Normandy and Paris

This weekend was by far my favorite part of the semester so far! We were constantly moving and always had something to do, which made the time fly! Someone on the trip did the math and we did almost 24 hours of traveling within four days! This was more than expected because our bus driver seemed to have never driven a bus before. We got lost quite a few times and even got in a small accident.  It didn't help that the driver didn't know a word of English. I ran into a few problems with the language barrier throughout the weekend, it really made me appreciate London more. It became a problem when walking around town and asking a civilian which direction our destination was. Needless to say, we got lost quite a bit.

We started the trip off with a bus tour of Paris.  The tour lasted about three hours and took us to see the major sites Paris has to offer. The city is really beautiful and has a lot to offer. I was surprised to see how different the architecture and buildings were than those in London. Even though the countries are so close, it is like being in a whole different world.  I was also very surprised as to how dirty the city is as well.  It is so beautiful in parts and nearby, it is quite opposite. Seeing the Eiffel Tower was by far my favorite part of the trip, it is really incredible.  I was able to see it during the day and at night. After dark, every hour, the tower's lights flicker for five minutes.  I was able to see it twice, which was really awesome. Along with seeing the Eiffel tower, we stopped to see the lock bridge. I also got a French crepe, of course.

Lock Bridge

On Friday, we got on the bus and drove for about five hours till we arrived at Mont St. Michel.  I didn't know much about Mont St. Michel before arriving, but I wish I had looked it up before.  It is located in Normandy and is a small island which has a small town and a famous abbey. I had a tour of the abbey, which was incredible.  Built in the 8th century, it was used as a prison for years before becoming a monastery. I stayed the night at St. Malo, where we had a group dinner.  We got the full French experience for dinner, where the menu consisted of oysters, duck and creme brulee. I tried the oysters but can say the weren't my favorite.  The duck on the other hand was delicious; it was really nice to have an actual meal, unlike most of my time since I left home!

Mont St. Michel

Saturday was probably my least favorite day, mostly because we had to do a lot of traveling. We started out going to Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery before lunch. I really enjoyed all of the places we went in the morning. At Pointe du Hoc, I was able to go into original bunkers and see the ruined terrain from bombs. The American Cemetery was also very moving. There were about 9,500 American soldiers buried there, along with statues and memorials. For lunch, we stopped by a small port that had little shops and places to eat. In the afternoon, I saw the Longues-sur-Mer World War II artillery battery and temporary Arromanches harbour that was used to bring allied supplies to shore. It was really interesting to see the actual canons that were used and to see what it would have been like to be there.

American Cemetery

Today was a long day of travel, but I was also able to visit the Caen Peace Memorial, a museum telling details of World War II and the battle of Normandy in particular. It took me a few hours to get through the museum because I really wanted to read all of the information and see all of the artifacts.  I was surprised to see how many artifacts the memorial had. Then after a three hour bus ride and three hours to London, I finally made it home! I was really impressed with the Eurostar, it was really quick and quite comfortable as well. Knowing how convenient it was to take, makes me want to plan another trip to Paris before I go!