I have now returned from my last big vacation of the semester—I have been at the Madrid airport for the last time before I fly back to the states! Ashley and I went to France for five days, from late late late on Friday night until very very very early Thursday morning, and we had an amazing time.
We took a bus from Valladolid to Madrid, waited in the airport for several hours, flew from Madrid to Paris, took the metro into Paris, and then took a train from Paris to Caen. Talk about utilizing public transportation! We found our hotel and were very pleased that the owners were nice, spoke English, and that our room was clean and welcoming! We even had a TV with BBC on it, so we could enjoy some English entertainment. On Saturday night we walked around Caen a little bit—visited the Chateau of William the Conqueror, and booked our tour of the D-Day beaches. We called it an early night and fell asleep around 9:30 after having been awake for more than 36 hours.
On Sunday morning we walked to the Caen WWII Memorial, where we boarded the van for our tour. It was a really small group, just Ashley and I and then two younger couples from Barcelona, providing us with some more one-on-one time as well as an opportunity to practice our Spanish. We have been amazed at how many languages so many Europeans know how to speak; these other four people on our tour spoke fluent English, French, Spanish, and Catalan (the language spoken in Cataluña, the region where Barcelona is).
Our tour covered everything (and more) that we wanted to see in Normandy. We drove past the complex that BBC news camped in and broadcasted from during WWII, and made our first stop at Gold Beach, where the British troops landed on D-Day. We then walked around an area that contained several German bunkers and ammunition storage, some still with the original canons/tanks inside of them. We stood inside a bunker that was used for the filming of a scene in the movie “The Longest Day,” although, funny enough, the scene that it was used for in the movie was fictional and never actually occurred.
We then continued to the American Cemetery, which was extremely pretty, solemn, and an emotional experience for both Ashley and I. The main entrance to the cemetery is called “The Garden of the Missing,” and contains walls with the names of all of the soldiers who went missing in action. We were extremely surprised to find out that bodies are still being found today--the most recent discovery was only six weeks ago. Upon entering the cemetery there is a statue that represents the youth of the majority of the soldiers who were killed during the battle of Normandy, as their ages (unlike the other D-Day cemeteries for different countries) are not written on their crosses. Our tour guide told us that buried in the cemetery are only three women, 33 pairs of brothers, and two pairs of a father and a son. I think that was where I really began to feel emotional, thinking of all the wives and mothers who lost a part of their family, or maybe even their whole family in only a matter of hours. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to spend at the cemetery, but I am very glad that I got to see it and it was, without a doubt, a very emotional experience.
We then continued to the two American landing beaches, Omaha and Utah. It was high tide when we got to Omaha beach, so it was difficult to really grasp how it looked on D-Day, plus there is a rode that runs next to it and houses that have been built since the end of the war, so it doesn’t look quite the same. Omaha Beach is frequently called “Bloody Omaha,” as it was the only beach where the Germans were ready and waiting and therefore the most violent and chaotic. Having seen the scenes from Saving Private Ryan, it is just incredible to look out over the water and attempt to imagine the horror that ensued within and around it. Utah Beach on Pointe du Hoc was a change of scenery, as the landscape is covered with bunkers and with craters from bombings that took place shortly before the landings. There are several cement bunkers still intact, but they are no where near the quality of the other German bunkers we saw (they were built more hastily, with not as much time or skill), and there is also still debris of the bunkers that were blown apart and unfinished when the bombings occurred.
When we got back to Caen we went to the Caen Memorial Museum, which Ashley and I both agreed was extremely well put together—we learned so much and it really helped to clarify the questions and amplify the emotions that we had earlier in the day. One of the parts of the museum that really stood out was a section all about the letters that soldiers had written home, some from soldiers who survived and some from soldiers who had their letters delivered in the event of their death. The letters came from all nationalities, from the liberators and from the occupiers. All of these men were normal people with families, with friends, with lives that they left at home. It helped to again put into perspective the tragedy of war and how the lives of so many people in the world are affected by it. If I came to understand anything by the end of that day is that I hopefully won’t ever understand. Watching the footage of the soldiers jumping into the water, trekking up to those beaches, all I could do was hope with all I have in me that no future generations will ever know what it is like to fight a battle like that. We really enjoyed Caen, as well as the tour and the museum, and I am extremely glad that I made the choice to travel there.
On Monday we took the train to Versailles, where we saw the outside of the Palace of Versailles (it was a little too pricey to go into it) and the extremely expansive gardens behind it. The sky was really scary looking, but we enjoyed walking around and taking in all the statues and the landscaping and imagining what it must have been like to live in a time when that actually could have been your backyard! We then continued to Paris, where we made our way to our hotel and, in preparation for a long day of sightseeing, went to bed early.
Tuesday was a GORGEOUS day in Paris—blue sky, sunny, only a few clouds—and we are still sore from how much walking we did! We started at the Eiffel Tower where we took a ton of pictures, then walked to the Arc de Triomph and down Champs-Elysees. From there we headed to the Moulin Rouge where we unfortunately couldn’t afford to see a show, so we sat in a garden facing it and listened to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack! Good plan, if you ask me. We then walked to Notre Dame Cathedral and took pictures there, and then strolled around the Latin Quarter and ate gyros and French fries for dinner. We ended our 12+ hour day back at the Eiffel Tower, sitting on the lawn and admiring it as it sparkled.
On Wednesday morning we got up and headed back to Notre Dame so that I could go up into the towers, and while the wait in line was long, it was definitely worth it. The view was amazing! After Notre Dame we walked to the Louvre, where I spent my last 2 hours or so in Paris strolling around and finding the most famous art it had to offer! I was extremely happy to see the Mona Lisa, as well as La Venus de Milo and Gericault’s Raft of Medusa. From the Louvre we hiked to a bus station in order to catch a bus to the airport, and were headed back to Valladolid. After that bus ride, a plane ride, and yet another bus ride, we were finally home, safe and sound.
It was such a great vacation—I think we found the perfect mix between educational and enjoyable, and therefore learned A TON while still thoroughly enjoying ourselves and having a relatively stress-free trip! I am sad that it is my last one, but also glad that I ended my major travels on such an excellent note. In less than a week—next Thursday—I will head to the North of Spain, Bilbao and San Sebastian, with Katie and Ashleigh to see the Guggenheim and to spend quite a bit of time lying on the beach! I think it will be a good way to end my time in Spain, and hopefully a good way to get a little bit of a tan! When I return from that trip, I will have less than two weeks before heading home.
Incredible!
Hasta luego! ;)
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