A few weeks ago, we had a long weekend over Easter. So, we took a road trip to France. Road tripping in Europe is very different from road tripping back home. There's just not a lot of options for pitstops. They have these big rest stops every now and then with a gas station, a cafe, some sort of fast food (usually McDonald's or Burger King depending on the country), and a restroom (that you have to pay to use). You definitely have to plan your stops, because if you miss the rest stop, there's absolutely no other options for who knows how long. It could be a good hour or two before you see another one. We are slowly starting to get the hang of it. This was the first road trip that we actually didn't eat fast food even once. It was awesome.
Our first stop was the World War II Museum in Caen. It was pouring rain outside, so it was a perfect afternoon to do a museum. It was a great museum for getting the chronology of events from World War I leading up to World War II. As we have travelled with the kids here and visited various landmarks, we have had lots of opportunities to talk about the war, because it was just so devastating to all of Europe. Some of the exhibits showing actual video of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, and footage of mass killings in concentration camps, were just so sobering. The kids just couldn't understand how something so horrible could happen. So, that was day one. We sure know how to party, right?
The weather was a little better on Saturday, so we drove an hour south and visited Mont St. Michel. It's basically a monastery built on an island built back in the 8th century. I'm pretty sure this is where some of The Scarlett Pimpernell was filmed. When the tide is in, it's completely surrounded by water. The kids had fun climbing and counting all the steps to the top. We took a ton of pics, just keep scrolling down. :)
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| We travelled with some friends from church. It was so fun! |
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| The famous Poulard Omelette |
Ok, this omelette. It's a specialty of Mont St. Michel, apparently. It's a really frothy omelette that has been baked at a high temp. And when they fold it in half, it just oozes and looks amazing. We had seen this omelette on a Rick Steves video. It looked amaaazing. So, of course, we had to try it. I have to say...it was overpriced, and it was just ok. I think my expectations were way too high. Oh well, c'est la vie, right?
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| The kids had fun climbing all over the rocks at the base of the island |
Easter morning, we did some egg hunting...
And the sun came out...hooray!
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| Even teenagers hunt |
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| Lookin' through their stash |
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| Reese's PB eggs all the way from America! |
We stayed at a great campground on the coast. The Europeans really know how to do campgrounds. They are fancy. At least this one was. It had a water park, faux ice skating rink, bouncy houses and playgrounds for the kids, an on-site restaurant, and a small grocery store. We didn't even have to camp. We rented a little cabin complete with beds for everyone, a bathroom, kitchen, and a heater. It was great.
After the egg hunt, we went to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. It was a beautiful memorial. Hard to imagine how it must have been on D-Day.
The following pictures are of Pointe du Hoc. It's the highest point between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, and is where the US Army Rangers climbed this 100-ft cliff, assaulted and captured this heavily armed area that was a stronghold of the Germans. The kids loved running through the bomb craters, and old barracks and seeing where all the big guns were posted.
We ended our day driving to the town of Bayeaux. In Europe, every single town has a cathedral of some sort. Every. Single. Town. Sometimes they have more than one. It's easy to just not even appreciate them because they are everywhere. We have trekked through many, many churches. Bayeaux didn't disappoint. It was magnificent!
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| I mean, just look at it! |
Incredible.
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| Beautiful stained-glass windows. Look at the light pouring in. |
While in Bayeaux, we visited the famous Bayeaux Tapestry, which was made in the 1070s, is 70 meters long, and tells the story leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It was so cool, and I did not take even one picture of it.
I was too busy taking pics of my food! So, did you know that a savory crepe is really called a galette? And it's made with buckwheat flour. It was also a lot tastier than my poulard omellette. :)
Monday was absolutely beautiful weather. We decided to spend the morning at the beach. The kids played in the sand, and we just enjoyed the sun before heading back home.
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| This is a gun leftover from the war. It was on our beach. The kids thought it was pretty cool. |
On our way out of town, we stopped at the Carrefour grocery store and bought some groceries for our lunch. Why have McDonalds, when the French grocery stores have amazing bread and pastries, and whatnot. We were delighted to find that they also had Honey Nut Cheerios, Golden Grahams, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I don't know why the cereal selection is so limited in Holland. But I'm glad to know that next time we are in France we can stock up on a few familiar items.
