Goodbye to Paris!
We got to sleep-in a little before packing up to leave Paris. We will be back on Wednesday night but staying at a place close to Orly Airport before leaving Europe for good. Stacia & Sydney even got a workout in! Carley & Kyra made a bakery run for another morning round of carbs. Getting the van from the garage was easy-shmeasy, we got out of the city without problems & arrived at our place near Omaha Beach after a quick refueling stop in Caen... |
| Avery up in her loft bed |
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| Cannon in his wave bed |
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| Sydney & Kyra poking their heads out of their loft bed |
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| Sydney & Stacia about to workout with an internet video |
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| working up a sweat in the Paris apartment |
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| breakfast |
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| goodbye cool apartment! |
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| Cannon's block creation |
Grandcamp Maisy Beach
I thought it would be cool to spend a couple nights up close to the Normandy beaches right on the 73rd anniversary of the D-day Invasion. We found a great little place to stay in the small town of Grandcamp-Maisy. Stacia, Sydney & I walked down to the beach area soon after we unloaded. We got some treats at this awesome sweet stand right of the beach. Sydney had put her swimsuit on to jump in the water but the wet 60-degree weather & the gross beach were major deterrents. There was one old guy in his speedo that walked right in & took a dip. Definitely European.The feeling here is really neat with the celebration festivities ongoing for the entire past week & ending tomorrow. There are army jeeps, trucks, artillery & people dressed up in 1944 uniforms. We got the official D-Day Festival program with all the scheduled activities from our host. So, Stacia & I drove to Graignes-Mesnil-Angot about 30 minutes away to catch a parachute jump reenactment...
We showed up at the designated church parking lot with about 4 other cars with people who only spoke French. More people eventually showed up & started getting out of their cars but no one knew what was going on. We met two young guys who are doing internships in Europe after their first year at BYU Law School. Then, 5 cars pulled in & military guys got out who looked like they might have a clue. It turns out the jump was canceled due to wind & they were there for the local mayor's award ceremony! It would be nice if they had someone there or a sign saying it had been cancelled.
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| awesome sweet stand |
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| Stacia & Sydney ordering their caramel-filled pastry |
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| passion-fruit smoothie is what I prefer |
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| our snacks with Gandcamp-maisy Beach behind |
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| beach front stroll (this beach is just west of the Omaha Beach) |
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| not the beach experience we dreamed of |
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| Scottish marching band (after a bakery stop of course) |
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| bagpipes playing... sound like "Praise to the Man" |
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| our rural drive to the cancelled parachute drop |
Um...that apartment looks amazing!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd what a cool thing to be able to go to Normandy beach!