While the Netherlands part of my parents visit was great because it was fun to have them here and show them the sights, the French portion of the trip was what we all were really looking forward to. I mean, A) It's France, B) They have pastries, and C) There is lots of wine. What's not to love? We were eagerly looking forward to it, and when we got to Normandy on Friday morning we weren't disappointed.

We met my parents at the gite, or holiday cottage, they were renting. It was really beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of it, but the main house where the owners lived was 800 years old and the part that we stayed in was... uh... I forget how old it was. Not 800 years old, but maybe 200. Definitely oldish, though. And we were in a très petit town, and it was a little rural, and the "front yard" had a stream with geese who got quite fussy if you approached them. And then, of course, there was the owners' dog Oslo, a big black Rottweiler and Black Lab mix. He was very large, awfully friendly, and perhaps the only one there who understood any English. We thought he was charming.


Shortly after our arrival we headed out to see the D-Day beaches...

This is an artillery battery between Omaha and Gold beaches. They were really big guns (if you couldn't tell) set back from the coast, with a twelve mile firing radius so they could, as Ben said, "rain fire from above" down on the beaches or even at ships.


Ben at Omaha Beach (think Saving Private Ryan)...

And then a minute later. "Ooh! The water is COLD!"


La Pointe du Hoc


And then the next day we went to Pegasus Bridge and had lunch at the café there, which was a really cool experience.


And then, it was especially cool because a huuuge boat came and they raised the bridge for it! It was big! And exciting! And all the tourists grabbed their cameras and took pictures!

We're pretty easy to please.

I know I said I would also write about crepes and Paris, but I lied. I promise I will write about zee grand Pareeee tomorrow. I am, how you say, so fatiguée from all zees blogging. So bonsoir, mes petites baguettes.