cobblestones and places unknown: normandy

This weekend I visited Normandy with the Furman group. It was quite a cool experience. We began the weekend with a seven hour bus ride. If you know me, you know that I literally hate buses and am really prone to carsickness. And of course, lucky me, I got the jerkiest driver on the planet. So needless to say after 7 hours, I was not feeling great. But we arrived in Normandy safely and all in one piece! Since it was dinnertime when we arrived, a group of us headed down to a local cafe. We were staying in the city of Bayeux, which is a beautiful French town. We ate dinner at a delicious restuarant and had a dessert of gingerbread and vanilla ice cream- so good! I'm going to be honest here...until this trip I thought that Normandy was a city instead of a region in France. To my great embarassment, I found out the facts from our tour guide. But hey, you learn something new every day! After an early night on Friday we woke up on Saturday morning and headed for a tour of Normandy's beaches. Normandy was the site of the D-Day invasion in World War 2 (which, thankfully, I did know) and its beaches were really something to behold. We first visited the Utah beach, and then the Omaha. It was really nice because for lunch, we all bought sandwiches and pastries and had a picnic on the beach. The weather was beautiful and warm, a rarity for Belgium/France this time of year. In between, we got to visit some cemeteries of soldiers who'd perished in the invasion, both American and German. It really struck me that some of the most beautiful places I've visited in Europe have been cemeteries. Anyway, the American cemetery was located near the Omaha landing spot, and it was really breathtaking. I learned a lot about the invasion, including American strategy and the million things that didn't go as planned. It was also really sad to see that many of the soldiers who'd died were younger than I am now or even around my age. That's really hard for me to wrap my head around. We got to see the grave of Franklin Roosevelt, Jr and one of the few women buried in the cemetery. It was a beautful day weather-wise, which really contrasted with the somber mood of viewing the cemeteries. I came away from the experience feeling really enlightened and humbled by the sacrifices that people are willing to make for greater causes. The next day, we got to see the Bayeux tapestry, which is housed in a museum in Bayeux near where we were staying. It is nearly 210 feet long and depicts the Norman invasionof England. Afterwards, we headed for home (another 7 hour bus trip). This weekend was the first that I have really felt homesick. I miss my family terribly, and I honestly am counting down the days until they come and visit. I'm so grateful for things like Skype and email that allow me to keep in touch with everyone that I love. It was also hard because my sorority had a function this weekend, and I really missed being there with my friends. I know the experiences that I'm having can never be replaced and I would never trade this trip for anything, but I sure could have used a little SC love this weekend! Next Thursday I head to Vienna, Austria and then on to Salzburg, home of the Sound of Music, where I'll be taking the Sound of Music tour. I am literally so excited- it is supposed to be beautiful!

Normandy: