Normandy

This past weekend, IES took us to Normandy, in northern France. For those of you who don’t have much knowledge of history, this is the site of the D-Day attack by the allies to retake France from the Nazi troops on June 6, 1944 during World War II. (Go watch "Saving Private Ryan"- that is exactly where I was.)

The trip was absolutely amazing to say the least. Just being there, standing on the exact beaches where so many soldiers risked and lost their lives, and to hear the history stories as I had never heard them before was completely surreal.  Saturday we visited the D-Day memorial in Caen, which was basically a WWII museum. World War II has always fascinated me and I could have stayed in that museum for hours. Reading the stories, seeing remnants of the Holocaust, and watching the short films of the war, while incredibly interesting, was difficult to do. I will admit, there were some parts during which I almost cried. I learned so many things that I had never known before… like that there was a huge storm 2 days before June 6, 1944 (the date planned for d-day) and that Eisenhower almost called off the whole operation because of the weather. However, after seeing a weather report that predicted better weather for the day of the attack, he made the decision to continue with the plan. But because of the bad weather, the Germans in Normandy didn’t have their full defense because they weren’t expecting any attacks that day. This is partially what made the attack so successful for the allies. Isn’t that interesting?

In the memorial museum... "June 6, 1944 on the beaches of Normandy,  over 10,000 young soldiers paid for our freedom"

 After walking through the museum we watched a short film. The film started out with the allied soldiers getting ready for the attacks and climbing into the helicopters and onto the boats. Then it showed the actual attack… the troops climbing through the waters and hiding on the beaches and disarming the Germans. The camera would pan over the beach as it was on d-day during the battle, with the troops lying on the beach to hide, and fighting the Germans, and parachuting out of helicopters… then the camera would pan over the beach as it is today - peaceful and tranquil as it could be. It was incredible. The film ended by showing the German soldiers coming out to the allies surrendering with their hands up. It gave me goose bumps. We also saw the Bayeux tapestry, which is the longest tapestry in the world. It was interesting, but I tended to like the other sites much better.

On Sunday we went to the American Cemetery and Omaha beach- one of the 5 d-day beaches that was overtaken by the allies (Omaha was one conquered by Americans). Below are some pictures of the cemetery but the pictures don’t do it justice. In order to really understand how many soldiers lost their lives for us that day, it is necessary to actually see it. I recommend going to ANYONE who ever gets a chance. Thousands of white crosses lined up with the names of lost soldiers and where they are from. There are even crosses for unknown soldiers which said, “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.” Oh, and the cemetery is technically “American soil” so when we first got there we were all so excited to be “back home!” – even if only for a few hours. hahaha

Soldier from North Carolina

Unknown Soldier's tomb

A few of the crosses. The site was beautiful

Me and my friend Laura in front of the cemetery

After walking through the cemetery and taking it all in and reading the names of several soldiers, we walked down to Omaha beach because although the cemetery overlooks the beach, I felt as if I needed to stand there to really understand what happened almost 70 years ago. We stood on the beach, put our feet in the English Channel and reflected on everything that we had learned that weekend.

Standing on Omaha Beach

A time capsule with news reports from the d-day landings to be opened June 6, 2044 (100 year anniversary)

After leaving Omaha beach we headed to Point-du-Hoc. The story of this site is amazing. The Germans were stationed on top of these cliffs, but weren’t expecting to be overtaken because the cliffs were seemingly impossible to surpass. However, it had been planned for 225 American soldiers to scale these cliffs on d-day and disarm the Germans on top. They were supposed to be the first attack on d-day and use the element of surprise to take the German guns. Due to a navigation error, the troops landed 3 miles off shore and by the time they arrived at point-du-hoc the beaches had already been attacked, thereby eliminating the element of surprise. This did not stop these brave men. They scaled the cliffs while constantly under German fire and were able to successfully take the point for 2 days. Out of the 225 men, 90 lived. There are still bomb craters in the ground, and forts on top of the cliffs. The sight was incredible.

At the top of Pointe-du-Hoc. You can see the bomb craters left from the d-day landings

The cliffs that the American troops scaled in order to disarm the Germans

A huge bomb crater at Point-du-Hoc

Memorial at Point-du-Hoc

After Pointe-du-hoc we headed back to Nantes. I apologize for this blog post being so long but it was just something that I had to share because of the surrealism of it all. I picked up some rocks from Omaha beach and took tons of pictures, but I don’t think I could ever imagine being there and the courage of the allied troops on that day. As I said if you ever get the chance to go, please don’t pass it up.

Well, I guess that is enough blogging for today… A bientot! 

The Last Best Place in Europe

A time magazine article from 2004.... and I totally and completely agree with everything it says.

http://www.time.com/time/europe/secret/nantes.html

Joyeaux Vendredi!

