Early morning departure from our Paris Mercure Hotel. Everyone arrived safely at CDG and through the gate!! Should be arriving Detroit around 1:40pm. Au revoir. Bon voyage!


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Bateau-Mouche

We rode the Brigitte Bardot bateau-mouche this morning and saw all the sights on the Seine.

We saved Notre Dame Cathedral until the last day.  It was a beautiful sunny day to see the lovely stained glass windows.  The singing was tremendous.

After dinner we indulged in Berthillon ice cream ;} We shared our experiences with another acquaintance from Detroit, Thuan!

These locks exist all over in Paris on little bridges.  They symbolize sealing a love for one another and a love for such a beautiful city.

This little boy was playing French songs for us……on a giant accordion. How fitting for our last evening.  Au revoir! A la prochaine!!

D-Day Beaches

Wow.  Gorgeous day to hear all the stories about the landings at the Normandy beaches 70 years ago.  The movie clips were so well done.  The granite obelisk serves as a memorial.

With your imagination, you can visualize all the boats and the soldiers.  This place is called Pointe du Hoc.

They have left everything as it was.  We climbed in German bunkers and saw the craters and gun mounts.

Partial group photo in our D shirts on the D-Day beaches.

Here is our entire group at Omaha Beach.  We brought back sand from this landing area as a reminder.

We explored the town of Grandcamp, looking for things to eat…..

It is very very fresh!!  --straight off the boat.

This photo was too precious not to take!

We also went to the American Cemetery.  Vivian was able to locate the tombstone of her husband's uncle: Alvezio Trozzi, who was killed in action on July 3, 1944.  He earned the silver, the bronze and the purple heart medals.














Back in Paris and after a wonderful dinner at Chez Clément, a few crazies went to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  It was beautiful weather and well worth the time and effort!

St Malo

We spent the night in the medieval walled city of St Malo. We walked the ramparts, enjoyed a street concert, ate crepes and touched the waters of the English Channel


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Mont St Michel & St Malo

8 of us had the fortitude, strength and guts to climb the 365 steps to the top if Mont St Michel, the abbey on an island rock for untold centuries. It was heavenly to hear the nuns singing during the service yesterday morning. Wow.



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Thank you, dear friends.

Today was castle day.  We first explored Chambord and, yes, we were the first to arrive and yes, again, we virtually had the place to ourselves. It was a very nice experience.






Afterwards we had the most glorious picnic arranged by our tour guide, Angélique with the help of Paolo, our bus driver.  We had baguettes and cheese, sandwich meats and real Dijon mustard and cornichons, chips, orange Pshitt, red wine and cake with a chocolate spread. We were so happy.

Next was the castle of Chenonceau, from the 1500's, built over the river Cher and still standing.  It was just gorgeous.

 

There is a maze that you can meander around in. You should be at least 5 feet tall though, so you can see over the bushes if you need to find your way out in a hurry!

We so loved all the furnishings in the castle  and the amazing equipment in the kitchen and the stone bread oven.

 We had dinner in Old Tours on the place Plumereau where houses have stood for 500 years.  Everyone enjoyed.











Funny thing was--a goat meandered by while we were eating! Rita grabbed Jan's camera to take the photo!  It is a true story.

Lastly, what a treat to see Jean-Paul and Jacqueline with their daughter Clotilde in Tours.  Jean-Paul and Jacqueline were guest speakers in our Alliance Française 2 years ago.  Sherrill C, Irene, Heather and Linda were so surprised to see them as they had heard these Frenchies speak in their classes.  They even treated us to kir and red wine to fortify the franco-american relationships!  Youpi!  Thank you, chers amis.

This morning we left early and were the FIRST ONES IN LINE at Versailles!  What a joy to have this beautiful palace all to ourselves for a few moments!!

Chartres Cathedral was also on our agenda today and we were overwhelmed with its beauty!  Some of us got to walk the labyrinth while others just enjoyed taking in the town. Now we are off to Tours!

Olga took this shot of St Gatien at night on our walk after dinner.  What a full day! Tomorrow we see castles!