This weekend Elise learned the difference between trip and vacation...as we were driving home from our last stop on the Normandy Beaches, I got lost and had to turn around in a shopping parking lot in Bayeux. Elise thought we were stopping at another beach and cried, "Please mommy, not another beach!" It was awesome; I think she thought the beach weekend in Normandy was going to be more of a relaxing vacation! She was not ready to be dragged around to all the war sites.

Here's a breakdown of our trip:

1. Clos de Bellefontain was our B&B in Bayeux for two nights. Great place and delicious breakfast, yummy American Coffee!!! Bunny rabbit Lily to play with (check out the pictures) and a fun, fun bath tub.

2. Normandy Beaches: We explored...
a. Pointe du Hoc - played in shelters, saw huge bomb craters, sat in awe at the high cliffs and tried to imagine what the attack of this site could have been like. Unbelievable!
b. Omaha Beach (Vierville-sur-Mer) and the American Cemetery - unreal!
c. Batterie Allemande de Longues-sur-Mer - Three of the four 150mm artillery are intact while the fourth was blown to pieces. We got to run around and explore the defense battery and firing headquarters. It was pretty amazing.
d. Arromanches-les-Bains - last quick stop to see some of the boats at sea and play on the beach.
...the Normandy area is quite amazing. Driving up and around the coast from Bayeux, we felt as if we could have been driving along on highway in any midwestern state. The cows, farmland, and flat-lands reminded us of our St. Louis/Chicago drives. However, suddenly you are standing on large cliffs and exploring a battlefield. It really is an amazing area and it was a fascinating historical trip.

3. Saturday was filled with site-seeing: The Bayeux Tapestry, Bayeux Cathedral, and Mt. Saint Michael. What an adventure! The Mt. St. Michael is an amazing abbey sitting atop a mount on the edge of the Seine. You need to read more about this amazing place because I won't do it justice. This was probably the busiest stop of our trip because it was full of tourists and a lot more intense than the shut-down-for-winter beaches. There were a lot of people and a lot going on on the mount; there is an entire village located just below the abbey. We loved our time exploring the abbey and it's medival architecture. It was like a maze of concrete!

Great trip all round!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season!