We started off the day early and left Paris for The WWII Museum in Caen. The Museum was really interesting. Not only did they have lots of equipment and stuff from the time period and war, they also had tons of photos and videos, plus a walking timeline of events leading up to the war. It was really interesting to slowly see the peace from after WWI slowly deteriorate and effectively launch the second war.
After the museum we went to see two of the D-Day beaches. The first was just a view of the ocean, another had lots of the remains of the German bunkers along the water. It was pretty chilling and interesting because there were probably hundreds of huge divots in the ground left from the shelling of the invasion as the Allied forces approached. Now they're all covered in grass but there are huge indentations over 10 feet deep.
We also visited the American cemetery, which I'm sure everyone has seen pictures of. None of the picture's that I've ever seen have really done the place justice. It's just an incredible site to behold and to walk around among the thousands of tombstones.
We finished off the night in St. Malo, which I've already mentioned. It was awesome I thought. It's a small town surrounded by walls right along the water. The night we got there I went out to dinner with a few people and had salmon for the first time. I figured I'd like it and it turns out that I did. I also tried a raw oyster. However, unlike the relatively mild salmon, I didn't like it at all. I almost yacked while I was trying to get it down. I don't think I'll be going back for more haha.
The next morning we had time to explore the city some more. It was a beautiful day and we got to walk around the ramparts (the walls) and check out the city and eventually the beaches. It was really cool to get to see the Atlantic again, and touch it. Just a few thousand miles across it is the US, pretty cool to think its the same body of water. The views of the rocks and everything were spectacular.
We walked on the beach a bit and climbed some of the rocks. There's an island off the coast of the city that had a walkway to it, but you can only get to it when its low tide. They also have a pool built in the ocean that holds in water when the tide goes out. It even has a diving board that just looked like a staircase in the middle of the water.
We visited Mont Saint Michel during the day sunday. It's a huge rock in the middle of the water which has a small town built on it and a monastery on the top of it. Its inaccessable at the highest tide (every other week), but we were able to get to it. It's funny because when its not flooded its just a desert of gray clay sand mud, which apparently swallows people on occasion! The whole place was a marvel to look at from a distance, but the city and monastery themselves were pretty bland. I suppose because I've seen a bunch of old castle-like cities already on this trip.
Anyways, for starting off not sure how much fun I would have, this was quite an awesome trip. It was definitely worth the weekend. Plus, I finished reading The Sirens of Titan on the bus ride, I really enjoyed it!
Both from the American Cemetery
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