Normandy and Versailles

Monday morning, we got on a train SUPER early in the morning, and rode to Caen so we could have a tour of Normandy. So... let me just say, I was a bit disappointed with Normandy. I guess I had NO clue what it would be, and what to expect, and I set my bar VERY high. I didn't realize that it was over 2 hours away by train, or that we would spend the entire day in a rental car, on a tour, out in the FREEZING cold. I think if I were to do it again, I would hire a tour guide but maybe for 3-4 hours. And I would bring a coat, and pants?

So, obviously I didn't know that it was cold along the beach. I was expecting a fun beach feel. Well, it was 50 degrees outside! I was in a skirt and short sleeve shirt with the only jacket I had was a thin rain jacket. I mean, we had to pack in a carry on, remember?!

We got to the train station, and met our tour guide. He was awesome, yet scary at the same time haha. He owned the FIRST Mcdonald's in Amsterdam, sold it like 15 years ago, moved himself to Caen, to teach others all about D-day. He talked so fast, I may have only caught on to about half of what was said, but non the less I learned a ton about D-day, and the different beaches that were taken that day.  First we went to a small town off of Gold Beach where the Allies had set up an artificial harbor after D-day! You could actually see the remains from that harbor, and when the tide goes down, you can see even more!

Next, we drove to a big cliff, where the German bunkers were located. It was so cool to see so much of it remain!

So, by this point, I was SO cold, and the wind was blowing SO hard (as you can tell in the pictures above). Our tour guide had kind of said something about renting a coat for 5 dollars an hour, and I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious... I kept wanting to ask him about those coats, but was too scared. We went to this ADORABLE fishing town next, and I secretly wanted to eat some crepes and ditch the tour. But, we went on, found a park to eat our French sandwiches at, when finally I got the guts to ask for a jacket. He did have one thankfully! The day went MUCH better after that! :)

Next, we went to Omaha Beach. This was by far my favorite part. He showed us pictures and talked about all the men that died, right where we were standing, and told us that two times a year, the ocean turns a bloody red. No one knows why, but they think it's to remember that day at Omaha Beach.
We visited another bunker, and the boys stood in an actual hole made from a bomb:

Finally, we went to the American Cemetary. It reminded me a lot of Arlington Cemetery. Every grave was symmetrical and was either a white cross, or star of david.

By this point it started warming up, and I wasn't so miserable anymore :)
We headed back to Caen, ate some food (common theme on this trip?), hopped back on the 2 hour train back to Paris, went home and went to bed. It was a longer day than I had anticipated, but overall, still very awesome! I'm SO glad we did Normandy though!

Versailles:
Our last day was spent at Versailles. It is a rich suburb outside of Paris, where King Louis big "Chateau de Versailles" is located. We got off the subway and walked in the gates, to find ourselves in a Disneyland line. It took 2 hours to finally get in, where we got our headsets, and went on tour of the palace!

After the palace, we went into the Gardens, had lunch, and walked around the beautiful grounds. We went off to find Marie Antoinette's village. It was a place inside the gardens that she basically built a village where she could pretend to be a commoner. How cool is that?!  It was by far my favorite part of Versailles as a whole. I could just imagine myself reading by the pond, and playing "house" inside the cute cottages!

We walked back to the subway stop (probably another 5 miles away), and went back to Paris. We stopped into a big cathedral that is known for it's stained glass windows, went to dinner, shopped a little, then went back to the apartment.

The next day we got dressed, of course got some croissants, and took an Uber to the airport, where we flew home to Texas! (I got to experience first class on an international flight! My awesome dad gave me his seat, so I actually slept fairly well on the flight home!)

I'm still in shock that I've actually been to Europe, and seen these amazing places! I'm already planning my next trip, I can't wait to go back! I am SO grateful to our awesome parents for taking us, and for our awesome friends who watched our kids while we were gone. We are truly blessed!