Part 2- NORMANDY

DAY 4

We boarded our train to Caen at 9am from Paris, which got us into Caen around 11am. Once we arrived we picked up our rental car and started on a new adventure in itself, driving in Europe!!! Pat and I were a bit stressed to say the least trying to get out of the city and read street signs in French, but surprisingly enough, we ended up on the right road and headed toward Bayeux.

Our chateau was located about 10 kms outside of Bayeux and was definitely nestled away in the French countryside. The chateau was amazing and was filled with every French antique you could every want to see. We quickly checked in and then headed to the D-Day Beaches. It was an overcast and rainy day but considering what we were looking at and learning about it seemed only right the weather be depressing.








We began on the cliffs above Arromanches and Gold Beach. The beaches here still have all of the beached military boats and it was haunting to see the actual boats. After seeing Saving Private Ryan and the horrific scenes as they approached the beaches, it was hard to see the actual boats hundreds were killed in. We then walked through Port-Winston and bought a bottle of Pear Cider, one of the things this region is famous for.

Our next stop was the American Cemetery and Omaha beach. The Cemetery was difficult to walk through, especially with all of the graves for soldiers that could not be identified. The cemetery is set on a cliff above Omaha beach and is really a beautiful resting place for the thousands buried there.

Our final stop was at Pointe du Hoc. This was the famous site where the naval ships bombed the Germans and the Army Rangers scaled the cliffs to eventually defeat the Germans and disarm them. This was by far the most amazing section of Normandy to us. Pat and I both said that at times you could actually feel a presence there, considering all the blood that was spilt on the hill it would not be surprising it something may still linger there.

After an emotional day we decided to wind down and walk the grounds around the chateau and drink pear cider at a gazebo on the property before heading to dinner.

We headed to Bayeux for dinner to try some "Norman" dishes. Unfortunately I cannot say I was very impressed :(. I liked the wine though :).

Heading back to the train station early in the morning we said goodbye to Normandy.

PART 1- PARIS

Our first stop was Paris and as you can imagine, it is hard to describe the beauty and history that 2.2 million Parisian's get to enjoy daily.

DAY 1

Our hotel was in the Madeline quarter of Paris, which is conveniently located to just about everything. After we checked in we decided to not waste a moment so it was off to The Louvre. In front of the the Louvre is the famous Tuileries Gardens. The gardens take you nearly ten minutes to get through before you arrive at the museum, but it is a walk filled with beautiful sights. The garden was once private property reserved for kings and queens. The garden is filled with statues, fountains, beautiful gardens and of course, lots and lots of people.

Luckily Pat and I had a game plan with The Louvre and had already discussed the areas we wanted to visit. Most people spend nearly an entire day at just this museum, it is one of the largest places I have ever seen. It is Europe's oldest and biggest and the second most crowded, after the Vatican. The Lourve is housed in a 16th century palace, with the exception of the 20th century glass pyramids added later.

So in we went to say hello to a couple of well known pieces.

After the museum we crossed the Seine river to see Saint-Chapelle church. This Gothic church built between 1242-1248 is a cathedral of glass like no other and was built to house the "Crown of Thorns". After a quick hike up a very old spiral staircase we were able to experience this unbelievable sight for ourselves.

Then it was back across the Seine once again to see Notre Dame. This 700 year old cathedral is dedicated to Mary (Notre-Dame) and has sculptures of her all over the church. We were able to go in and witness a bit of a mass and then walk behind to the beautiful Rose Gardens.

We headed back to our hotel to freshen up and then it was off to dinner at The Buddah Bar, an extremely trendy and terribly overpriced restaurant in Paris (mainly because of how poorly the dollar is doing). Although the dinner was very exciting when Pat and I realized we were dining at the table next to Janet Jackson and Jurmaine Dupree. After dinner we headed out to find a night cap. The streets of Paris were a buzz due to Spain winning the Euro Cup that night and combined with the Eiffel tower being lit up with millions of sparkling lights at the top of each hour it was a feeling that is hard to describe.

DAY 2
As I awoke on my first morning in Paris, I was so excited to go grab a chocolate croissant and espresso to start the day. Our first stop after breakfast was Opera Garnier. This enormous opera house was completed in 1875 and was the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera, because it actually has a lake below the stage.

Then we were off for a morning stroll down Champs Elysees headed to the Arc de Triumph. We popped into La Ladree, to pick up some macaroons, they invented them. After a little sugar rush we decided to climb the Arc de Triumph to see the amazing views of Paris. The Arc was built by Napoleon to commemorate his victory at the battle of Austerliz.

Luckily for our feet, by day two we had started understanding the Metro system, so hopping on a couple of subways to go over to the Eiffel Tower was pretty easy. Once we arrived we began discussing how we would climb the tower. After some coaxing Pat finally did convince me to CLIMB the tower. About 600 stairs later, I wanted to die!!!

With nearly a thousand steps under my belt for the day I was ready to turn in early, so we watched the 3 English television channels our hotel had and feel asleep.

DAY 3
We had a lot planned for our last day in Paris, so our day started early. We head to the Musee D'Orsay, which ended up being our favorite museum. D'Orsay is in an amazing building that was once the Paris train station. We saw many of our favorites living at this museum.

Then it was off to see the tomb of Napoleon located in the Army Museum. Though Napoleon was a small man, this museum and his tomb make him seem almost "god-like".

We located the train station and hopped on the C Train "Vick" that goes to Versailles. Every King's dream would best sum up Versailles. It was almost impossible to imagine what life was like for Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Louis XIV actually spent half a years income of France to transform his fathers hunting lodge into a divine palace. We started off walking the gardens and fountains and then rented a canoe to row down the pond on the grounds. After we had melted enough in the sun, we began our hike back up the hill to head inside. We walked the former bedrooms and halls while reading our guide book about the history of Versailles.

We headed back to Paris and decided to hop on a river boat and take a sunset cruise on the Seine. It was wonderful to see the monuments from a different view. After another exhausting day we actually just ate left over pizza, from the night before and watched the BBC.

As we headed to the train station the next morning, I really understood why some people spend their entire trip just in Paris, there is so much to do. But we were happy that we saw everything we came to see and it was off to our second destination- Normandy.