Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Back in the U.S.A.!!!


... Well not exactly back in the U.S.A. But we did land on U.S. soil... technically. We went to Normandy in the north of France over the weekend and visited the American memorial overlooking Omaha beach where the Allies charged the beach on D-Day. We tried our best version of the run up the beachhead. The American military cemetery is actually owned by the U.S. so for a small time we were back in U.S. territory. It is really hard to imagine this idyllic little corner of France being overrun by tanks and artillery shells with Allied forces attacking from every angle. But it has a really nice solemn tranquility.

The real purpose of the trip though was to visit Le Mont Saint Michel. I included the stock photo since it's better then the night photo I had. Jessica, myself, and our friends Tal, Tomer and Sara (So two Israelis, a Spaniard and two Americans take a trip...) rented a car and had a ball roving around the French countryside.


But the highlight was undoubtedly Le Mont Saint Michel. What a cool crazy-ass castle on a mountain on an island. You've gotta give it to the monks for building something this impressive. Saint Michel is actually the patron saint of most things war-related and Le Mont Saint Michel apparently earned its name when it successfully resisted multiple British onslaughts during the 100 years war. We spent the better part of a day just walking the alleyways of the walled city at the base of the island and wandering the old church topping the mountain. Oh and it was also used a prison for a while and my French teacher refered to it as "the Alcatraz of France" but I think it was a tad nicer than Alcatraz. We stayed in a neighboring town Pontorson and I threw in some photos from the town at the end.

Lastly, apologies for the slow posting. Ironically, the more that is going on in our lives the less we seem to be able to get around to posting about it. So take it from our slow pace that we've been busy over here.
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4 comments:

  1. eileenDecember 15, 2009 at 3:15 PM

    Wow, that castle looks amazing!

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  2. PazpoDecember 16, 2009 at 6:57 AM

    My first visit to the D Day beaches was very moving...and I was not the least bit interested in WWII. But I had this strange feeling that I had been there before. More strange than that, I was in Normandy the day Dwight D. Eisenhower died. People were crying in the streets and Ike's picture was on every shop door.

    I then went to Le Mont and stayed two nights in a hotel whose alley-way entrance was no wider than my shoulders.

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  3. J.R.December 16, 2009 at 7:36 AM

    I'm pretty sure we walked right through that alley. Some of them you had to turn sideways to make it through. Five years from now if I keep drinking the wine, I may not make it through sideways.

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  4. UnknownDecember 19, 2009 at 3:26 PM

    Thanks for the post, le Mont St. Michel is such a great place to visit. When I interned with an architect in Normandy, one of his friends was a resident on the island (there are about 50 full time residents). He showed us several hidden spots but the best was climbing up into the bell tower and ringing the bell. On our way to have tea with another neighbor, the locals teased him for always ringing the bell for no good reason. Ah, the life of a tourist! :)

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