Joan, the Finale: Normandy

Our second full day in France started out bright and early. We bused to the D'Orly Airport in Paris to pick-up our rental car for our drive to Normandy. As a light misting rain began to fall in Paris we silently zipped out of town in our rental. The farther we got from the city, the more open and blue the sky became. The sun was leading us to the coast.

We decided to follow Rick Steves' suggested itinerary for a day in Normandy and we are so glad we did. The first stop on our voyage was at Port Winston in Arromanches:

None of us had ever heard of Port Winston before and were enthralled by its tale. Since the Germans controlled all of the ports on the French coastline, the Allies needed to figure out a way to ship cargo, supplies and men to the front lines. This need spawned Winston Churchill's brainchild, Port Winston (aka Mulberry Harbour). This port was constructed in just 12 days after D-Day. The construction of this port included: sinking old ships off the coast to create breakwater, constructing platforms/decks a year in advance in England, towing all of the construction material used across the English Channel in the 12 days after D-Day. It truly was an amazing feat of engineering ingenuity and sheer "I think I can, I think I can" attitude.

Here is what's left of Port Winston today:



We walked down the beach for a more up-close experience:



After a quick seaside lunch, and a gander through the Port Winston Museum we hopped back in the car and made our way to Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetery.

Finding ourselves staring at the serene, brilliant blue water at Omaha Beach, it was hard to imagine the chaos and horror of June 6th, 1944:

In homage to the brave souls who lost their lives here, it is a place of great peace and beauty.

From the beach, we made the 20 minute walk through the sand dunes up to the American Military Cemetery. Again, we found ourselves engulfed by an overwhelming sense of pride for the brave soldiers, tranquility of the pastoral landscape, and pain for the young lives lost.

After we quietly meandered through the Cemetery and Memorial area, we slowly walked back to the car feeling so appreciative of our lives today and so very thankful to all of the remarkably brave heroes, past and present, who made it all possible.



If you'd like to view all of our photos from our visit from our visit with Joan, please click on this link:
Joan's Photos

Joanie - Thanks so much for making the trip out to see us. We had a fantastic time!

Joan: Paris, France

Sorry for the brief interruption in our programming. We're now back on schedule.

We hopped on the bullet train to Paris...



...to find some spacious accommodations for our 3 hour train ride:

After a fun train ride we Metro'ed our way to the hotel, got checked-in and headed out to see the Arc:



Per usual, the Arc was stunning at night:

After the Arc we stopped for a quick dinner and then back to the room to plan our next day. The following morning, armed with a flexible itinerary for the day, we headed out ready for some fun!

Our first stop was at:

Sainte Chapelle didn't disappoint! Although some of it has yet to be restored, the stained glass shone brightly with the warm Parisian sun spilling through.

From Sainte Chapelle we headed over to the Musee D'Orsay for some art appreciation. We wandered through Van Gogh's, Renoir's, Degas', and Monet's. Quite a lovely bunch of artists to enjoy! After all of that art, we had worked up a hearty (Ha! I had to.) appetite. The patisserie we passed didn't stand a chance!

Here we are with our adorably wrapped goodies:

And the pièce de résistance, a chocolate tarte and a pistachio eclair...SWOOOON:

In a heavenly French-pastry induced haze we made our way over to the Montmartre neighborhood to see Sacré-Cœur:

High above the rest of Paris, Sacré-Cœur provided stunning views of the sprawling city. We silently observed the beauty of the Basillica interior and then Joan and Brian made the steep trek up to the top of Sacré-Cœur for a great photo op:

Almost Paris'ed out for the day, we had one more (important!) stop before we could head back home. In stead of standing in a long line to visit the top of the Eiffel Tower we decided to grab a grassy seat on the lawn next to the Tower to soak up the grandeur:




Finally we lazily made our way back to the hotel for a relaxing night in the Executive Lounge. As we ate and drank, we mapped out our next day in Normandy, which we will post about later.

