Our Normandy Invasion

UPDATED

New pictures posted under the "Vacation" tab on our website.

No school on Wednesdays and frequent breaks in the school calendar takes some getting used to, but it's easy to do so when it means you can take off for a week long family vacation in the middle of the fall. So, that's exactly what we did last week. I have a list of places that I want to go while we are in Europe. Paris was at the top of the list, but Normandy wasn't far behind. So we packed up the car and headed out last Monday.

Now, France is something like 17 times smaller than the U.S., but driving from one side of the country to the other is still no small thing. My GPS told me it would be 7.5 hours; however, my GPS doesn't have to stop to pee or eat or have any children. Also, it doesn't account for traffic, which was certainly encountered around Paris. Because of this, I thought that I could surely find a better way around the City of Lights. Forget the fact that I had never driven a car within 300 miles of Paris. Needless to say, it didn't work out to well. The bright side is I doubled my experience of driving around Paris, just on the way out. Long story short. It took 11 hours to reach the tiny town of Villers-Bocage, just outside of Caen. This left us enough time to quickly explore the ancient town of Bayeux before supper, which in Normandy, the land of cream and apples, is not to be taken lightly. We would eat well over the next week.

Our room at the Bed aand Breakfast really nice. Imagine a Bed and Breakfast in France built in 1787 , that's what it looked like. At least it looked exactly like I thought it would. For the most part this was good, but there were a couple of problems, mostly for me. When I layed down that first night I quickly noticed that I was going to have to get creative with my sleeping style because my 6'4 frame just didn't quite fit into the 6'2 bed. This would certainly have been more manageable if not for the foot board, which is probably loose now after the numerous times I tried to stretch out in the middle of the night. Other features of the room more fitting to vertically challenged folks were the light fixtures and the bathroom entrance. Both had clearance of about 6 foot or less. Everyone tells me that people just weren't as tall back then. I guess that could be true, but even if there were the occassional tall fellow, I'm sure he knocked himself brainless before he was able to reproduce, thus ensuring that short folks live on. Now that we tall people have made a breakthrough and moved to more suitable habitat we only need to suffer such concusisoning type blows at the rate of 10 times per day while on vacation to old Bed and Breakfasts. Actually the entrance the bathroom was so low that I hit my neck once. Not kidding. This not withstanding, I really liked our accomodations.

The next morning we were treated to a bit of an oxymoron- Petit dejeuner a La Ferme du Pressoir. La Ferme du Pressoir was the name of our Bed and Breakfast and petit dejeuner is the french word for breakfast. Literally it means "little lunch" but here, it was anything but. It certainly wasn't American fare but the sheer quantity of food meant that it wasn't typical French either. Pastries, breads, butter, cheeses, cereals, fruit, omeletes, cure meats, yogurt, fresh coffee and juice. It was more than enough to keep you going for the day. What made it even better was the presence of our host, Odile. With her sparkling personality and genuine concern for your comfort, you hardly noticed that she didn't speak a word of English. I quickly realized that I've made great strides in the language as I was able to talk to her with very few problems. (And don't let Dana lie to you, she's progressing as well. She may not speak much yet, but she can understand conversations which is no small feat).

For our first full day, it was raining. So, we decided to hit the Caen War Museum and memorial. It featured a great video, a nice museum and a great gift shop. It was a good sign as the kids seemed to enjoy the museum. Obviously I could have spent all day here, but I was happy that the kids showed interest at all. Actually they ask some very insightful questions. Unfortunately some of them are very difficult to answer. What do you tell a kid when they ask you, "Well, why was Hitler so mean?" Sometimes it made me sad to have to even try to answer their questions.

It cleared up a little after a quick lunch at a bistro (not a common occurrence) so we decided to tour the apple country a.k.a Pays d'Auge. In this "county" their is a scenic route labeled the "Route de cidre" . It featured probably 5 different apple farms that produced a variety of apple drinks: Apple juice, Pommeau (basically apple wine), Apple cider (not like ours, not many spices but sparkling with a small alcohol content), and Calvados (Apple Brandy with the same name of the overall area). The odd thing is that they don't sell apple butter, apple sauce, apple preserves or anything that can't be drunk. Speaking of drunk, it would be easy to do on this tour, if you so chose. I did some quick math. 5 apple farms x 4 or 5 samples at each farm (1 of apple cider, no big deal; 1 of pommeau, still relatively mild stuff; 2 or 3 of their different types of Calvados each at around 40% alcohol)= an irresponsible chamber of commerce for advertising this as a "driving" tour. Needless to say, we didnt' follow this formula, but I'm sure there are those that do.

