Stateside once again!

We’re all safe and sound back at our respective homes. As time marches on, our vacation will become a distant memory. But, until then, I wanted to fill in the gaps from when I wasn’t able to post or to download pictures. Andy and Alexis were both quite excited about completing their trip with four stamps in their shiny new passports (UK, France, UK, USA)!

I really wanted to post a couple of pictures from Normandy. This picture shows just a few of the 9387 tombstones marking the remains of servicemen and women (4 women are interred) at the American Cemetery. The graves of three Medal of Honor recipients are engraved in gold lettering and the corresponding citations are on display in the information center- pretty amazing stuff. The other picture is of me walking on Gold beach out in front of the D-Day Landing Museum at Arromanches. You can see a remnant of the artificial harbor in the background. I was really surprised by how wide the beaches were here (at low tide)- great while sunbathing, not so great while trying to avoid enemy fire. We toured Utah Beach, Omaha Beach and the Pointe du Hoc Rangers Memorial, the American Cemetery, Gold Beach and the D-Day Landing Museum, and the German battery at Longues sur Mer. It was a long, but memorable day.

I think we all agreed that Normandy made the top of our favorites list. The WWII history certainly made this area one of the most memorable, but the region itself was also a favorite. We based ourselves out of a town called Bayeax. It had a grand cathedral, an original tapestry 70 meters long in pristine condition dating back to the 11th or 12th century, and some of the best food we had on the whole trip (more about food in another post!). The hostel we stayed in was clean, cheap, and had lots of charm (a Bourbon Street style lamp post in the middle of our huge room!). I would quickly choose a return trip here over any of the big cities we visited.

But, onto the big cities we went! As much as I dislike big cities, some have to be visited at least once for their architecture and museums. Paris was no exception. Our first excursion upon entering the city (after finding a hostel and securing 3-day metro passes), was to climb the Eiffel Tower. Actually, you can’t climb all the way up to the third floor of the Tower, you have to take the lift (elevator). And man, can they pack some people into those lifts! The view from the top was spectacular and worth every smelly minute of the elevator ride. After descending from the Tower, we hung out in the Parc du Champ de Mars (Martial Field) between the tower and the Military School. It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to lounge around the park and take in the magnitude and beauty of the Eiffel Tower.
I’ll pick up with our other excursions later this week. I’d like to say I’d do it tomorrow, but tomorrow is my first day back to work after being off the office internet and phone grid for two weeks, so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have. As always, thanks for following along!