The day after Normandy we were back in sight-seeing mode in Paris. Our first stop of the day was Mass at Notre Dame. We had a very peaceful time listening to Mass in French surrounded by the uplifting grace of Notre Dame:

Fun celebrity sighting!! As Joan and I were walking around the apses of the Church (behind the altar) we saw James Franco being filmed on some teeny tiny camera. He was all decked out in a cool 40's looking suit and matching moustache. Good times!

From Notre Dame we crossed the Seine...

...and walked around until we found a fun little café to grab some lunch at. The next morning we hopped back on the bullet train headed for Stuttgart quietly replaying the fun memories we created in France. Cheers to a wonderful time in Paris with Joan!



Next stop: Normandy

**Congratulations to Emily!! You are the winner of the 200th-Post German Goodies. Thanks to everyone who shared a fun birthday memory!**

London: The Last Day

Sorry for the delay, but we've been busy having fun with our visitors, my dad and Glynda! Now, on with London...

Our last day in London was another full one. We started off by visiting the impressive British Museum:

The British Museum is fairly large so after orienting ourselves, we headed towards the Rosetta Stone. Take a peek:



Awesome, right? The engravings are so teeny tiny. After staring at the Rosetta Stone for about 10 minutes, we made our way through the interesting Egyptian displays. Here's Ramesses II:

We loved the amazing hieroglyphs on this sarcophagus:

For an idea on the scale, the bird is shorter than my pinky (and I have short fingers!). We wandered through the Mummy Room and then made our way over to the Parthenon Room. Wow! The sculpture from the Parthenon is remarkable. Odd that it's in a British Museum, but that's a whole other can o' worms. My favorite piece was this one from the East Pediment, thought to be Aphrodite reclining on her mother, Dione:

I love the drapery of her gowns and the reclined pose. Once we felt sufficiently smarter than when we first walked in, we left the British Museum and headed over to the Imperial War Museum. There we learned more about WWI and WWII. Unfortunately, photo fatigue had set in and I didn't get any images. It seemed like a great museum, but our time was cut a little short because we had to head over to Westminster Abbey to attend Evensong. I wish I had photos from Westminster Abbey, but they're strictly forbidden when you're attending a service. Believe you me, Westminster Abbey is one stunning church. We enjoyed Evensong and then found a pub on our way home for some sustenance after a long day out and about.

All tuckered out from four fun days in London we headed to bed early. After such a fantastic trip, I've decided London is my new favorite city. Thanks for all the good times, Fun-don!

If you'd like to view all of our photos from our visit from London, please click on this link:
London Photos

London: Day 3

Day 3 brought us sunshine and warmth. In the late morning we ventured out to the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill:

As you can see from the photo above, the Market was ridiculously crowded. Portobello Road Market is mainly an antique market and we had a fun time looking through veritable sea of antiques and shoppers. One of the cutest antique shops we browsed through was:



They had a great collection of old sports paraphernalia, scales, and much more. Near one of end of the Market there are a bunch of farmers market-style booths set up with an array of beautiful goods:

In addition to the produce and bread booths there were food vendors whipping up an intoxicating aroma of deliciousness. To name a few: paella the size of a table top and fresh pad thai:



We opted for the pad thai for a snack and loved every bite as we ate on someone's cute steps to their Notting Hill flat!

From Notting Hill we made our way over to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Brian messed with the wrong lion in Trafalgar Square:

We had a fabulous time in the National Gallery gazing at some impressive artwork. We were particularly fond of da Vinci, Van Eyck and Seurat.

From the National Gallery we hopped on the tube back to our neighborhood, grabbed some snacks from the M&S and then walked to the enormous Hyde Park:

We found a nice view:

Unpacked our goodies:



And enjoyed a quiet little picnic in the park before heading back to the hotel:



Day 3 was a perfect mix of walking around soaking up the crisp fresh air and appreciating some lovely works of art.

Up next: Day 4, the Last Day