Au Revoir Paris

Our last day in Paris and what a great day it was!  During my research, I came across a group called Parisien d'un jour - Paris Greeter where locals volunteer their time to visitors and show them their Paris.  It really quite fabulous as you tell them what interests you and then you receive a proposal from one of their guides which you can either accept or decline.

We received an email from Marie (a retired school teacher specializing in teaching English) recommending we meet for a stroll to include a wine bar, chocolate shop, oldest market in Paris, the hanging gardens of the viaduc, walk through the  Le Marais (The Marsh) section of Paris and visit to the site of the Bastille.  As this was exactly what we were looking for, we quickly accepted and made plans to meet at a metro stop.

We met Marie at the LEDRU-ROLLIN metro station and our first stop was Puerto Cacao for a cafe and cake. The tour was off to an excellent start!

Le Marais is one of the oldest areas of Paris and the architecture is quite lovely

We were so caught up in our walk and talk with Marie that we did not get a lot of photos. Sometimes it is nice to just be in the moment.  Here are some random shots taken during our 3 hour walk.

We took a quick stroll through Aligre Market...wish we had more time 

there as I do love markets.  Oh well...next visit!

Next stop was Place de la Bastille

Colonne de Juillet (July Column)
commemorate the Revolution of 1830

Larger brick path marks the walls of the Bastille 

before it was stormed on 14 July 1789

After our tour with Marie, we headed back over to Notre Dame to take a cruise on the Siene.  Along the way we passed a street performer and couldn't resist watching his show.  

 A few pictures from our trip along the Siene...what a great way to end our trip!

Au Revoir Paris...until we meet again

The Greatest Generation

I had been looking forward to this day our whole trip as I have always wanted to visit Omaha Beach and see where our troops came ashore on June 6, 1944.  We took the 9:10 train from Paris St Lazare station and arrived in Bayeux at 11:15.  We had a little over two hours before our Omaha Beach tour which was perfect as we were able to see the Bayeux Tapestry!

I remember studying the Bayeux Tapestry with Dr. Willis at Converse.  The tapestry is the story of the Norman conquest of England ending with the Battle of Hasting in 1066.  The tapestry is actually embroidered on a linen canvas and is 230 feet long.  It is estimated to have been completed in the 11th century in a monastery in Southern England. 

Bayeux is a charming little town and definitely one that I would like to revisit. It is the quintessential French town with a large cathedral and lots of little shops and cafes.  We had a Croque Monsieur for lunch and a gelato for the walk to meet our tour.

There are a lot of different tours of Normandy for all the D-Day locations.  We opted for a half-day tour for four and half hours visiting Omaha Beach, American Cemetery and Pointe du Hoc with Overlord Tour.  This was the perfect tour for us as it was just enough information without being overwhelming and allowing us to take in all we saw so we could truly appreciate the significance of standing on the very spot of what began the end of WWII in Europe.

Our first stop was Longues sur Mer where the Germans built a portion of their Atlantic Wall.   It was completed in April 1944 by forced labor.  French citizens were required to work three days a week for the Germans if they had another job and six days a week if they didn't have another job.  While it was hard work, the money was better than anything they could make working in town.

Gunner Seat

Allied mortar took out
everyone in the bunker

There were a few poppies in bloom.

The drive to Omaha Beach took us through small country roads the only made me want to come back to explore this part of France.  As much as I love the action of Paris, I am more drawn to the small towns...very ironic as I always thought I would want to live in a big city.

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting of Omaha Beach but I know what I saw was not what I expected.  Prior to German occupation, Omaha Beach was a tourist beach and today, thanks to the bravery and sacrifices of our troops, it is once again a tourist beach.  It is not tacky tourist beach but just a beach open to the public. 

The tide was out when we arrived so we were able to get the full impression of the distance our troops had to cover to get from the shore to the cliffs.

The bunkers used by the Germans are still standing

and could be seen from our post on the beach.

Seems like no matter where a Charlestonian goes, they always run into another Charlestonian and today was no exception.  What are the chances that the in a small northern French town on a little tour would I run into another Charlestonian?!  Well, Irvin and Michelle Condon  and her sister's family were the other six people on the tour with us!  The really cool part is that Irvin's uncle was a US Ranger and landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944!  Our guide, Sean, was able to show Irvin where his uncle would have actually landed within 50 yards.

 

Our next stop was the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.  Prior to the landing this spot was already designated as the cemetery.  Due to the heavy fighting and inability to take the beach as quickly as anticipated, those killed on June 6, were temporarily buried at an alternate location and then moved once the land had been secured.

 

There are approximately 9,000 soldiers buried here...including 7 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and 4 women.  While far more than 9,000 gave their lives in Europe during WWII, most were repatriated to the US after the war.  Every fallen soldiers' family was giving the option to have their loved one returned to the US to be buried in their hometown or national cemetery if they did not want them to stay in Europe.  Even to this day, if a missing soldier's remains are discovered, the family has the same options...all expenses covered by the government.

