As you may have gathered from the title, this entry is dedicated to my time spent outside of Paris in North(west)ern France. Seeing as that was nearly a week and a half ago, I'll have to rely mostly on photo narration for this one. However, long story short: go to Normandy. It is a unique experience unlike anything you'll see in Paris. I have to warn you I might actually get serious halfway through as I discuss Omaha Beach, so note the change in tone as I leave sarcasm behind for a few paragraphs.
Our first stop on this incredible 2-day excursion was Giverny, former home to legendary impressionist Claude Monet. I'm betting the first thing that comes to mind with Monet is the famous water lilies, yeah?
I hope you've seen this. Art History 101, people.
It's funny, at Giverny we saw the darndest thing:
Déjà vu.
In case you've had trouble connecting the dots since back in the days of the Denny's paper kids menu, Monet's home and gardens at Giverny served as the inspiration behind many of his landscape oil paintings. So basically we spent the entire morning strolling through gorgeous real-life versions of his artwork.
Forget wildlife, Europe needs a sign that says "Please don't feed the Katie."
As much as I loved the city stench of Paris, the rolling meadows of fresh flowers and water lily ponds sure were a nice change of pace. After a couple hours of basking in the splendor and rearranging our retirement plans, we were back on the bus for my most anticipated visit of the entire program.
We left behind Giverny and its effervescent sunlight on our journey to the coast, appropriately replacing it with a blanket of somber grey clouds and a cool wistful wind as we stepped off the bus onto U.S. territory for the first time in four weeks. The American Cemetery resting on a cliff overlooking the Omaha Beach landing site of June 6, 1944 has been designated United States soil.
The sensation of setting foot on this hallowed ground is indescribable. The picturesque ocean view juxtaposed with the endless rows of white graves was a truly humbling sight, and it was evident that each visitor no matter his or her nationality gave due deference to the consecration.
Cliffs overlooking the English Channel. Could be any other beach...
...well, except for this.
There are nearly 10,000 American graves beneath these plots, and a memorial chapel on site commemorates over a thousand more unidentified casualties of World War II. At the east end of the cemetery a bronze statue has been erected as a symbol of the "Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves."
The full memorial engraves, "This embattled shore, portal of freedom, is forever hallowed by the ideals, the valor and the sacrifices of our fellow countrymen."
After a time period at the cemetery I consider too short, we piled on the bus for a five-minute drive down to the shore.
The official sign marking the beach.
I wasn't sure smiling was appropriate, but I decided frowning would be more awkward.
After shaking the sand out of our shoes, we boarded the bus for another quick ride back up the cliff to Point d'Hoc, the former position of a massive German gun emplacement impeding American forces from invading Normandy to recapture France. An army battalion scaled its walls to disarm the gun, allowing preinvasion bombing of the site by Allied planes. After the aerial bombing and the burial of its casualties, the area was left completely alone. Still remaining today are original German fortifications, concrete debris, and a dappling of bomb craters untouched save a meadow of overgrown grass.
Holey cow.
A dangerous playground.
One of the deepest craters I could descend while still being able to climb out.
What a cool way to spend the first day in Normandy. I feel really lucky to have witnessed something as special as this, as I haven't felt deeper patriotism in my entire life. Next time you're in France, leave Paris a day early. You won't regret it.
At ease. Back to the less solemn stuff. Our last full day in France was spent at the tiny coastal island town of Mont St. Michel, which further solidified my admiration for Normandy.
I spy a tiny mountain in the distance.
Atop this rocky islet sits the Saint Michel Monastery from which it derives its name, built in the 8th century. Legend has it that the Archangel Michael appeared to a French bishop and instructed him to build a church upon the island, but the bishop refused. So, the angel touched his finger to the bishop's head and burned a hole in his skull. Apparently this dude's skull (hole and all) is on display somewhere nearby, but we didn't get the opportunity to see it. I wasn't too verklempt; the thousands of skulls at the Catacombs in Paris satisfied my bone quota for the month.
Up close and personal.
Hands down the best part of Mont St. Michel is the spectacular view from the top of the abbey. I even took a video recording of the entire landscape because one photo just wasn't enough to capture the vastness of the scene. The vivid blues of the sky and greens of the water and grassland shimmered in the sunlight--it was breathtaking.
Eating a baguette and pondering the meaning of life. So French.
Pretending this wasn't staged.
The second best part was the food. Normands are very proud of their cows. Cows and apple orchards. This is not surprising, as they famously produce milk for Camembert cheese and calvados (an apple brandy), respectively. Plus my personal favorites--biscuits (aka cookies) and CIDER. Those of you who have been around since my England blog posts are aware of my hankering for the beverage, and my friends on the trip could testify on behalf of the cookie obsession I developed overseas. Thank goodness the little island town spiraling around the monastery was packed with shops and cafés boasting the two.
So excided.
A store devoted entirely to cookies. Five pounds of free samples behind me. "Please take ONE" sign absent. Heaven.
I wish I had gotten around to this post a lot earlier because it would have contained many more compelling details on why you should visit this underrated region. Unfortunately my attention span has been quite short recently with the added disruptions of life at home, so this will have to do. Go see it for yourself!
All the right friends in all the right places.
