Normandie

In front of the main gate

Saint Malo is an important port.

Someone is eyeing Maria's lunch, even though she seems skeptical.

Yep, right on the sidewalk.

Dining zen.

What the heck is this?

23 Euros and worth it!

Monday came bright and early, 7am at the parking for the beach at Moulin Blanc. Everyone was on time and we were well underway before 7:30.

Our first stop, several hours later, was the city of Saint Malo. We visited the “old city” which is surrounded by a medieval wall. “Old” is in quotes because the walled city was 80% destroyed by the allies during the liberation of France. It was rebuilt in an historic style.

We did our group photo in front of the main city gate, then let the students go off in their groups of three or more to explore. We didn’t see much of them, which is unusual for such a small place. But when it was time for lunch, we found them right back where we started.

I had imagined having our picnic lunches on the ramparts, but the students had started without us; on the sidewalk in front of the city gate, next to the public restroom. It was too late to stop them.

Our next stop was the amazing island of Mont Saint Michel. We walked up the step street to the entrance to the abbey. Chase purchased our entry tickets, and we mounted the steps to the summit. The views from the top of the 13^th century abbey are amazing. You can literally see for 50 miles on a beautiful day like we had. We then descended through the vast halls and chambers of the now-empty monastery.

In real life, it looks just like it does in books.

The street leading up to the abbey is really steep. 45,000 people a day
visit Mont Saint Michel. Monday was a down day, probably only 30,000.

Really steep.

We made it to the top!

Erica and Chloe are on top of the world!

Pretty darned cute!

Pretty darned cute! (Bis)

Muntaha posing for the artiste!

Bis!
(Pretty darned cute, again!)

I showed this to Tara and she asked me
how I got that picture. My answer: 35
years as a professional!

Kind of proud of this one.

Because there aren't enough pictures of Madeleine on the blog.

Secret agent 007.

I love this picture of Maria!

At high tide, this sand is under 12 meters of ocean.

Une baguette! J'ai besoin d'une baguette!

Various of us stopped along the way to purchase various items. Nathan kitted himself with a beret and a marinière, appearing for all the world like a true Breton. Bring on the baguette!

Dégeuelasse!

After Aaron joked all day about a sea gull pooping on Natalie, one pooped on him. We would say it was karma.

There’s an old French saying that pretty much says that, “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” But the French actually say that a gull pooping on you is good luck. I just think it is them making the best of a bad situation.

After the Mont Saint Michel experience, we headed for our youth hostel in Bernières sur Mer, a coastal village that was a D-Day beach (Juno), which was taken by the Canadians. We spent an hour or so walking it and just being goofy American teenagers.

What a wonderful face!

The monuments on the beach

Taking in the setting sun...and the wind...and the sand...

Chase is either looking up a sea creature found on the beach, or
there's a funny meme in Québecois.

Monuments in this form dot the D-Day beaches.

I detect a "Titanic" theme.

You go, Natalie!

Doing the choreography at the monument.

The monument...without the teenagers.

Lights-out at 11 was kind of tough. The students were wound up. Chase had his portable game console going and Noëmie was having a pajama party. But Tuesday was to be a busy day.

As this is the 75^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, it is hard to miss references to this historic event. Each small town or village we passed through had banners with photos of allied soldiers who had passed through them in 1944.

On our way to the American cemetery, we stopped atop the cliffs above the city of Arromanches. There, the British built an artificial port in order to bring troops and materiel. Sections of the port remain in the bay.

Memorial at Arromanches

Students exploring the monuments at Arromanches

In the American cemetery above the sands of Omaha Beach lie the graves of over 9,000 American soldiers who gave their lives for the cause of freedom. It is a solemn place, quiet and placid on a summer morning. But it isn’t a place to take pictures of American teens having fun. So I don’t have many pictures of the students there. But know that they now have a much deeper appreciation of the sacrifices made to keep the world free.

Our last stop was the World War II memorial in the city of Caen. It is a huge structure with four sections. Using authentic artifacts, images and film, the first displays life during the German occupation and deportation of Jews and undesirables to the death camps. The second takes a similar approach detailing D-Day minute by minute. A third section is the actual underground bunker of the German officer in charge of the Atlantic Wall, the German defense against an allied invasion.

We did not have time for the final section which takes a similar approach to life during the Cold War.

Our experiences of this day really brought to life the history that had only been between the pages of a book.

The statue representing the
spirit of the American soldier.

Over 9,000 grave markers.

Us with all of the flags of the Allied countries in front of the Mémorial à Caen

Today, it kind of hit us all that we have reached the halfway point of the program. Several students are trying to figure out ways to stay in France. Nathan informed us today that, if he joined the French Foreign Legion for three years, he could become a French citizen. Some of the girls asked Noëmie to adopt them. Don’t worry, this is typical. I promise, we will bring all of them back to you.

This will continue to be a busy week with the July 4 ceremony tomorrow at the American Monument, Breton dancing Friday evening and an optional excursion to the aquarium at Océanopolis on Saturday. This weekend’s post will be full of pictures and info!