Every soldiers' headstone is identical with the exception of two things.  For the fallen Jewish soldiers, they have a Star of David rather than a cross.  For the seven Medal of Honor recipients, their name is in gold and they have a Medal of Honor on their cross.  All headstones face West towards the United States and are in perfect military formation.

Here Rests In Honored Glory

A Comrade In Arms Known But To God

On our way to the final stop, we passed the temporary
cementary for those that fell in the first days of the invasion.

The last stop on our tour was Pointe du Hoc.  The French created a memorial to the 2nd Ranger Battalion under the leadership of LTC James Rudder.  It was during the landing on Omaha Beach, the Ranger motto was first spoken..."Rangers, Lead the Way"

View from inside the bunker at Pointe du Hoc.
Imagine the view the Germans had on June 6, 1944.

We made our way back to town and Sean dropped Julie and I off at the train station so we could catch the 6:51 back to Paris.  Our train arrived back in Paris at 9:15 and we headed to a cafe by the station for dinner before taking the metro back to our hotel.  Please note that the clock says 10:10...that is PM!  It doesn't get dark here until 11:00PM here in the summer.




What an unbelievable day we had...how privileged we are to to have been able to see the spot where the Greatest Generation landed and began the liberation of Europe!

A few words from my travel buddy

Since the day after my arrival in The Netherlands, I've been dealing with an injured knee and after two weeks of walking eight hours a day and tackling all the stairs (no such thing as ADA compliant in Europe), I decided to take today off and give my knee a much needed break.  For those of you that know me well, know this was a really tough thing for me to do as I can't imagine sitting in a hotel room when there is so much to explore but I really want to be able to enjoy the day in Normandy at Omaha Beach tomorrow.

So Julie headed out to visit a few museums and other sites on her "must see" list.  So, without further ado, here's what Julie's take on Paris...

 

It is important to find good travel companions.  I am lucky to have a superb one.  Not only should you like the same type of places, adventures, hotels, and standards, but you should be good enough friends to be able to give each other space. 

 

During our adventure, Lesa needed a day to rest her injured knee to be able to fully enjoy the trip to Normandy and the Omaha Beach tour.  Having had knee troubles and knee surgery myself I fully understood, so off I went.

One of my favorite artists is Rodin.  I saw a copy of The Thinker in the Tate Museum in London years ago and always wanted to learn more about his work.  The Rodin Museum in Paris is just across the street from the metro—very convenient.  Nice that it is on the Museum Pass and that it is an estate comprised of two building of his work and gardens with his sculptures scattered throughout.  I learned that many of his works are a combination of smooth and rough stone. While we are familiar with many of his works like The Thinker and the Kiss, I was taken by two of his works that were intertwined hands.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gardens are lovely and provided a lovely nasal cocktail with probably 50 different rose bushes in full bloom.  The café provided a lovely lunch and scenic outdoor seating to enjoy a quiche and salad.  I particularly like the Edvard Munch painting of The Thinker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Rodin I took the metro to the Musee de l’Orangerie which was thankfully less crowded and relatively quite on a Friday mid morning.  The two oval galleries of Monet’s waterlillies were engulfing.  Sitting in the middle of the room and then slowly turning 360 degrees you got the sensation of the garden from early morning to sunset.  The downstairs gallery had additional  Impressionists work.  My attention was captivated by the two cathedral paintings.

 

 

Given my love of opera, I next jumped the metro to the Opera House or Palais Garnier and stood in line to check out the options for the evening performance.  Rameau’s first opera was playing and they had only a few seats—yes, the best seat in the house on the front row of the balcony, middle seat—but the price tag was €180.  Lesson learned is to buy tickets way in advance so that the good but less costly seats will be available.  Walking through the Opera House was amazing, though I decided to save that tour for the next Paris visit.

 

Just behind the Palais Garnier is one of the largest department store in Paris, Galeries Lafayette, which is quite the experience.  The hotel had provided us a discount coupon and never wanting to pass up good saving, I ventured forth.  Seeing an information booth inside the front door with maps and guides should have given me a clue.  Taking the elevator to the first floor, I was in the shoes.  Not only were there thousands of shoes, there were sections (the designer shoes) where there were black ropes and you had to wait to get into a particular section to look and try them on.  While I’ve always fancied myself a good shopper, I must admit I was overwhelmed and decided to exit the store while I still was in one piece as there was potential for bodily damage in the sale areas.  You know they are serious when they accept over 5 different currencies.  That’s some serious shopping.

 

After escaping the Galaries, I decided to head back to the hotel to relax, share about my adventure and be rested for the day trip to Normandy.  After all, vacationing is about going at an enjoyable pace and taking time for nasal cocktails and people watching.