Day 7 - France (12 June 2019)
We started the morning as every other morning, eating breakfast, loading luggage in the bus, and doing a head count so we could leave. Except, none of my three male students were on the bus.
It was so emotional to walk the grounds. We climbed up to a lookout, and there was a flyover of helicopters, which was a tender mercy.
Every time the emotions were too intense, I’d take a picture of the peaceful nature to reset a little. It’s is amazing to me how nature can soften even a bombed countryside.
From Point du Hoc, we went to Omaha Beach. I had just watched a few documentaries on D-Day, and a lot of them focused on this beach, which is a long, wide area. Today, it’s so peaceful.
Solène, our Tour Director, played a game on the beach with the students to teach them the significance of needing to carry your buddy to get all the way up beach to dry land.
When the time came, we went to the American cemetery in Coleville. If I were a mom who sent my son to war and he needed to have a resting place for his body, I would want it to be in the American cemetery.
June 6th marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Last week, they had a large celebration for it, but I was grateful we came this week. It was pretty calm as you walked through it. The birds were chirping and there were workers tending to the grounds. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I cried here too as I walked through the more than 9,000 grave markers.
One of my students felt the tangible heaviness as we walked around. I think he cried as much as I did. When I asked him if he was okay, he just responded with, ‘I didn’t know.’ I think he will remember it as much as I.
After making our way back to the bus, we drove towards the town of Arromanches. It helped reset my emotions to see the nature and churches dotting the landscape.
We ate lunch in darling Arromanches. We only had a half hour, so we ordered sandwiches to go and sat on the ramparts looking out towards the water.
This part of France is gorgeous. It took a little less than an hour to make our way to Caen. It was relaxing to look out the windows and imagine myself living here.
When we wrapped up at the museum, we got back in the bus to go to the rstaurant. On the way, we glimpsed the palace of William the Conquerer and a few interesting sites in town.
At the restaurant, we had dinner which was a Camembert, potatoes, and chicken stew that was served in a crêpe-like lined bowl. It was HOT (temperature wise), but was good once it had cooled down after a several minutes. But we had apple ice cream for desert, and that was delicious!
We had some free time, so we went to Monoprix for the students to get some snacks for tomorrow’s bus ride. It was pleasant walking about for a bit before heading over to the (really nice) hotel.
It was an extremely emotional day, but I loved every part we experienced. I am so grateful that I get to be here, and even more so to have my students experience all there is to learn on the trip.
I sent another student up to verify that they were still in their room, and she woke them up. As soon as she yelled down to me that they just woke up, I went up and knocked on their door to help them shove stuff back in their bags. From start to bus, it took 5 minutes.
The drive was beautiful, as always. We stopped for some caramel in D’Isigny. Evidently Walt Disney’s ancestors were from here, but they do make great caramels!
The true start to the day was on the bus on our way to Pointe du Hoc. Such a powerful reminder of what took place here. The whole area had been bombed, and they never fixed the craters that were left after they dropped the bombs.
I was pretty emotional and cried the whole time walking around. There was such devastation to end the atrocities of the war, and there was a heaviness in the air.
They still have the bunkers and we were able to walk through them too. It all felt very somber.
It was so emotional to walk the grounds. We climbed up to a lookout, and there was a flyover of helicopters, which was a tender mercy.
Every time the emotions were too intense, I’d take a picture of the peaceful nature to reset a little. It’s is amazing to me how nature can soften even a bombed countryside.
From Point du Hoc, we went to Omaha Beach. I had just watched a few documentaries on D-Day, and a lot of them focused on this beach, which is a long, wide area. Today, it’s so peaceful.
Solène, our Tour Director, played a game on the beach with the students to teach them the significance of needing to carry your buddy to get all the way up beach to dry land.
When the time came, we went to the American cemetery in Coleville. If I were a mom who sent my son to war and he needed to have a resting place for his body, I would want it to be in the American cemetery.
June 6th marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Last week, they had a large celebration for it, but I was grateful we came this week. It was pretty calm as you walked through it. The birds were chirping and there were workers tending to the grounds. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I cried here too as I walked through the more than 9,000 grave markers.
One of my students felt the tangible heaviness as we walked around. I think he cried as much as I did. When I asked him if he was okay, he just responded with, ‘I didn’t know.’ I think he will remember it as much as I.
I believe sometimes the only things we can do in life is be a witness to the memory of the atrocities that happened, in hopes that they will never happen again.
After making our way back to the bus, we drove towards the town of Arromanches. It helped reset my emotions to see the nature and churches dotting the landscape.
We ate lunch in darling Arromanches. We only had a half hour, so we ordered sandwiches to go and sat on the ramparts looking out towards the water.
This part of France is gorgeous. It took a little less than an hour to make our way to Caen. It was relaxing to look out the windows and imagine myself living here.
When we arrived in Caen, we went straight to memorial. After a full day of tear-jerking emotions, I was only prepared to skim the details of the museum. However, what I experienced helped give me additional insight into the atrocities of WWII.
When we wrapped up at the museum, we got back in the bus to go to the rstaurant. On the way, we glimpsed the palace of William the Conquerer and a few interesting sites in town.
At the restaurant, we had dinner which was a Camembert, potatoes, and chicken stew that was served in a crêpe-like lined bowl. It was HOT (temperature wise), but was good once it had cooled down after a several minutes. But we had apple ice cream for desert, and that was delicious!
We had some free time, so we went to Monoprix for the students to get some snacks for tomorrow’s bus ride. It was pleasant walking about for a bit before heading over to the (really nice) hotel.
The hotel was awesome! Except I forgot to take pictures of it. However, we did celebrate Ann’s 50th birthday eve with drinking the sparkling grape juice from the vineyard in the Loire Valley!
It was an extremely emotional day, but I loved every part we experienced. I am so grateful that I get to be here, and even more so to have my students experience all there is to learn on the trip.
Although it’s through several rounds of tears, I can say I am a grateful witness to the sacrifices made on behalf of all mankind. Here’s to continually striving for peace. 💕
This is Mom, I'm at the USO in Sasebo, Japan.
ReplyDeleteWe have been to Point du Hoc a couple of times and the American Cemetery and the museum at Arromanches. We also ate our sandwiches sitting right there. The thing I found most moving was the statue at the cemetery of the spirit of a soldier rising upward while the music played.