Normandy, Paris and Packing

Phew. It has been a fun, long week. We left for an overnight trip to Normandy, on Monday. The first stop was along the coast to see some of the D-Day areas. We visited Omaha Beach and the American cemetery, as well as Arromanches which is cute little beach town that hosts Port Winston, the artificial harbor that was created by the British and American troops, which made D-Day success possible. We saw the huge German gun bunkers, and the Pointe Du Hoc a cliff side that was heavily bombarded by aerial attacks leaving huge 30ft plus craters along the cliff side. We couldn't have picked a more perfect day to go to the beach. Blue skies, and sunshine. It was so beautiful it was hard to imagine what happened there. Standing on Omaha beach and looking way, way up the huge cliff that had to be scaled, with German troops on top in huge artillery bunkers firing down at you, I'm not sure how the boys (most were 18-23 years olds) got the courage to jump off the boats. As we all know, many people on both sides of the fight and from many countries died on D-day. It was however also the day that the alliance gained a foothold in France and within a year Hitler was dead and the war was over. The day was sobering and heavy and unsurprisingly stirred-up lots of emotions. We are however, so glad we went. It was a great experience and nice to take a minute to remember and silently thank so many who paid such a price defending America and the world from oppression. After all of that we drove to Mont Saint Michel and spent the night on the island.

We awoke to drizzling rain, but got ready and headed-up the hill to the Abby. Had an excellent and very interesting self-guided of the Abby, complete with beautiful views of the bay. For lunch we did a Normandy fest. All of the regional specialties. We had mussels in cream, a super fluffy omelet, lamb feed from grass grown from salt water (gives the meat a unique salty flavor) and Camembert cheese. Oh, and hard apple cider to drink, yum! On the way back to Paris we stopped and saw the Bayou tapestry, which is fabulous.

Back in Paris on Wednesday we went to the Orangerie to see Monet's ultra famous Water Lillis paintings. They are stunning in person. The rooms were designed by Monet himself with huge skylights and the paintings really do seem to change as the sun shifts. Since in was overcast on our visit we really got to experience that as the sky shifted from sunny to dark and then sunny again. Then we walked to the Madeline church and then to the Louvre for an epically long visit trying to soak up as much as possible. Our kids have become little museum experts and do really well. E is generally happy as long as he can see and there are people to smile at him (and he is so cute, really who can resist?!) S knows that if he is good, and asks politely we will usually let him color on the ipad while we look. (We view art, he creates it).

Thursday was a frustrating day. We all slept in a little which was great, then headed out to drive to Giverny, (Monet's home and gardens). A drive that should have taken, about 45 minutes, took 3 hours. Of course neither Gardner or I had eaten (in true French style it was yet another holiday which means our coffee/breakfast place was closed), so we were starving. The place was beyond packed. Drove all over town looking for parking and finally had to create our own spot on the side of a parking lot. Giverny was nice. The gardens were very pretty, but had a natural look to them, in sharp contrast to the the perfectly manicured gardens you see in Paris. By this point it was almost 5, so we just drove back to Paris and went to Montmartre for dinner. Ate at a fantastic little bistro, and had a nice walk around the hill. After dinner as we were strolling down the steps along Sacre Coeur and S said “I really like Paris”. With the lights of Paris just starting to shimmer as the sunset and with the giant white dome above us, it was such a sweet moment, makes me smile to think about it.

As an end of the trip treat, we took the kids back to Disneyland. Bought a hopper pass for both parks this time. I have to say, their second park which is Hollywood themed is not very good. They have a few good “big kid” rides. As a family we only went on 3. S of course, LOVED the CARS rides, which was similar to the tea cups. We also sprang for the very overpriced lunch buffet at Remy's restaurant. Complete with a memorable visit from Remy the rat chef himself. S has watched Rattatouille several times since we have been here and was beyond excited. After lunch we went to the “real” Disneyland park and had a great afternoon and evening of rides and fun. Gardner and I did a fastpass/ babyswap combo to ride Thunder Mountian Railroad. It's longer and cooler than the one in California, we both loved it, just wish we could have rode together. S loved Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Pirates of the Caribbean. E loved the Circus Train and the It's a Small World. A great time was had by all.

Yesterday we packed, and packed, but we finally got it all together and today we loaded it into the (jam-packed) car. Currently we are making our way to Strasbourg, where we will spend the night. Can't wait to see all of those cute little haft timbered houses. The first major portion of our trip is over, and I feel great. I'm proud that we accomplished so much with our children along in tow and I know that we will feel the effects of all the amazing experiences we have had in France for a long while to come. So “au revoir Paris”. We can't wait to come back again to the beautiful City of Lights. But today we are looking ahead to the next 10 days and 3 countries. Get ready Germany, the Landon's are on their way.