Normandie

Hi all-

Well another week is starting. Two weeks from today I will be on spring break with Papa :) However, there is plenty to do until then...

On Friday I went to the Nantes history museum within the chateau in centre-ville. It's probably one of the coolest things I've seen in Nantes so far. It starts with the construction of the chateau in the middle ages and continues until the present day. Originally Nantes was the capital of Brittany, and Brittany (the region north of Nantes) was independent from France. The chateau was built to defend Nantes from the rest of France. However, eventually Anne de Bretagne (the duchess of Brittany) married Charles VIII (King of France) and Brittany, including Nantes, was combined with France in 1491.

Anne de Bretagne

Chateau

Surrounded by water, Nantes also used to be a main site for boat building, but that ceases to exist today. However, Nantes is still the second largest Atlantic port in France, just behind Bordeaux. Due to the frequent boat traffic, Nantes also played a large role in the slave trade in the 18th century. I can't say that was the most pleasant part of the museum visit, but it's good to be aware of what went on and recognize how far the world has come since then.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Nantes also had a type of tramway that went from one side of the river to the other. It was strictly for passengers, and from the looks of it, I think you had to have had a lot of courage to ride this thing.

It looks like a giant swing. The part over the water was connected to the tower with cable wires.

Nantes also has its own line of biscuits, which is something between a thin cookie and a ritz cracker. Nevertheless, delicious. The most famous biscuit is le Petit beurre. They even sell these in the states, but I didn't know that until I was already here.

Saturday morning I headed to Normandy with IES. The weekend was filled with lots of deja vue, as this was my second time visiting the landing beaches, American cemetary and the Peace Memorial in Caen. But no worries, I'm not complaining, it's awesome to be able to see these things more than once and to actually absorb the information and the events that took place here.

It's about a 4 hour drive from Nantes to Caen. We had lunch in Caen, and spent about an hour exploring downtown, the chateau and the cathedral. Caen was severely affected by WWII, so most of what you see today has been rebuilt.

Cathedral

Caen Chateau

Part of the IES crew picnicking on the chateau lawn


Imitating a statue at the chateau. Pretty good, eh?

We spent the afternoon at the Peace Memorial. The memorial covers the time leading up to World War II and finishes with the Cold War. It's a really well-done museum and I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Normandy. There are lots of anecdotes and artifacts from soldiers that make the war seem very personal and real, not just an event out of a history book, which is something I really appreciate when trying to grasp such a large event in our world's history. I managed to find this dress again, which I remembered was one of my favorite things from my previous visit. It's a wedding dress made out of a parachute during the war. It's nice knowing that happiness could be found in the midst of so much ugliness and fear.

The museum also has a Nobel Peace Prize exhibit hall, where I found the following quote...

Peace isn't a gift that God gives to man, but a gift that men give to themselves.

Something to think about I guess...

There was also a photography exhibit called "Entre guerres et paix" (Between war and peace) by a world renowned photographer named Reza. I really enjoyed this. It was heart-wrenching, but also ironically heart-lifting at the same time. The photos were of people from all over the world, most of whom are in pretty difficult circumstances, be that war, poverty, sickness, etc. However, within some of the pictures, there were children, smiling and laughing, seeming so ignorant of whatever was going on around them. You can't help but smile at this. Kids are so great.

Outside of the memorial are a collection of gardens with a huge park. The American garden had a wall with a plaque from each state. I managed to find Minnesota :)

Sunday we visited the landing beaches and the American cemetary. Unfortunately, the weather decided to be overcast and a little chilly, but it was almost fitting considering what we were seeing. The French actually gave the American cemetary to the United States, so I was on Amercain soil for about 2 hours yesterday! Throughout the time we were there, a chime arrangement of America the Beautiful was continually playing. It was very patriotic.

Something that bothered me throughout the visit was how everything referred to how all of these men died for freedom, and not just for the liberation of France, but for the freedom of the entire world. It's so ironic. It just doesn't seem right to us the word 'dying' and 'freedom' in the same sentence. Should freedom really require so much sacrifice?

Omaha beach is right below the cemetary. It's very beautiful and serene, and therefore hard to imagine the chaos that went on during June 6, 1944. I managed to get my shoes off and walk barefoot along the beach for awhile. It was probably a little too cold for barefeet, but I couldn't resist. The ice cold water was refreshing!

We also visited the Pointe de Hoc, which was originally a German fort, built to resist the allies. Today, the site is filled with the ruins of bunkers and craters which were caused by the allied bombings. It's basically a big playground. I managed to crawl into a few things...

There are also some awesome views from this site, which is situated between the Omaha and Utah beaches.

We had lunch in a small town called Bayeux. It's famous for its tapestries, but we didn't have time to see them... I tried my first French Kebab here though! I'm pretty sure Nantes is home to some serious delicious kebabs though, so I'm not sure my first go at a Kebab was really a true taste of what it could be. It's kind of like a gyro with lettuce and tomato and then french fries. But it's the popular fast food of choice here. For dessert we found some ice cream, unfortunately it was Ben and Jerry's... haha I'm such an American.

Cathedral at Bayeux


Madame de Pous - Prof de Grammaire, chaperone for the weekend
Baguette anyone??

We spent the afternoon at a place called Haras du Pin. Most people refer to it as the Versailles of Horses. And that's basically what it is, a chateau for horses. It's primary purpose is to breed horses. All of the big shot horses come from here - military, racing, etc. They only house the male horses here though. I found out that the record for the most money paid for a pure bred horse from here, was over 4 million euro. Whoa. I can't even imagine that. I also saw my first horse grave here. It was for a horse named Furioso, who died in 1967, but was apparently an epic horse. He could run over 35 mph and was a champ. So they gave him a grave. There was also another horse, named Workaholic, who got his own retirement stall. This place is high class, let me tell you.

Furioso's grave

Well there's a novel of my weekend. Sorry it's so long! I know all of you have tons of free time to read about my life... :) Jason Mraz concert on Wednesday! Woo! Also, coming soon - a thorough explanation of crepes and galettes. So check in again soon! I'll leave you with a quote...

"Travelling offers you a hundred roads to adventure and gives your heart wings"

Love you all!

Kelsey