Hi! Sorry I've been totally slacking on the posts! I think the best way I can do this is to do a brief summary of the days I didn't write and then just be better about posting now...
Free Day - On our free day Ashleigh and I woke up really late! We didn’t wake up until 1 pm! But we needed the sleep. We then tried to contact the rest of the group although only a few people have cell phones. We ended up deciding just to make the 30 minute walk down to the beach where we knew of this little crepere stand. We walked for what seemed like forever but we finally found it and we found a lot of the group there too! This is because the town is so small there were about two restaurants to chose from so it wasn’t really that surprising….I ordered a crepe with ham, cheese, and an egg. It was heavenly! So delicious!!! After lunch we walked to the beach which was about 20 yards away. We stuck our feet in the water and splashed for a while but it was absolutely freezing!! We then decided to find a little grocery store. We walked the opposite direction we came from to find it. We found a little ice cream shop and bought ice cream and continued walking, and walking, and walking, and walking….for about 2 hours. We eventually made it to town but it was incredibly looooooong walk - especially in my beach day sandels!! Oh well, we found the store and bought water and snacks and some wine and had a fabulous evening with each other on the beach. We went down and watched the sunset while drinking little glasses of French wine. We then went to this little bar right on the beach and got to speak French with all the locals! It was awesome to actually use French not just with each other and out of the classroom setting. The owners of the bar liked us a lot! They gave us two bottles of champagne! And after the bar closed (which they stayed open 2 hours longer for us -the locals really liked us for that ;) ) Anyways we then went to the beach and shot off fireworks the owners had and then we walked home. It was a GREAT day!
Mont St. Michel - We went to Mont St. Michel an old monk monastery - and it’s amazing!! So beautiful and looks very magical! When we were walking up to the top the streets looked a lot like Hogsmeade from Harry Potter. The view from the top is AMAZING!!! The tide moves out further here than anywhere else in all of France. When it comes in the monastery is completely surrounded by water and becomes a secluded island. You have to be completely silent when walking through the monastery; which was of course really hard for me ;) I had previously gone here with T. Ray but it was awesome to go in the summer!
Bell Foundry - Next we went to a bell foundry where we learned how to made bells. I can now tell you exactly how to make a bell and it’s a lot harder than you’d expect! They make these bells the same way they did in the 16th century! The mold is made of horse manure, goat hair, and clay. It was really fascinating. Some of the people in our trip weren’t into it but I thought it was really cool how much time and effort is put into a bell. You never think about that. This foundry also repairs bells. They had in the entry way a bell they are getting ready to prepare made in the 1500’s. It’s the only bell of its type left in the world!
William Conquerer - We went to the town where William the Conquerer -King of England and Duke of Normandy lived. Here’s the DL on him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England
We went through his fortress and church it was really cool but the woman spoke in REALLY fast French. This just in when you can’t understand a language you tend to zone out…I definitely zoned. But the architecture was really cool! The Bayeux Tapestries are the story of William the Conqueror and we went to see them as well! These Tapestries are soooo old yet still in great condition and we got English guides during that so I actually understood what was going on! I forgot how much I love history! After we saw the tapestries we had a while before we had to get back on the bus so we went to the “Snack and Drink-Fast and Tasty” restaurant. I love the name of it! We ate French fries and ice cream! It was a great treat to have something familiar.
WWII Museum - We spent two whole days in the Normandy area going to all the WWII memorials, monuments, and museums. I love the history of WWII especially after learning so much about it during IB so this really meant a lot to me. The Peace Museum we went to was very cool with a lot of artifacts and memorabilia. I took a lot of photos. It’s cool because they have a lot of artifacts here because it is Europe, ya know? It’s where the war ACTAULLY occurred. There was a bench that said No Jews Allowed. That was pretty intense. Also there were real Nazi flags. It’s just crazy to think how huge of a part of history it is. I loved the Normandy area because they absolutely LOVE America and Americans! I mean all of France loves Obama but these towns have American flags hanging from houses! It was so nice to feel so welcome and honored!
Still to come:
American Cemetery
Omaha beach
Beach town
And then PARIS!
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