to hear about all of hte soldiers that died. After Arromanche, we headed to the American Cemetery where we saw headstones for 9387 American soldiers and names of 1500 that were still missing. This site was even more moving than Arromanches particularly since they were preparing for the D-Day anniversary celebration on the 6th (tomorrow). There were lots of veterans looking for the graves of fallen comrades as well as families doing the same thing.

After leaving the cemetery, we went to a farm where we had reservations to spend the night. It was a working farm with horses, goats, and chickens. We had a snack of homemade apple cider and we headed to Bayeux for dinner. In Bayeux we walked around little Notre Dame (the cathedral de Bayeux) and we went to a restaurant called Doomsday for dinner. H and I had vegetarian pizza and Gram had pepperoni pizza. Daddy had a salad and a yucky crepe. Mommy and Papa had omelets. We returned to the farm after dinner and watched Grey's Anatomy in French. We went to bed!

Paris by D

Today we slept in after our late night in Paris. We went to the supermarche called Auchon, a huge supermarket about 5 minutes away. After stocking up (H and T got two huge chocolate and strawberry desserts for later in the day), we hopped on the RER and headed back into Paris. We went to the Louvre - Gram and Pappa went to the Dinan section and saw the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory. We went in the other direction, having explored Dinan last year. We found a great room full of French sculptures and T did some sketching. H led us to a section about the history of the Louvre where we got to walk around the original moat and into the dungeon. After a quick walk in the Tuilleries gardens, we hopped on the Metro and went to Ile de la Cite where we saw Notre Dame. After a break with some ice cream, we headed home for a homemade dinner of Gnocci followed by the fancy deserts we bought earlier. The girls finished the day with a dip in the pool. We're looking forward to our trip to Normandy tomorrow morning!