Weekend in Normandy

This weekend was spent in Normandy. We visited the museum at Caen, the D-day beaches, the Point du Hoc, the towns Caen, Honfleur, and Deauville.

It was incredible, to be standing on the same grounds that thousands of soldiers stood on sixty years ago. The craters on the terrain where 700 tons of bombs were dropped the night before D-day are still there. The remains of the German bases for their guns are still there. It's hard to imagine what it must've been like. Now, green grass has regrown and covers the land, the rocky cliffs are just as steep, and the ocean, still so blue. Here is a picture taken from there:


My back is facing Omaha beach. This is Point du Hoc, which is between Omaha and Utah beaches. The trained soldiers had to climb the steep cliffs and try to neutralize the German guns at the same time the soldiers landed on the beach---but it didn't happen quite as smoothly.

Then we visited Omaha beach, which is gorgeous! The soldiers landed during mid-tide because the German soldiers had planted pointy obstacles on the beaches that were hidden during high tide, which would've punctured the bottom of the boats as they came close to shore.

Then we visited the German cemetary and the American cemetary. It was saddening to see so many soldier's lives lost because of the war. Many of them never lived to twenty---and I, almost turning twenty-one, feel like life is just beginning. I'm still learning about myself, about people, and about society.


Afterwards, we went to a nearby town, Caen. During the war, this town was completely demolished. We ate at a semi-fancy restaurant. I had the most delicious oysters! super fresh--tasted like the ocean.

That night was also the first game of the Rugby World Cup 2007. All the games are held all over France this year, and the French are SUPER excited about rugby. So we went to a pub and watched the game with the French students (they were all wearing red, white and blue). But sadly, the French team lost. C'est dommage. C'est la vie.

The next day, Saturday, we headed for Honfleur, a port city in Normady. The town was absolutely European and picturesque with the sail boats lining the harbor, cobblestone paved roads, narrow allies and streets filled with little cafes and restaurants. And then there was the market, my first real French market! Here are some photos:


Stand selling sausages. Some of these sausages are of pig's blood, cow's intestines, and such---delicacies.

This one sells cheese, it was quite smelly. But there's a saying, the smellier the cheese, the better it is. I don't know if you can see the woman--she's hidden behind the big chunks of cheese.

For lunch I had a crepe Normande. The crepe came out and then the waitress lit a small pot of alcohol on fire and poured the fire over the crepe. It was pretty cool although the flames didn't show up well on the camera. Here it is anyways,


Then we went to Deauville, which is a super posh city. The American Film Festival was held there on Saturday so I saw the red carpet and many body guards. And George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Daemon, and Angelina Jolie were there... although I didn't see them. But there was also a beaaautiful beach there. It was huge though, it literally took ten minutes to walk from the boardwalk out to the water. There was just lots and lots of sand. But I managed and dipped my feet in the water. =)


And that was my weekend in Normandy!

Here are a couple more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13075689@N05/

Bon Soir!