Normandy and Last few days in Paris

Has it really been a week since we left for Normandy? Good grief, where does the time go?

Last Friday, the day started like any other. Class. But after class, we got to go to the free, stuff your face with French food, buffet at school. After eating lots of French food, I got a text message saying the Catacombs were closed due to flooding. Take 3 at the Catacombs spoiled. So we re did our plans. After leaving school, we headed towards Suzy and Ashleys house for Gelato Friday, and then walked to a nearby souvenir shop for some souvenirs. After a while, we met up with the class to tour the Rodin Museum. It was our last tour with Edith and one of the museums we were most looking forward to seeing. The Rodin Museum used to be where Rodin lived, and in exchange for Rent, he gave his works to the state. The most famous work it houses would be 'The Thinker.' After the museum, we got a very short time to explore the gardens and take pictures before being kicked out of the museum (we got good at getting kicked out of museums for staying too long.) We went over some instructions for meeting in the morning and then everyone headed home for dinner with families and to pack for Normandy tomorrow.

Saturday: We had to meet Dr. Hagan at St. Lazare train station at 7:30 this morning. Do you know how early that is? We had a very uneventful trip there and found Dr. Hagan easily in his bright orange jacket, baseball cap, and his 7 ft tall-ness. We had a 2.5 hour train ride to Normandy that was also uneventful. I managed about an hour nap, and then talked with Dr. Hagan and some other people the rest of the way. When we got to Normandy, we were met by Rose, our tour guide, and our bus driver. Rose told us that rather than doing the beaches on Saturday, she wanted to take us to Mont St. Michel because it would be less packed today. Downside? It was a 2.5 hour bus ride. She was a really good guide though and talked to us the whole way talking about each town we went through and the historic events of the town. It was very informative. I had never heard of Mont St. Michel before and had no idea how it related to the war, but it sounded cool so I was excited to go. Come to find out, I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with D-Day, but it was a cool place.

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

These verses describe Mont St. Michel to a tee. Mont Saint Michel is this huge Monastery/ church/ former prison on the very top of a mountain of rock. There is a town (that is very touristy) built below on the mountain. As the tide comes in, every other week the area around the mountain floods. It floods most the parking lots and you end up walking a very long way to get there. We were lucky enough to go at low tide and just had to hike up the side of the mountain. The only way into the town is the access road, which is very long and doesn't generally flood. We toured around the Monastery and had a lot of picture time. This was the highlite of the trip so far. I loved hearing about all the history in the church and how some rooms were supposed to be built, but then they decided not to build them. It was way interesting, and I decided that, someday when I get a nice job and can afford it, I will go back. After the tour, we got some time to go shopping in town and to the beach. The beach was muddy, but many of us still went it. Were Iowans, and this is a real beach. Don't tell us we can't go in! After about half an hour, we loaded the bus and began the long ride back to Bayeux. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant and then headed back to the hotel. Jessie, Eboni and I were rooming together. We had a game of Phase 10, which, point wise, I won, and then headed to bed.

Sunday:

We caught the breakfast (cereal, hot cocoa, warm croissants, bread, jelly, juice, yogurt, and some other stuff we could choose from) at the hotel and then headed out for a busy day of WWII history. We started by going to the German Cemetery. We saw pictures of the Germans and Rose told us of how many soldiers who were captured were actually happy about it because they would be treated better as POW than their own army treated them. From there, we headed to Mont St. Eglise. This is the church were (if you know your D-Day history) the parachuter got stuck on the steeple of the church. We toured the town on the bus, headed to a bakery to pick out lunch, then headed to the museum. It was way cool! We got to see a glider that was used (that I would NEVER ride in.. Hard to describe, but it was not feeling very sturdy.), and then saw a video of what had happened in the town. After wards, we headed to the church. The cool thing about the church was that they had some interesting stained glass windows; for example pictures of the Virgin Mary with soldiers around it. Many things at this church were fairly new as they were not put in until the soldiers returned to the town for the first time about 15 years ago. After this, we headed to Utah Beach. We got to walk around there reading the numerous monuments for soldiers and eating our sandwiches for lunch. Next, we went to Pont du Noc (i think that is what its called). This is were the Rangers climbed up the side of the mountain after an Arial attack, but they were 45 minutes late. This place has not been restored and you could climb in and out of many German bunkers (hide outs) and also see the holes in the ground where the bombs fell. We got about an hour to run around here and crawl around the bunkers which was a lot of fun and a lot of history! Next, we headed to Omaha beach. Omaha beach had the most casualties on D-Day, and is probably the most well known beach in Normandy, for the Americans at least. We saw the one gun that still remains there (behind bars though) that was a huge gun for the Germans and could shoot huge amounts of distances across the beach. Then we headed out to the beach to go wading in the water. We walked quite a bit out even though the tide was coming in . We walked across a few sand bars and after a few minutes, realized the tide was coming in quicker than we though, so we wondered back. When we walked out, the water was about mid calf. Coming back it was up over my knees, so coming back was probably a wise decision. After Omaha beach, we headed to the American cemetery. Rose walked us around and should us the different statues and the maps at the cemetery. We had some time to wonder around and she pointed out different graves that she felt we should see. We saw a grave of one of the few women buried there, the grave of the highest ranking person there (which isn't distinguished at all), the grave of an unknown soldier, and someone who got the Medal of Honor. After that, we walked on the sidewalk over looking the beach, and headed to the last monument that was at the cemetery that had a bunker next to it; so of course we all crawled in and out of the bunker. We took about a 30 minute bus ride back to Bayeaux and then had a few minutes to rest before we decided to head out to the same restaurant we ate at last night. Tonight though, we had some sort of soup, pork and French fries, and chocolate some or else for desert. (Last night was a meat dish for appetizer, some sort of main course that i dont remember but it was good, and apple tart for dessert.) After dinner, a few of us walked Suzy to the train station so she could head home for camp. On the way back, we stopped by a park and got roped into playing (aka kicking around a ball) soccer with a kid and his father. We wondered the park for a little bit and then headed back to the hotel. We had a nice chance to sit and talk with a lady from Wisconsin (whose daughter went to Iowa!) for a while and then headed to bed after a long day.

