Normandy Trip
First off, let me say that this trip was
executed at a very very fast pace, so if it seems like I am jumping from place
to place…it’s because we were. The first stop on our two day Normandy trip was
Giverny, the home of the well-known impressionist painter Claude Monett. Here we were able to see the beautiful gardens
that he made himself. You will probably recognize the famous water lilies that
were his muse time and time again.
From
here we traveled all day to a little village in Normandy where we stayed at a
fantastic B&B. Needless to say we all loved it. We all sat down to a home
cooked meal after our long day in the French countryside. None of us had
trouble sleeping that night. We woke up the next morning to a breakfast equally
as good as the meal from the night before. Fresh coffee, coffee cake and
sunshine made for perfect travel conditions.
And travel we did. Our first stop was Mont Saint
Michel. This was quite a sight to see. Set on an “island” it was unlike
anything I’d seen before. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and were
unable to go inside, but we were all happy to be able to finally see it. I
should mention that our professor Britton Lynn had waited 15 years to see it,
he was ecstatic to say the least.
Forty
minutes after seeing Mont Saint Michel we were off again, our destination,
Sainte Mere-Eglise. Famous for being a battle zone during Operation Overlord on
June 6th, 1944 it was liberated by the 82nd Airborne
Division. Now there resides an Airborne museum in the town along with a manikin
paratrooper hanging from the church steeple. We then set off for the American landing
beaches. Utah and Omaha beaches were the beaches where the American Allied
forces invaded France on D-Day. Standing there on the beaches, knowing what had
taken place there less than a century ago, it was moving and sobering place to
be.
After spending half an hour per beach drove to our
final stop before catching our train back to Paris. We visited the American War
Memorial site. I have never seen so many grave markers in my life. The loss of
lives during WWII is mind blowing and again very sobering. Standing there among
the head stones you realize how much a sacrifice is made during war and how
short life is. Sadly we had a train to catch back in Caen, so our stay at the
memorial was also very short. I have always had a love for WWII history, and
seeing these places was one of the best times of my life. I am glad the I and
everyone else on our trip was able to experience it as well and maybe one day
we will get to go back.
HIP 2012 on Utah Beach
~Andrew Hervey
1 comment:
Lovely photos!
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