I know it has been a while since I last posted- mid-terms have been keeping me busy! So I will try to update you on everything that has happened since. The other weekend there was a tasting market that only comes once a year to Nantes so a bunch of us from IES went. It was amazing- they were selling anything and everything and you could taste whatever you wanted!

Candied fruits at the tasting market- of course I had to buy some. They were absolutely delicious

Wine

Cheese

These past 2 weeks have been midterms, which take twice as long to study for than in America because, since they are in French, I first have to got through all of my notes and look up any words that I might not know in a dictionary. Which is tedious and takes hours. Then I have to start studying. But I am finally finished with my midterms! 

To celebrate the end of midterm we decided to experience saint patricks day in Nantes. I never would have guessed how big of a deal it is here! It was basically a huge party in the streets and you couldn't move. There were fireworks and they were throwing prizes off of the roof of an Irish pub (I caught a fan). Then we found a place that would put on the Wofford NCAA game and watched that for a while. Unfortunately we lost but they did a great job and played a great game!! 

Well that is it for now... we are going out for pasta tonight!! A Bientot!

Crying Carolina....

This week and next week we are having all of our mid-terms and I can't believe that this semester is halfway over. I have had an amazing time and I will be the first to say that I never ever want it to end. But recently us IES students have been talking about "the first thing we are going to do when we get home..." So in light of those conversations, I am making a list of the things I miss most about the United States.

Sweet Tea
Not having to pay for shopping bags at the grocery store
Wearing sweatpants and t-shirts
Taking showers that last longer than 5 minutes
Soft drinks/bottled water that cost less than 3 euro ($5)
Paying with dollars
Speaking English
Cheap restaurants
Driving
Television
Fast food
Wofford

And most of all...
My family and friends!!

xoxo love you all!

Just another night in Nantes...

My new favorite song about my new favorite city...

"Nantes" by Beirut

Vacances d'hiver!

Well, I know it has been a while since my last blog post, but I just returned from a week in Brussels, Belgium and Amsterdam, Holland for winter break!! The trip was so much fun.

Out trip began early last Saturday morning. I woke up at 4 AM because I had to walk to the train station and our train left at 6. After a train layover in Paris, we were in Brussels by noon that day- but the weather was rainy and miserable. We walked to our hostel in the rain so that we could get cleaned up and rested up before going to "Museum Night Fever"- a party that happens once a year where you get access to 20 different Brussels museums and each museum has set up concerts and activities inside. Well, the concept was really cool but we were all absolutely exhausted so after one museum we decided to head on back to our hostel. On Sunday it had stopped raining, so we just walked around Brussels to see all of the sights. There is Grand Place- A beautiful square where tourists and Belgians alike hang out; and my personal favorite place- The Brussels Bourse aka the stock exchange and my future work place. We spent the next few days seeing all of the important Brussels sights. Manneken Pis stature, Palais de Justice, Palais Royale, The European Union building, touring the Cantillon Brewery, and of course eating typical Belgian food- lots of waffles, chocolate, and fries.

Standing in front of the Brussels Stock Exchange

Grand Place

The most delicious waffle on the planet- chocolate, strawberries, and whipped cream

Meeting room of the European Union

Me and some friends in front of the French flag at the EU (Everyone would take pictures with the flag of their country. Obviously the US flag wasn't there so we decided to use the French flag instead. 

Palais de Justice

Manneken Pis- Yes it is what you think it is, a little boy peeing. Most famous statue in Brussels. The first time we tried to find it, we got distracted by waffles and the statue is so tiny we walked right past it without even realizing.

On Wednesday, we left Brussels and took a train to Amsterdam. It was absolutely freezing but the city is beautiful! There are canals everywhere and I loved the architecture. While in Amsterdam, we visited the Van Gogh museum, the Heineken Brewery, and Anne Franks hiding place. The weird thing about Amsterdam is that there are bicyclists EVERYWHERE. Every street has a bike lane and I really believe that I saw more bikes than cars. The problem is, if you are walking you have to be careful and not stray into the bike lane or they will run you over in a heartbeat. 

The outside of Anne Frank's hiding place... it was amazing to see where they actually hid from the Nazis. 

A typical street name in Amsterdam. It took us 30 extra minutes to get anywhere just because we had to pronounce the street names.

Beautiful Canal!

Bikes.... they were parked EVERYWHERE

Heineken Brewery- The tour included horses, a simulator ride, and videos

All in all, winter break was amazing and I didn't want to leave. But then I remembered that this whole semester is an adventure! I have resolved that now that I am back in France, I am not going to waste any time. I want to see and do everything that I possibly can while I am here. Well, I am sorry that this post is so long but I wanted to recap my break! A toute a l'heure!