Catching Up: Normandy & D Day Beaches

I'll be the first to admit that I've gotten embarrassingly far behind with blogging. The irony of traveling in Europe is that the more interesting things you do, the less time you have to write about them, as it turns out. So today I'm going to try to track back to over a month ago (don't worry, I kept a journal so I'm not totally making everything up), when we went to Normandy, the D Day beaches, and Paris!

To kick off our 23-day travel adventure, we got on a bus headed to Bayeux, France. This is where the famous Bayeux Tapestry is kept, a 230-foot long tapestry recording the Norman conquest of England, and the battles between William the Conqueror and Harold, King of England. It was amazing to walk through and listen to the story being told along with the visual accompaniment; it's an incredibly complicated story that was not only depicted well, but also incredibly preserved.

Afterwards, we went to the Notre Dame of Bayeux, which is a gorgeous Gothic church. Since it's not tourist season yet, it was pretty empty, which was really nice - it's a very different atmosphere from the Notre Dame in Paris.

We had the most amazing dinner of galettes, savory crepes that are famous in the northern part of France, and the next day we headed to the D Day beaches.

 Here's one of the structures that we saw around the beaches - I think it was constructed as a defensive structure.

This is the original beach that the Americans landed on - now people come here as a beach vacation, which is really strange to consider, but it is a beautiful beach.

 To prove my point, here's Taylor and me by a waterfall-y thing on the beaches - it was treacherous trying to get to, but worth it for sure (my hand on my knee is covering up a grass stain from slipping on the rocks... oops).

 After the beaches, we headed to the American cemetery, which is one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. It's impossibly huge, and it's crazy to think that so many people lost their lives here because Normandy today is so tranquil. Dave Mackaman also spoke to us about his father, who was involved in the transport of troops to D Day, and the effect the war had on him, which was so powerful. I think it's easy to forget how much war can affect people - it's not just a matter of who died and who survived; there's a lot more to consider about the mentality of people who live through wars. At the cemetery, we went just as the fog was rolling in, which added a much more profound effect to the day.

 After the beaches, we went to another site that has craters remaining from the bombs and artillery used during the war - these craters are massive, and it's even after years of peace. I can't imagine what it must have been like during the war.
Also, as a fun fact, those guys in the picture are in training for the British Air Force - they were there on holiday to visit the beaches, and I thought it was kind of eerie to get a picture of them at the top of one of these craters.

Finally, our last stop was the German cemetery in Normandy - it was so different from the American cemetery. It was a lot more subdued and simplistic, and apparently most of the soldiers mentioned here were actually brought back to Germany and not buried in France. I also thought it was interesting that while the American government pays for the upkeep of the American memorials, the German cemetery is funded by private donations only.

Okay, that's all for Normandy! Next up, Paris.