Trip to the Sea

Last weekend I took a weekend trip through my program to Normandy, Saint-Malo (in Brittany) and Mont Saint-Michel. It was during this trip that I realized just how wonderfully diverse France is, even when the country is one eighth the size of the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I already knew it was wonderfully diverse, but seeing it in person just makes it a entirely new realization. It’s crazy how the culture can develop so differently in a 4 hour time span. Even how much the geography changes. Seriously, France has it all in terms of geography, which is the reason for its diversity.

We started our journey in Normandy, learning about all the history of World War II that occurred there. Our first stop was at the Arromanche museum. This is the point where the British invaded from on D-Day by creating an artificial port. I wish I could’ve recorded the video of how they created this. It was an engineering wonder. They made so much stuff and brought it over from Britain and sunk most of it, only to easily rise the giant concrete blocks when they planned their attack. Some of the port still remains, and we got to see it on the beach. The water and view was so breathtaking everywhere here. It was my first time seeing the Atlantic from this side (and it was incredible). We had such a nice day to walk on the beach too! It was really sunny but windy. Then all the sudden dark clouds came in and it began to pour! So we all ran inside for shelter and to eat lunch anyways. We found this cute quick place and I had a salad with cheese and a Perrier.

Part of the port that's left!

Our next point was Omaha Beach, which has the American Cemetery for those who died in the Normandy invasion.  This beach was different from the Arromanche one. The sand was softer and it looked like the Hamptoms. The views did not cease to impress.  The Cemetary was incredibly sombering. 9000 soldiers are buried here, mostly from D-Day and a lot from after then as well. They all face west towards United States. Because of the cemetery, this is considered American soil. Celine (my program director and professor) said “you guys are back home. This is American soil.” When she said that I started to tear up a little bit. I tried to search for Uncle John, but I had forgot to ask at the front desk where he was and I didn’t remember how to spell his name. So I’m sorry I couldn’t pay my respects Uncle John. Rest in Peace. I’ll have to return someday to find you.   

Our next stop had to be the most solemn part of the day: Point du Hoc. There is a statue that commemorates the brave soldiers who scaled the cliff (which was incredible) to invade into this German occupied area to disarm the artillery. There are bomb trenches EVERYWHERE and bunkers that are so morbid because it still feels like there’s death in there.  Since we were standing on a cliff, the view was so amazing. The cliffs were gorgeous, I can’t even begin to describe it.

This is why this place was creepy...

Last point of traveling for the night was to Saint-Malo (we had a long way to drive to get here). This place is amazing because it’s what the Old City of Quebec is modeled after. As soon as Celine mentioned it I exclaimed “That’s why it looks so familiar!” Because it did look like I had been here before, just less snow and sickness. It’surrounded by a giant stone wall and it gorgeous. We stayed in this great little hotel right inside the wall. All of us for dinner went and got galettes, which are one of the specialities of Brittany. We had hard cider (another specialty) and I had a galette with scallops (seafood is good here) and leeks and mushrooms and cheese. It was amazing. For dessert Marianna and I split this FABULOUS ice cream sundae of chocolate ice cream, amazing hot fudge and lots of whipped cream on top. It was so great. When the waiter brought it out everyone at the other table just turned around and exclaimed “WOWW” and stuff like that. Then after that we went back to hotel and tried to find our other friends who were in a bar right around the corner called “L’Alchemiste” the Alchemist. I had a glass of Bordeaux. I wasn’t in the mood for heavy drinking after a huge dinner and needed to get up early. But it was fun to hang out with everyone.

The next morning Jessi and I woke up nice and early at 7:30 to get ready to go down to the continental breakfast. IT WAS A HUGGEE SPREAD. There were hardboiled eggs and fresh to make softboiled, a million kinds of jelly and cheese and all kinds of bread, yogurt, fruit salad, oranges, apples, dried fruit, tea, coffee, orange juice, cereal. I ate so much. It was fantastic. Then I took more food to eat later for lunch. After we walked on top of the wall of Saint-Malo. I think I loved this view of the water the best. It was so calm and peaceful early in the morning  and bright and sunny. We got so lucky with the weather.

Afterwards we spent a few hours on the bus traveling to Mont Saint-Michel. This was a wonder to see. The abbey set atop a huge hill on an island is a little awe-ing. We walked up to the abbey and everything was so cute and beautiful. The view just kept getting better the higher we went up the hill. I was so amazed and in love with everything. The abbey was HUGE and it felt like it kept going. We wanted to get the lamb (which is a specialty here) for lunch, but we didn’t have enough time..  But it was a great experience and it was so worth it.  

The Abbey

The VIEW