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Friday:
Wake up at 5:30, meet the bus in front of the Opera Garnier at 7:00. Sleep for half the hour-and-a-half bus ride, start reading Brideshead Revisited for the rest. First stop, the World War II memorial museum in Caen. Several interesting artifacts in the museum, including a shelf of bullet hole-ridden books, some tacky Mao merch, and the tanks. Didn't necessarily add much to my knowledge, but a good start to the trip.
The Germany cemetery was next. With all the war dead in France, it was created to burry those who were not returned to Germany, and is maintained by an international foundation that enlists young people to work on sites like this as a way of promoting international cooperation. The statues looked extremely, imposingly German. Strange to think that this yard was full of soldiers who were probably younger than me, and who likely had little choice or real knowledge of what they were getting into.
Point du Hoc, where Americans scaled the cliffs to disable a series of Germany gun emplacements that guarded the coast. This part of Normandy is a land where the terrain was created mostly by bombings evidently. On the whole, actually, Normandy reminded me a great deal of Ohio, only less gray. I was glad not to have matching bright orange hats like one tour group.
Omaha Beach, where you wouldn't know its history were it not for the monument up the hill. Expansive coast line, not particularly looking like a swimming area, but showing no signs of D-Day.
Finally, the last of our monuments was the American Cemetery, which looked like Arlington transplanted. The same long, symmetrical rows of white markers. This is evidently American territory.
We spent the night in Caen, at a hotel that was much nicer than everyone had expected. Went out with some friends in search of dinner, then met up with another group who had sampled local dishes. Went out to watch the first game of the Rugby Cup, in which France was painfully defeated by Argentina. Knew little of the game, but understood the action well by the end.
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Saturday:
Left Caen around 9:30, after a large breakfast of croissants and coffee at the hotel. Drove an hour to Honfluer, a small extremely picturesque seaside town. The streets near the harbor were filled with an open-air market that we wandered through for a while. Took a look through the winding, narrow side streets, then had mussels for lunch. Very tasty.
Drove next to Deauville, another seaside town, though this one leans more towards the beach-resort side. Spent two or three hours at the beach, swam in the Atlantic, played soccer. Then we walked through the town, past an American Film Festival that was wrapping up (though there was only a Ben Stiller film being promoted at this point). A nice, relaxing afternoon, and I definitely got some sun. My nose is finally starting to fade from red.
Tony and Gracie had gotten to Paris late on Friday night, so I met up with them and their friend Garrett, also from Northwestern, after we got back. We wandered through the city, amazed by Notre Dame at night.
Sunday was mostly spent taking care of reading for today's classes, on the systematization of the French language, the legal organization, and history from the Revolution through the First World War. Long classes today, but nothing tomorrow morning.
I was sad to see that Madeleine L'Engel had died. The Wrinkle in Time series was one of those landmarks of my childhood. Goodbye, Meg. This past year has been terrible for the greats: Vonnegut, Sills, Bergman, and now L'Engel (along with many other I'm sure I am forgetting).
For the rest of the weekend's pictures: http://northwestern.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092769&l=fea69&id=2411663