After we'd seen enough of the apples we decided to drive to the port town of Honfleur. Just before our exit we noticed ahead of us the beautiful new bridge connecting two port towns previously seperated by the harbor. The first being Honfleur and the second being Le Harve. It is so big and interesting that you can't help but want to drive across it. So we did. Apparently, big and interesting also means expensive; either that or they know you'd rather pay to cross the bridge than drive all the way around the harbor. 15 minutes and 10 Euros in tolls later and we were back exactly where we started from. This would have been more of a shock if we hadn't driven across France the day before. The French like to brag about their superior highway system. It may be but it doesn't cost me 50 Euros to drive from Chicago to Kansas City.

So, after our detour, we reached Honfleur. Probably the most quaint little town I have ever seen. It's a bit touristy, but no one cares. It reminded me of Sweet Haven from the 80's Popeye movie. Not much to do but walk around and shop, but it was fun. It was also nearing sundown, near the ocean, on a rainy day. Like we did, you might think that a coastal area wouldn't be colder than a mountain town, from which we came. You'd be wrong. It was cold. Real cold. Most evenings got down into the 30's with wind and rain. For some reason I threw in a moderately heavy jacket just before we left, but Dana did not. Since the town was good for nothing other than looking at and shopping in, I bought a nice winter coat (which I needed anyway). Dana looked but couldnt' find one she "really liked". As she shivered the rest of the evening it was easy where each of us stood in the "Form vs. Function" debate. 24 hours later she finally found a garment worthy of keeping her warm. Trust me, it's funnier now, than it was at the time.

While in Honfleur we ate at a seafood restaurant, actually I think all restaurants in Honfleur serve seafood. The French have a way of food sounding appetizing no matter what it is. Escargot? snails. Tripe de la Maison? Beef stomach It goes on an on. Consequently, I'd always wanted to try an Assiette de la fruit de mer. A plate of fruts of the sea. I knew it was dicey, but I wanted to try it. I'm not a huge fan of raw oysters, but they're ok. These were easily my favorite thing on this plate and not because they were so much better than any other oyster that I've ever had (even though they were). Welks, conkels, and other various shellfish and tiny crustaceans adorned my plate. It looked like the resutls of my kids having a scavenger hunt on the beach. Next to it were two condiments that I had no idea how to use and on what. One tasted like pure vinegar and the other like sour butter. I tried everything but finally decided to punt and left half my plate uneaten. You know how crab legs are really good, but you have to put in a lot of effort. Imagine all that work with a payoff of cold chewy sea flavored snot. Exactly.

Day 2: Wednesday. We woke up to the same breakfast and the same weather. Seeing the weather here turned out to be as big a history lesson as seeing the beaches. It makes it easy to understand how rain could hold up an invasion. For our week it was either raining or going to rain at almost every moment. So, we headed to the Battle of Nomandy museum in Bayeux. I didn't see a number but I would put the over/under on WW II related museums in Normandy at 400. They are everywhere. Some are obvious dives others are outstanding. We stuck the the highly recommended ones, like this one. It had some very cool pieces left from the war and the kids really enjoyed it. It also featured another video, after which I began to worry about Lane. I think it's good he learns this history, but the way he now says "Germans" is a little disturbing. I've got some work to do before we visit the Motherland.

It cleared up after the museum so we decided it was time to see the beaches. We started with Omaha. My brother asked me if I got choked up. Honestly I didn't. The beach is so peaceful and tranquil that it is almost impossible to comprehend what happened there. The beaches are functional. There are restaurants up and down, people take their dogs for a walk, etc. It doesn't seem possible that they are the same place.

Utah was even more that way. There is an oyster farm off the beach. We visited at low tide and tractors were out harvesting their shellfish. It isn't until you move inland several yards that there is some realism. Plenty of German bunkers still exist. When you look down on the beaches from a bunker it becomes easier to understand.

The Airborne Museum in St. Mere Eglise was next. This one was great. Being a big fan of Band of Brothers and the history of the 101st. We all enjoyed this one. As a reward for behaving at the museums we often let the kids pick out a small souvenier. Never wanting to miss an opportunity, I try to make it be something educational. Lane picked out a dog tag, which we talked about. Audrey bought a cricket like the noisemakers used by the 101st. I really enjoyed these souveniers.