Monday: Today was a holiday in France so many things were closed. We got to sleep in (until about 8:30!) and then after breakfast at the hotel, headed to the Bayeaux Cathedral where the famous Bayeaux tapestry used to be housed. It was an amazing cathedral. Words cant describe how amazing it was. They had some really nice relics and some other nice stuff. (its okay though, i have 100 pictures :)) Then, Dr. Hagan sent us to a park so we could lay and frolic for a while in the sun. When he caught back up with us, we went down to the tapestry museum to view the 240 foot (70 meter) tapestry. It tells the story of William the Conquerer through embroidered scenes made in 1044 ( I think). Quite the sight. We wondered through that museum and saw the movie for it and then grabbed some Kabobs for lunch and headed for the train back to Paris. Many of us were sad to be leaving and going back to Paris. We had enjoyed the time back in small towns and were not looking forward to the hustle and bustle of a large city. When we got off the train, I saw a fnac (book store) across the street and headed there to find a few more gifts. I then headed to St. Sulpice to look around some more. St. Sulpice is the church where (if you have seen DaVinci code) he kills the nun. The church is absolutely amazing and looking not very much like the church in the movie. The best part: on the wall in the church is a sign that basically, in more words, says "Dan Brown: you are a liar." (I'll put a picture of it on Facebook.. Speaking of Facebook: there are a ton of pictures on there, so if were not Facebook friends and you want to see pictures, friend me!) I then headed home for the night as an exhausted camper.

Tuesday: Today was our last day of class! We just had morning class too! So after class, we did the goodbye and picture thing and then headed to a former Port of the city (Paris used to be a walled city so there were a bunch of doors to get in. Only a couple remain so Dr. Hagan took us to one.) and then got food at an amazing Turkish restaurant. I had some sort of tomato paste for an appetizer (can't say I would voluntarily order it again..), beef for main course, and then that one traditional dessert that i don't remember the name of. I think its a Greek dessert.. (YEY GOOGLE. Its called Baklava.) After that, the majority of us headed to my neighborhood (ish) to a former châteaux/ prison (what is it with the French using things for prisons?). Also there, there is another St. Chappelle (in order to be a St. Chapelle you have to have a certain relic.) So we wondered around both of those places and then Briana, Matt, Ryan, Chanie, Emmalee, Sofie and I headed for the pond (thats right around the corner from my house.) Unfortunately, I had never been to that side of the park. Someone, not me, i promise, had the great idea to turn off the main road so we took a nice 30 minute walk out of our way, but eventually found the pond. We got some crepes and hung out for a while. Later that night, after dinner, I headed back out to meet up with some people from our class at school to see someones boyfriend play at a Jazz Cafe. It was pretty good.

Wednesday: We attempted to go to the catacombs again today. Still flooded. Darn. Were probably not meant to go to the Catacombs. We walked to Luxembourg Gardens one last time, and then some of us did a picnic lunch while others went and got crepes. Afterwards, we walked to St. Michel for coffee, and then i went with people souvenir shopping on the way to BHV. We walked to Bastille, got crepes, got smoothies, then went to Pompidou Center for Gelato. Then we went to a park on the other side of town were you can actually walk on the grass (many places in Paris you can't be on the grass.) and did our individual presentations about things that we had learned/noticed in Paris. I presented mine on the poverty and homelessness in the city. After that, i ran home to change for dinner and headed back out to meet the group. That would be when the most traumatic event of the trip took place. In short, I got stuck in a VERY crowded metro with no light in the middle of a tunnel for a while and then had to make 5 connections because of a passenger accident and showed up at the group dinner, out of breath from running a few blocks, and in tears, 20 minutes late. I was also quite scared out of my mind to ride the metro again. We had a dinner that wasn't all that terribly amazing, and then headed out. We finished dinner around 12:30 am (no joke) and the metros stopped at 1 am, and we were meeting at 7:30 the next morning, so we headed home to pack.

Thursday: Ugh. Sad day. Last day in Paris. I tried to go to the bakery this morning to buy a baguette to bring home for my brother, but nothing in our neighborhood opens until 8 am. I should have guessed. So, i gave my host my thank you gifts, finished packing and then we headed out. After dragging my heavy suite case uphill the 10 minute walk to the metro, we rode a packed metro and RER (basically a passenger train that goes through the suburbs into town) to the station where we were meeting and headed to the airport. We had a rather smooth flight, which was also 40 minutes early, and a smooth landing. It was a nice flight. Headed back towards Iowa to drop people off and do a quick DQ stop so i could see some friends and made it home and went straight to bed. My bed. I forgot how much i loved my bed. With real pillows. and a real blanket.

In all, I loved Paris. It was quite different from anything else I have done/experienced in the states. I can't say I would go back again with a large school group, but I think if i went with the right people,. I'd go in a heartbeat. The best part was, by far, Normandy. I can't describe how amazing it was or why it was so amazing, but you will have to go there yourself and experience it. Now that I'm home, I'm starting to get excited for Maine this summer, and the plans that God has for me there. Yet, it still hasn't quite sunk in that I'm in Iowa. Ill give it a few days. :)