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!