Dinner on Day 2 was back in Bayeux at a restaurant recommended by our host. Dinner in France is always an experience. It doesn't start till 7:00. It doesn't matter that you've been out all day and it gets dark before 6:00. Too far to go back to the B&B and no other choices we were forced to kill time on several occasions. It's not always as bad as it was on this night. We were waiting when the door opened at 7:00. At 9:15 I asked for the bill before they even asked about dessert, which we paid for (you have to understand how ordering works in France). We're used to dinners being longer, but this was terrible. Even the French people were getting ticked off. The only party that didn't care was a group of drunk and boisterous men from some part of Eastern Europre (I couldn't pinpoint the language). The already frazzled waitress did not appreciate the large drunk man kissing her cheek 3 times. 4 months ago, I would have found this funny. It's odd how quickly you can adjust to and understand a culture.

Day 3. Finally a break in the weather. It didn't rain this morning. It snowed. We headed south for an hour towards Mount St. Michael and I drove through snow the whole way. I can't describe this abbey on top of a mountain. You simply must check out the picutes on my website. It rises up out of nowhere. Now, all the tour books warn you that it is an extremely touristy area. The only consellation is that it has been a site of pilgrimage for hundreds and hundreds of years. Meaning that it has been a "tourist" trap for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is small consellation when you are walking up a street lined with souvenir shops barely 10 feet wide. Luckily for me and the crowd around me October is much less crowded than the summer. Had it been crowded I'm sure a bout of claustrophobia would have been possible. The abbey itself is still functional and worth the run through the gauntlet.

As it was a long walk to the Abbey, through the abbey and back down, we again promised a souvenir for good behavior. Unfortunately, my idea of educational purchases was lost. Lane decided on a midieval plastic axe that made, what turned out to be, very loud noises. Audrey chose a large rubber plastic pencil. It's nice to know that some things traverse international boundaries. Another of these international consistencies is price gouging for "regional" cuisine. Apparently there is a special fluffy omelette that has been made at Mount St. Micheal for years. At 30 Euros for some eggs and cheese, we took their word for it.

We moseyed our way back to Bayeux to take in some more history from another era. The Bayeux Tapestery tells the story of William the Conqueror from something like 1066. It's basically a 200 foot long storybook made out of stitches. I was worried about the kids in this one, but as it turns out it was one of their favorites. They had audioguides specifically for the kids. Audrey loved it and hung on every word. Lane did better than expected. As soon as it seemed he was about to lose interest the story would mention men with their heads chopped off or a man with an arrow in his eye. Great.

Afterwards, we headed back to our tiny village for some quick and easy pizza. Unfortuantely the sign out front informed me that the pizza place was closed for a week for a one day holiday, Tousson. Had I been new to France, I would have found that odd. Luckily, one of those really rude Frenhmen you hear about happened to see me checking out the sign. He came up to my window and explained to me that there was a second pizza place around the corner. What a jerk!

For the start of Day 4, our final day, we were greeted to an absence of rain. So, we took the opportunity to look around the farm on which we were staying. Odile took the kids around to see the horses, cows, goats, and chickens. We also picked apples of their trees and ate them. The kids loved it. Audrey even collected an egg for breakfast the next day.

For the final day we decided to drive around and hit a few more D-day sites. We visited Pegasus Bridge and the final 3 beaches: Sword, Juno, and Gold. Then we drove to see the remains of the artifical harbour created by the Allies at Arromanches-les-Bains. We also toured some still intact German batteries. It's amazing to think that these werre constructed up and down the coast of France. They are massive. Almost as amazing was that they were open to the public and free of charge. We just walked around and played in them.

We also visited the American War Cemetary overlooking Omaha beach. All those emotions that were absent while visiting the beach came forward when I saw all those crosses overlooking the beach. This was another site where I was worried about the kids, but they did well. It worked well that we visited the cemetary last. After seeing all the war related videos, museums, and artifacts it was easier to explain the cost of freedom. I may be crazy, but I really think they started to get it. I know I was humbled to be there. Dana described it as both the best and the worst place she'd ever been. I had to agree.

We headed out the next morning after a quick breakfast. It was raining again. Not just in Normandy, but in France. It rained all the way home. The French are very practical and logical The speed limit on the autoroute is 130 km/h unless it's raining then it drops down to 110 km/h. In theory it just makes sense. In practice it works as well as it would in the U.S. Numbers are objective, but rain is subjective. It could always be raining harder, so surely the 110 is for that situation and not this. The result is high speeds, wet roads, and poor visibility. It was a real nail-biter on the way home. The good news is that the kids slept and I trusted the GPS. We made it home in 9.5 hours. Just in time to get a take out pizza and hit the couch. All told we put roughly 2700 km (that's 1700 miles) on our VW Touran.

The only odd part of the trip home was our spotting of a red 1973 Grande Mustang. I rarely see American cars over here and I had never seen anything older than a 1980. To see a car identical to the one I had in high school and college was surreal. Just to see that car driven by a Parisian was hard to comprehend.