Normandy with Mom and Dad

Inside a German bunker
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Two locals from Hampton, Iowa made their way across the pond to visit their daughter and son-n-law. The names of these Iowa natives are Ed and Laura Schroeder. Their trip took them from Minneapolis to Iceland where they had a 10 hour layover and then onward to Amsterdam. During their layover, they took a bus tour to the capital-Rekyavik. When we picked them up, although very tired, they were very excited about the country of Iceland.

We allowed them to rest the next day, but did take a walk to the lake behind our neighborhood. The following day, we showed them all around Rotterdam-including the market, the port, downtown, Delfshaven (area where the pilgrims left from), and then to a small, quaint town we frequent often-Delft. We had a great time seeing everything, and mom picked up several small Holland souvenirs in Delft. This little town seemed to be their favorite in the Netherlands.

Pont Du Hoc-the rock that the Americans had prepared to climb to surprise the Germans.
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The following day we took off for Paris. After arriving, we walked up to see the Arc de Triomphe, Champ Elysees, and the Eiffel Tower. It was hot-but we grabbed a sandwich and ate near the tower anyway. Next we headed to Notre Dame where we spent lots of time looking through this magnificent cathedral. Although exhausted, we sent mom and dad to the Louvre museum to see Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. After a long day, we headed back to our hotel and the next morning we went to Paris’s famous cemetery-Pere Lachaise. This old and ornate cemetery is huge and beautiful and very cool to see.

This is the cliff that the Americans arrived at instead of Pont Du Hoc.
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We then hopped on a train towards Normandy. We picked up a rental car in Rouen, France. This is the city where Joan of Arc was burned alive. We went to the square-where this took place so long ago. We also viewed Rouen’s Notre Dame-the cathedral that Monet often painted. We grabbed some dinner and then drove to the city of Caen, France where we would spend the night. In the morning, we went to two large abbeys-William the Conquerer’s and his wife Mathildas. These abbeys were quite beautiful-huge-and different from many of the cathedrals we have seen. These two towns-Rouen and Caen were absolutely gorgeous. The stone houses were so cute-all of them had pink and red flowers in their gardens and windows. It was just like you would imagine-possibly better.

inside a German bunker
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From here, we drove on to Bayeaux, France-the area where many of the D-Day tours begin. Again, this town was just as quaint as the previous two-gorgeous. We had some lunch in the town and then went on a half day D-Day excursion. A friendly and funny French man was our guide and he took us to the German cemetery, Pont Du Hoc-the area where many German bunkers were occupied and where many U.S soldiers landed during the invasion. There were craters ALL over, from bombs, and we were able to see German bunkers that had been destroyed as well as ones that were not destroyed thanks to the work of Hummer. The English Channel surrounded the area-and you could just imagine what it must have been like that day due to the way things were left. After this, we moved on to Omaha Beach. This is an amazing sight. The beach is beautiful, but perhaps the most surprising thing about this area is how large this beach actually is. It is insane to think of all of the ships in the sea that day in June-and the thousands of men that landed and fought here. It was quite the experience. Our next stop was a museum that had German, British, French, and American weapons, uniforms, and artifacts. The most intriguing part were all of the photos of D-Day and witness reports of the events that day from some of the survivors. We ended our tour by stopping at the American Cemetery. The plot of land along Omaha beach was serene and beautiful, and the 20,000 white crosses displayed in such organized lines and formations were truly amazing. It is hard to fathom how many men are actually buried there. This was a great tour. I think all 4 of us would have enjoyed doing more in this area. I would recommend seeing this historical and beautiful area in France to any traveler.