Wow... What a day. I don't even know where to start. We woke up in Caen, France and started our day as tourists. The first main attraction was the castle built in 1060 AD by William the Conqueror (aka William the bastard, because he was an illegitimate child)
It's the really old looking wall in the background:)
The next stop was Saint Pierre Cathedral.
Finally, the Abbey des Hommes; the abbey William the Conqueror built. It was stunning and what an awesome pic I got from the car window!
After Caen we headed to Bayeux: a small town about 35 kilometers away. It was a stunning town with a beautiful old church.
The church was cool, but it was the food that was really great. We found a small Crepiere and I continued my progress toward my goal of eating chocolate in each meal for the day. Chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) and a Nutella crepe was the perfect lunch!
The French always seem to make things look so fancy!
We then set out to tour the D-day beaches. History review- D-day was on June 6, 1944, when the Allied forces planned a suprise attack on the German army. The Germans never expected them to attack the beaches of Normandy due to the shallow coast line. The day before the attack the English Channel was stormy and rough but President Eisenhower made a critical decision to go ahead with the attack. You may wonder why June 6th? They needed a high tide and full moon- and both of those occurred that day. At 530am allied parachutes dropped from the sky and the attack began. Hours later thousands of troops lay dead, but the Allies succeeded, turning the tide of the war.
We made 4 stops along the coastline
1. Arromanches- where after the Allied forces took over they built a floating dock for their boats, you can see the remnants of the docks still today.
2. The Atlantic "Wall"- not a real wall but a series of Battery (bunkers) the Germans built to fortify the area.
3. Cimitiere Americain- The American Cemetery- where 9,400 soldiers who gave their lives on D-Day to fight for freedom are laid to rest. 
"I went ashore with 36 other men and only 2 of us are still standing..."
~American Solider
4. Pont Du Huc- this place is breathtaking. Huge cliffs dropping hundreds of feet straight into the North Sea. Over 250 US Rangers swam ashore here and used ropes to climb the cliffs while Germans tried to shoot them down from above.
Don't worry Maddie is shoved inside my coat. It was pretty cold and very windy:)
The pictures do not do it justice. The bravery of the US and British soldiers on this day is beyond words. Take time to thank a Veteran today.
Our day ended with a delicious French dinner.
French onion soup- fitting, we are in France. But the best part of dinner was Kellen's third course: a plate of French cheese.
After he ate it he stated, "It tastes like the stockyards at the Texas State Fair." Haha... Gotta love smelly French cheese! It was a great day in France!
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