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!

Thursday morning….on to Giverny

Giverny at 9am when it opens with the early morning light is absolutely the best time to see Monet's home and his unique and outstanding gardens. And as you can see, the weather, once again, is perfect!

Here's a favorite photo that Jan took. See the bug on the orange flower?

Heather took this shot of a lone pink lily out in the pad.
Irene took this photo from the bridge.

Here is Jane's beautiful dahlia.

Here is one of Linda's photos, also from the bridge.  Interesting to see people's different perspectives!Here is Pam's Pink Profusion!

Sherrill C's cone flower all by itself contrasts so well with this background. Bravo!Marge says about her photo: "Monet's house has a beautiful array of colors inside and out. The kitchen in yellow and blue is so welcoming!  No photos allowed inside, unfortunately."

Some sweet friend took this photo of Vivian with her camera at Giverny.  She is like a beautiful flower!

Sherill W's favorite photo of Giverny:

  

We had a ball learning how to make those oh so desirable little delicious macarons from pastry chef Audrey in Paris. Everyone made different flavors and we went around with little boxes and did a little macaroni cookie exchange.  We are in heaven!

Here is our instructor Audrey, such a cute diminutive little creative woman! She is shooing how to pipe out the macarons.

Olga is smacking the pan to flatten the macaroons.

Vivian and Marge with their finished products.

Suzie and Jan with their macaroons all done.

Look at these babies and DROOL!!!

Exploring Montmartre

 We headed up to Montmartre in the late afternoon and were so glad the weather was perfect.

The statue on the right on horseback in front of Sacré-Coeur is Joan of Arc.

Sherrill refills her water bottle at the famous Wallace Fountain.

 Highlights for everyone were strolling around Place du Tertre or Painters Square.

Dinner at Welcome Café near the Louvre.

Can everyone say crème brûlée? It was truly divine.

Our guide, Angélique knows all the tricks for avoiding the crowds. On Wednesdays, the Louvre is open until 9:45pm.  We pretty much had the run of the place! C'est cool!

Needless to say, we saw all the great pieces and then some! It was great to see a beautifully restored Winged Victory.

Time for bed.  We had another extremely full day.  And tomorrow is an early start at Giverny!