Planes, trains and automobiles - From Paris to Normandy and then off to England

On Tuesday morning we picked up our rental car and drove from Paris out to the Normandy area.  It was about a three hour ride and the countryside was very pretty.  Normandy is the area of France that faces England where the Allied forces came ashore to get Hitler and the Germans out of France. 

I asked Kayla why there are wars and she said that basically people have different ideas of freedom and since they cannot agree, they start fighting.  It sounds kind of dumb to me.  We stayed in Bayeuax which is a small town about 10 to 15 kilometers from the invasion beaches of World War II.  It was one of the only places that was not bombed during the war and thus is virtually intact as it was for hundreds of years.  We drove out to Omaha Beach which was one of the two beaches that the American troops came in on.

On Wednesday January 4 we drove from Bayeaux to Le Mont Saint Michel.  Mont Saint Michel dates back to sometime around the 8th century.  It is surrounded by water at high tide with just a small road that connects it to the mainland.  It has a lot of restaurants and stores inside and some hotels.  At the top we took a tour of the Abbey which is where the Benedictine monks live.  It was also used at a prison during its history.  Saint Michael is on the top of the steeple of the Abbey at the top of Mont Saint Michel.  Michael the Archangel is the saint of Mont Saint Michel.  My father told me that he is also the patron saint of police officers and the military. 

On Thursday my mom and I went to the Tapestry Museum in Bayeaux.  It was interesting.  The tapestries are embroidered work to tell the story of the battle between England and the Normans from the 11th century.  At that time a lot of people could not read and the tapestries were made to tell them the story.  We also went to the Cathedral in Bayeaux. The Cathedral was also constructed in the 11th century and much of it has not been altered since that time.  I lit a candle and said a prayer in the Cathedral.  It was really pretty. 

While we were at the Tapestry Museum, my dad and sister went on a tour in another part of Normandy.  They went to see the place where the soldier with the parachute got caught on the church in the movie "The Longest Day" which we watched on Wednesday night.  My dad told me that he did not get killed in real life and his name was John Steele.    That place is called St Mere Eglise and the church there has a stained glass window with the Mary and Jesus surrounded by army men with parachutes.  After that he said that they went to a beach called Utah (named after a state in the USA) and a beach named Omaha (named after a city in the USA).  They also went to a place called Pointe du Hoc which was at the top of some very high cliffs between the two beaches.  These two beaches were where the Americans came ashore.  After that they went to the American cemetery where almost 10,000 American soldiers are buried.  My dad and Kayla and two other Americans who were with them were asked to fold the American flag at the closing time of the cemetery. 

On Friday we drove back to Paris and took a plane to England.  When we got to England we had to get some different money.  The money used in France and Italy is called Euros and the money used in England is called Pound Sterling.  When we were in Italy we also learned about different units of measurement.  My dad found a measuring stick and measured my sister and me.  I was about 142 centimeters and my sister was about 182 centimeters.   My dad told me that 2.54 centimeters equals one inch. 

When we got to England we got picked up and brought to our hotel.  We drove by Trafalgar Square where there were these really big lions.  We also went by Buckingham Palace and we saw the guards with the big black hats on horses.  We checked into our hotel and walked a few blocks over to the London Eye.  The London Eye looks like a bicycle tire and a giant ferris wheel all in one.  It is covered in blue lights at night.  The things you ride in are all glass and you can see a long way around London.  It was night time so we saw a lot of lights.  Bob really liked the view.  We saw Big Ben and the Parliament building. 

The next day we took a double decker bus and we sat on the top.  Bob liked the view from here too.  We drove by Big Ben again and Westminster Abbey.  We went shopping and then took a train out to the area of Hampton where King Henry VIII's castle was.  He was the king who had a lot of wives, some of whom he killed.  I don't think he was a very nice man.  When we first got there I went on the carousel that was in front of the castle.  It was really, really fast.  In one of the gardens there was a maze that had been designed by the royal gardner during the late 1600's.  It was really fun.  I led the way in to the center and then back out again.  After that we wanted to go ice skating at the palace but it was a four hour wait.  So I went back on the carousel instead.  My dad said that was the fastest carousel he had ever seen.

