my northern France exploration

This weekend the group piled onto a bus again, this time to go north to Normandy and Mt. Saint Michel. It was an incredible trip. We started at the Peace Museum in Normandy to set the stage for our trip, and learn about WWII, and most specifically D-Day, so we could better understand what we were going to be seeing. I am lucky enough to have already gotten to travel to Normandy, but we got to see a little more than I did last time, and I also think I was better able to grasp what exactly I was seeing and except this as a spiritual experience.
The two D-Day landings that we visited were Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. On the beaches, and particularly in the American cemetery at Omaha I felt an absolute rush of two emotions: a deep sadness at the lose of so many young lives, but more importantly an elation of celebration for the courage of these soldiers, their bravery, and their determination to bring peace.

This is a tiny church that was used during WWII as a hospital. The blood stains are still left on the pews in memory of the soldiers who were here.

Audrey, Sydney, me, McCall, and Paola on Utah Beach

The graves in the American Cemetery at Omaha

Omaha Beach

After taking in all of the WWII sights, we went just a little outside of Normandy to the wonderfully beautiful Mt Saint Michel. We toured the village and then the monastery, before having to load back on the bus for our drive back to Paris. I completely adore Mt Saint Michel. It is stunning, I love it, and I think that anyone who has a chance to see it should go! Soon you will only be able to get to it by boat, as they are planning to blow out the road and let the natural tide sweep back in. Romantic, eh?

are my eyes closed? nope, I just get super squinty when I smile :)

The adorable streets of  Mt Saint Michel

And that is all. You have clearly noticed that my picture uploading feature is once again working and I and hopefully the faithful blog followers are pleased with this. I only have three weeks left in Paris, so no more wasting any time at all! I should be having a whirl wind of activities for the next few weeks and I absolutely cannot wait. 

paix. amour. et more peace