Normandy

This weekend we went as a group to the northern French province of Normandy, staying in a small town called Bayeux just a few miles off the coast. On the way there we stopped at Mont Saint-Michel, known as the "Wonder of the West," which is a rocky island that has a small village and a beautiful cathedral built on it. Dating back hundreds of years, it is incredible because the terrain is pretty treacherous, and it is definitely not the most feasible place to construct a village. The craziest thing about it is that when the tides are low it is connected by a sandy strip of coast to the mainland, but when the tides are high it is an island. It is fairly touristy, but a gorgeous little town with astounding views of the Atlantic.

On Saturday, we spent the entire day touring sites that are famous for their connection to the D-Day Invasion of June 1944. For those who don't know, D-Day was the largest amphibious military mission in the history of modern warfare, in which American, British and Canadian troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the Germans so that the Allies could begin to liberate Western Europe from the grips of Nazism. It is the battle famously depicted in the film Saving Private Ryan. Although the Allies were eventually successful, thousands of soldiers lost their lives on D-Day, June 6, and the following weeks in the Normandy area. We toured Omaha Beach, the strip of beach which claimed the most casualties in the fighting, and it is eerie to walk around there. To this day there are humongous craters in the ground from American bombs, and still intact are German fortifications and lodgings. While interesting to see, it is not the most comforting feeling to walk across land on which thousands of people have perished.

In the afternoon, we toured the American military cemetary in Normandy, which is easily one of the most powerful places I have ever stepped foot. There are 10 plots of graves, marked by a single cross or star of David, and the lines of graves seem to go on forever. Nearly 4,000 American soldiers are buried there. In addition, there is a wall in memory of those who went Missing in Action, with the names of nearly 2,000 additional Americans etched into it. Although it was a rather depressing and somber moment, it really put into perspective how many people have put their lives on the line in the name of the U.S., and it was pretty emotional to walk through the cemetary. It's really hard to put into words the emotions you get while touring the Normandy beaches, but its an experience I think all Americans should try to do in their lifetime.

On Sunday we left to return to Brussels, but on the way we stopped in the beautiful small French town of Amiens, home to one of the most gorgeous cathedrals I've ever seen. Dating from the Middle Ages, it is considered one of the top five most beautiful churches in France and is famous for having the head of John the Baptist, originally brought back from Constantinople and kept behind a piece of glass and fully visible to visitors. As gross as it is, it's actually pretty cool!

This was my first visit to France and an eye-opening one at that, as I got to see areas that have a very powerful significance on American and European history. Although it was not exactly the most uplifting place to tour, it was one I will treasure, and it really made me think about how much destruction and damage was caused by WWII and how many people, myself included, never really think about that. Pictures are shortly to follow on the Shutterfly website, so look for those soon!