Hello again! So much to talk about, I'm not too good at updating often.Rewinding back to a few weeks ago, it was Emily's birthday. Of course we have to do a fabulous birthday celebration! On here actual birthday, January 30th, we had previous plans doing community service so our whole group went out on Thursday night to a local Italian restaurant that we LOVE! The owner is an Italian man who is very friendly and welcomed us with open arms. We enjoyed a filling meal and great conversation with our friends. We had to end the night early due to our full day of activities on Friday.
On Friday morning we headed to Normandy. This was a private excursion we signed up for a few weeks before. Normandy was probably one of the greatest places I have been to thus far. We took a coach bus 2 1/2 hours from our school to Omaha Beach. The weather was much like that of D-Day, wet, gray and cold. We got to see Omaha Beach, where the US entered French territory. Climbing onto the shore and up the hill must've been nearly impossible by the looks of the terrain. We also walked through the American Cemetery on sight. It was such an emotional experience. I shed a few tears but the rain seemed to hide them considering it was down-pouring at this point. After spending about an hour walking around Omaha beach we headed off to another battleground- Pointe du Hoc. I loved this place the most because we got to run around and explore the bunkers and craters. It was fun because we all felt like little kids again. The amount of craters was crazy! There was barely any flatland. The bunkers we pretty cool too. We actually got to go into them and really imagine what it was like in WWII. We ended up getting really muddy while exploring and running in and out of the craters. The bus driver really mad at some students and made them remove some dirty clothing before they got back on the bus. On the way home they showed Saving Private Ryan, which I had actually never seen before. Watching that movie made me really get an idea for the conditions the soldiers fought through at Normandy. Overall it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. The whole time I was wishing that my dad, Austin and Tanner were there. They would've loved it!
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| American WWII Cemetery |
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| in a crater |
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| Bunker |
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| A bit windy |
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| Exploring the bunker |
One of the most beautiful places I have been to so far is the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. Sacré Cœur is a very pretty church that sits up on a hill over looking all of France. We had an excursion to the neighborhood below the church where we saw the Moulin Rouge, a famous painters village and the sex district of Paris. It was quite an interesting walk to say the least. The walk up to the church is more like a hike. The stairs leading up there are infamous. I was just happy to actually get a little workout in :) Emily and I plan to make one last visit to Sacré Cœur before we leave Paris just to take in the view one last time.
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| The Moulin Rouge |
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| View from Scare Couer |
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| Scare Couer |
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| Street Performer...he's famous on YouTube! |
I finally went to the Louvre! I know every says this but..... The Louvre is MASSIVE! I cannot believe how much artwork they have to fill that place! We only went to about 1/4 of the museum. We hit the main spots of course. Saw the Mona Lisa, Venus with no arms and some other amazing work. I can honestly say that I wish I had more knowledge and understanding of the art there. I almost felt unappreciative of the art because we breezed on through the halls ignoring so many paintings that were probably worldly famous. I am just not that knowledgeable in that subject unfortunately.It was still pretty cool just going to the Louvre and seeing the building itself.
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| MONA! |
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| Me Emily Sharron Anthony and Victoria at the Louvre |
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