Caen, Normandy

Eeeek so I realized I totally forgot to let you guys know about the second half of my France trip to Caen, which is in Normandy. Caen is such a beautiful city and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect (just look at the pictures).

view outside of our hotel

the museum

 Right after the 5ish hour drive from Paris to Normandy we went straight to a history museum about WWII where I pretty much learned a ton of stuff about what actually happened (embarrassing that I didn’t even know who fought in it – I sound like Kris right now). After the museum the program director decided it was a good idea to let the buses leave so everyone was left on their own trying to find their way back to the hotel. Mind you at this point we had only been in Caen for a few hours and had only seen what our hotel looked like once. So as we started our 3ish mile hike back to the hotel (without a map) we ran into a castle (not literally, but I did trip in it). This castle was so cool! It’s exactly what I would have imagined a medieval castle to look like back in the day with a mot and everything! While we were exploring the castle ruins it decided to rain and us being our bus-less selves had to continue our walk back to the hotel.

I tried to jump off the castle, just kidding...

The next day we went to Omaha Beach. This is by far the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It’s hard to imagine that it was once called “Bloody Omaha” because so many Americans and British (as well as the other allied countries) lost their lives here on D-Day. 

 

After Omaha Beach we went to the Cemetery for the American soldiers who lost their lives in Normandy (over 9,000 Americans). This cemetery was also very tastefully put together; it had a beautiful view of the ocean. It was very moving. There were also a lot of old people walking around and it was very clear that they had served in WWII. 

the cemetery for the American soldiers, paid for by the American government

view from the cemetery

another view from the cemetery

 

After the cemetery we went to a cliff where a lot of the action occurred during the Battle of Normandy. Once you entered the area it was very clear that there was a lot of bombing on this cliff. About every 10 feet there was a huge crater in the ground from where a bomb had hit.  

some of the holes were massive

 

The next day we woke up freaking early to begin our 17 hour bus ride from Normandy to Berlin, which was without question death.

**I didn’t edit this post so sorry if parts of it didn’t make sense :)