In Paris

We arrived in Paris yesterday for the final stop on our little journey. The trip from our stop to the hotel took us by some major sights right away, including the Louvre. After getting settled and a little rested we set out for the 2 million steps (sounds about right) of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur.

It certainly was impressive but a few too many steps for my taste.

Later in the evening we took a little stroll to the Place de la Concorde which was the first good view of the Eiffel Tower as well.

This was a pretty amazing area and the sunset made it all the more beautiful. We also got a chance to see the Place Vendome la Colonne as it is very close to our hotel.

After admiring the Place de la Concorde for a bit we decided to walk on to the Arc de Triomphe and see the sites and shops along the way. The round trip was a little grueling but we did manage to make it there (and back).

This morning we are preparing to visit some museums for most of the day and return to the Louvre for the evening hours as well. I'm sure it will be educational.

Hopefully Paris improves as well because despite some impressive sights it has not lived up to the recommendations so far.


-- Jordan

Versailles

We are the last leg of our journey!

This morning we went to the Palace of Versailles. We were 7th & 8th in line, having previously bought our tickets.

Due to a chill in the air & fog, the crowd was nonexistent. We got through in an hour! It was like a private tour.

The Hall of Mirrors was beautiful, but even more exquisite was the War Room. The White House should get one of these! A bust of all the famed kings & generals, as well as two- story paintings of all the big battles. We saw George Washington, Joan of Arc, & Napoleon to name a few! The house was grand & we got one last look at the gardens, since we had spent hours there the day before. When we came by later, there were 100s of people just waiting in line! And 100s more coming off the metro! Ah!

So we grabbed some food, checked out of the hotel, and we are currently on the RER Metro into Paris! By 12pm! On to some museums!


-- Posted by Lauren

Versailles first glance

Well, we got to Versailles just fine thanks again to Lauren's planning.

The Normandy area was much more relaxed. We were able to take a train instead of the metro from the Paris area which I preffered. We also didn't have a check during our 3 hour journey so it just happens that we have a spare day on our Eurorail pass now, coast of Spain? Anyway, we are both a bit concerned at this point by the, nastiness, that seems to be Paris so hopefully it will turn around. Either way we are enjoying day one of Versailles which is really beautiful. We were able to tour the gardens in relative peace since the main site is closed on Monday and most tourists were far away!

We also biked around the garden which allowed us to see it all, without dying. So now we are waiting for an American restaurant to open as we are both looking for something less, well French, today at least. So far so good though!


-- Jordan

Normandy

Although it took a few trains and two taxis (including a pretty intersting ride through Paris) to make the trip from Amsterdam to Bayuex we made it. Normandy turned out to be very interesting and quite beautiful, although Rupert our English barmate was right about the French people. We were able to visit an extremely old church complete with a crypt right across from our room.

The crypt was a little creepy but there will be more of that (creepiness) later.

As far as very old things go Lauren wanted to see a tepestry made just after William conquered England to tell the story. By tell the story I do mean all of it, the tapestry was nearly 100 yards long but it actually was very interesting and certainly a unique experience.

Of course our main reason for being here and the highlight of any trip to Normandy was the visit to the WWII sights, specifically Omaha Beach.

It was certainly special to be able to see the actual site and surprisingly moving to read the stories on that ground. Getting there proved to be quite exciting though as we rented a car instead of taking a bus tour; and the French are horrible drivers.
From there we moved toward Utah Beach and stopped at a few museums before heading to Pointe du Hoc. The museums were amazing because they had both Allied and Nazi memorbillia on display which is hard to find in the States. The collection was quite large and seeing the actual SS uniforms is pretty disturbing to be honest.

Next we visited Pointe du Hoc which is where 225 American Rangers scaled the cliff to take a German gun posistion that could fire on both American beach-heads and had to be removed. After two days these men were finally reinforced but only 90 were left. However, in the spirit of the day they did complete their mission and destroyed the guns. Reading the story is hard enough but seeing the cliff they had to climb makes it pretty awe-inspiring to say the least. However Pointe du Hoc wasn't all sad stories because you here got the chance to walk freely among the damage caused by pre invasion bombing that was left as part of the monument. It is amazing how much damage those bombs did.

You also got to explore the remaining gun emplacements and bunkers which is where the creepiness comes back in. On the far back side of the site there is an old command bunker that survived almost completely intact. It is not the one that is lit up for show and we would not have found it unless we just happened to be looking down that hill. You can go inside but I wouldn't recommend it, in the darkness and dampness you can almost feel the Nazi officers waiting around the corner and it is pretty unsettling. I couldn't get a picture because we ran out.

After our tour of the beaches and cemetaries we went back to Bayeux for some French bread and pastry treats. Also we found a carousel across from our hotel which was pretty neat.

So with Bayeux done we are on the train to Versailles via downtown Paris which should be intersting.


-- Jordan