Paris

On April 15, 2010, we departed Oxford and headed to Normandy, France, for our last trip as a group. We spent the first night in Bayeaux, France, and then traveled throughout Normandy tracing the steps of the beginning of victory in World War Two. We visited Omaha beach, the bloodiest beach of the battle, where thousands of soldiers died within seconds trying to traverse the waters and the shoreline and kill the German enemy. Many men died simply because they jumped ship too early, or they could not navigate around thousands and thousands of floating mines, or the actual tanks/machinery sunk leaving soldiers to perish, or many paratroopers landed in flooded fields and drowned. Our guide, a man from Denmark, explained how once a year the stones on this beach turn red like blood and how no sea gulls come to Omaha beach since the war. We also visited Utah Beach and the American cemetery in Normandy. What a sight - how humbling. We did not realize that the French were actually under German occupation for four years until the Americans, British, Canadians, etc. helped free them. The American cemetery, filled with crosses and stars of David, displays the amount of soldiers that died for our freedom. We also visited small towns and villages throughout the area. One village we visited is where the film, The Longest Day (Red Buttons, John Wayne) was shot, where two paratroopers hung their parachutes on a church steeple.
In Paris, we stayed in a hostel – MIJE- situated near the Seine River and not very far from Notre Dame. Michelle, Hannah, Rick, and I walked to Notre Dame and then to Sainte-Chapelle in the morning. My mother encouraged us to go to Sainte Chapelle since Marie Antoinette was imprisoned nearby during the French Revolution; King Louis IX built the church to house “relics” brought over from Jerusalem. One of the relics is the crown of thorns that is only displayed during Lent on Fridays. (It is now housed at Notre Dame). We did not have the opportunity to see the crown, but we could not believe how beautiful the stained glass windows that covered the whole upper level of the church. We then walked through the beautiful streets of St. Germain with small cafes and beautiful flowers; we found that we enjoy French quiche and tarts. From St. Germain, we walked to the Arc de Triumph – stopping in a few stores one in which Michelle bought a dress – to the Louvre and then to our hostel. Even though we were exhausted, Rick took Hannah on a date to swing dance with several other ACU students. She had fun getting dressed up and learning to swing dance to a jazz band in a 700 year old cave in downtown Paris.
On Saturday, we went to church at Notre Dame and headed to the indoor mall in search of a dress for Hannah’s high school graduation. Michelle picked out a beautiful blue and white one in a store named Mango that was perfect. We then met the group and rode around Paris in the evening with the Fat Bike Tour; we went by all the famous sites and even rode the Seine River on a ferry where our guide talked about the bridges and various famous landmarks. The city lit the Eiffel Tower every hour with beautiful blinking lights; the bridges and waterways were also lit. I think that this tour was one of the best activities all of us experienced in Paris. Michelle could not believe how beautiful Paris was by bicycle; she rode with a big smile on her face. Hannah tried to stay in the front of the pack or wherever the action was taking place. We only had two accidents: One was Kelly crunching the curb and flipping her bicycle on top of herself and another was her friend Jacob losing his balance after trying to steer his bike with his feet. All is well now. The weather was perfect both days and we felt blessed to see all the old beautiful buildings and to hear the French history. Of course Rick and I felt blessed to spend all this time with our sweet girls.