A little while later we met some friends of my parents who live near the castle and we went out for dinner.  We had Indian food.  I liked some of the food.  The people in the restaurant were very nice.  Then we took the train back to Waterloo Station and walked home from there.  The next morning we went to the airport and flew home to America.  I had a great trip and I will continue posting videos and pictures, so keep checking back!!!  Can you find Bob in some of the pictures????

The American cemetery at Colleville on January 5, 2012 while TAPS was being played.

My sister Kayla and my father folding the American flag.

My father and sister and an American couple from New Jersey finishing the folding of the flag.

My father and my sister with the folded flag with all the white marble crosses behind them.

My father, mother and me on the cliffs near Omaha Beach in Normandy

This Cathedral in Bayeaux was built around 1067.

Me and my sister in Normandy

Me balancing on a pole.

Le Mont Saint Michel

Le Mont Saint Michel

My father, Kayla and me at Mont Saint Michel

Me and Bob at Mont St Michel

Can you find Bob?

The stain glass window in one of
the small chapels in Mont Saint Michel

I lit a candle and said a prayer.

Looking down from the entrance to the Abbey at Mont Saint Michel.

No I am not on the phone.  I am listening to my audio tour.

Kayla, my mother and father and me

The Benedictine Abbey at the top of Mont Saint Michel.

The garden inside the Abbey

This is the stain glass window in the church at St Mere Eglise.  If you look carefully you will notice that there is three paratroopers coming down next to the Virgin Mary and Jesus.  This window was put in this church in tribute to the US Army's Airborne paratroopers who liberated St Mere Eglise.

Arriving in England

On the London Eye with Bob.

Big Ben and Parliament taken from the London Eye on January 6, 2012.

The London Eye

The steeples of Westminster Abbey taken from
the top of a double decker bus on January 7, 2012.

All I need is a cane!!

Bob and I finding our way through the Royal Maze
that was at Henry VIII's castle in Hampton, England.

Henry VIII's castle

On the carousel at Henry VIII's castle.  I rode on carousels in France, Italy and England but this was the fastest one by far.

In Paris

We arrived in Paris on the afternoon of New Years Day. We took a double decker bus tour to see the sights of Paris. We sat on the top that was open. It started drizzling. We saw the Arc de Triumphe, the Seine River, the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. We went back to our hotel and got to bed so we could go on our tours in the morning.

My mother and my sister went on a tour of the Louvre museum while my daddy and I went on a tour of the Eiffel Tower on January 2, 2012. Our tour guide, Haley, explained a lot to me. I learned that Gustaf Eiffel was not the original designer of the tower. He actually bought the original plans from two other architects for 100,000 francs. He put his name on the plans and submitted them to the contest to build something for the World Fair for 1889. Thomas Edison was a presenter at the World Fair in 1889 also.

They started working on the construction of the tower in January of 1887 and it was done on March 31, 1889. It took two years, two months and five days to complete it. It is repainted every seven years and takes 18 months to paint completely. When the Eiffel Tower was first built it was lit up by 10,000 gas lanterns. Today it is lit up by 20,000 electric lights. Only one person fell to his death during the construction of the tower.

They have had people bungie jump and sky dive off the tower but they usually get arrested. When we got down to the first level, my father and I ice skated on the skating rink on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. It was fun. We also got an Eiffel Tower for Bob to sit underneath. Later that night, we all went back to see the Tower lit up. We got back there at about 7:55 pm and at 8 pm the Eiffel Tower put on a five minute light show that was awesome. The lights all over the tower flashed on and off like strobe lights. Bob really liked the Eiffel Tower. I ponted out to Haley that the line waiting to go up in the Eiffel Tower looked like a dinosaur. The world record for running up all the stairs from thr very bottom to the very top is 8 minutes and 51 seconds.  Do you think Bob is in any of these pictures???