France

April 1

I remembered, after we were half way to the metro station, that I had left my hat under the bed in Prague, so I ran back up to the room and got it. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that I also left my camera cord behind. The weather was beautiful on the morning we left. It was much better than the snowy night that greeted us. After taking the subway to the bus stop, we waited anxiously for bus 119 to the airport. Not knowing where it would pull up, we kept our eyes on lookout so we didn’t miss it.
When we arrived at Orly, we looked for transportation into the city. We almost got on a €10 to Paris, but we decided to take the shuttle to the metro instead. It ended up getting us into Versailles much cheaper and easier. We got off the train a few stops early, but realized our mistake before the doors closed. Kendra, Swaff’s high school classmate, met us at the train station and showed us too her apartment. After we got settled in, Kendra took us around the studio. She is an architecture major at the U of Illinois. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time with her because she had a big project to finish. She was designing a culinary school, complete with a 3D model. It was really cool.
Our main reason for going to France was to see Normandy, but since we were close we figured we might as well go into Paris for a day. We took the train into the city on Saturday. We walked along the river until we ran into Notre Dame. Somehow we managed to lose Dave inside. He had already seen the Louvre, so the rest of us went on without him. Swaff called him a few hours later and asked what he’d been doing, and Dave said he didn’t know. The Louvre is huge! You would have to spend a month in there to see everything. One day was enough for us. We met up with Dave as we left and walked toward the Arc de Triomphe.
Along the way, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I was hoping for an all-you-can-eat-buffet, but no dice. After dinner I got some pretty cool pictures, especially considering I was using a point and shoot at night with no tripod. After a few snaps at the Arc de Triomphe, we headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We were walking down the street, headed right for it when Dave told us to take the next right. We didn’t. It turned out we had to head left.
We encountered numerous street venders. We thought it was odd that they were all selling the same thing. We had noticed that many of the stores everywhere all carry some of the same things, but these guys all had the exact same items. They all try to make it sound like you’re getting a good price. After a few ‘no’s, they’re likely to drop the price by 50-75%. After several pictures of the Eiffel Tower, my camera died. I kept trying to get the perfect shot, but as it turns out, they are all better than they looked on the camera screen. We had a little trouble finding the nearest metro station, but eventually we did.
On Sunday we went to see the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. It was only April, so many of the beds were unplanted, but the shrubbery, statues and fountains were worth the price of admission. Actually we got in free, so I guess it was worth our time. As we stopped for ice cream, Swaff had to use the bathroom. A while later, we began to wonder what was taking so long. Next thing we knew, he was calling in Dave for backup. Apparently he ran out of TP.










On our way out, we saw two red Ferraris racing around the streets. They looked familiar. We also saw two red Ferraris in Prague, but it’s unlikely it was the same two. We also saw a blue Maserati racing around by itself. Kendra took a little break from her project to play some cards with us. We taught her Extreme Golf Niner. Robbie became the first to pick up both 9 of diamonds, the ultimate party foul. Before going to bed, we emailed the tour people and let them know we were coming in the morning for the Normandy tour.
In the morning, we walked to the train station only to find that it was closed. They told us to walk 15 minutes down to the other Versailles station. We then took the train into Paris to catch our train to Bayeux. Nobody was willing to share a seat, so we ended up sitting at the end of the car on the floor. We were scheduled to arrive in Bayeux four minutes before the tour was set to leave.
Our first stop on the tour bus was the German cemetery. Our guide told us the French did not want to give the Germans any land to build a cemetery, but finally gave in. It was small and not very well kept. We noticed some sad attempts at national flags. The maple leaf on the Canadian flag is rotated, but that is nothing compared to the 25 uneven stripes on the ‘American’ flag. We moved on to Pointe du Hoc, the cliff top stronghold between Omaha and Utah Beaches where the Americans attacked the Germans by climbing the cliffs. We couldn’t get very close to the cliff, be we did get to crawl down into some bunkers. Some of them had been annihilated by the bombs, but others still stood. Up next was Omaha Beach. I was a bit disappointed with what actually remains. The beach has been cleared of all the hedgehogs and other obstacles. The gunner bunkers remain, but they are in the back yards of houses. If you want to know what the beach looked like during WWII, watch Saving Private Ryan or play Battlefield 1942.
We then went to the WWII history museum. They had quite a bit of stuff all set up to show the conditions the soldiers endured. Our final stop was the American cemetery. It says America so you know it has to be good, and it was. I was amazed by the perfectly strait rows of crosses, and the occasional Star of David. The French we more than happy to give the Americans land for a cemetery.
It felt like we rushed from place to place. It would have been nice to be able to spend more time in some places. The tour got back to the train station in Bayeux in time to grab a quick bite and jump on the earlier train back to Paris.
Or flight out of France was with Ryanair. If you have ever traveled with a discount airline, then you know not to. It is true; you always get what you pay for. Our plane left from Beauvais Airport, which is definitely not Paris. We had to be at the bus station for the 50-mile ride three hours before our flight. I’m not sure where the stereotype that Americans are loud comes from. The bus was full of loud Spaniards, and the locals everywhere else seem pretty loud and obnoxious too. Swaff must have chosen the wrong security line again. His £8 climbing karabiner got taken away because the lady seemed to think it could be used as brass knuckles. To prove her point, she squeezed her fingers together and crammed them into the biner. If she were to punch someone like that, she surely would have broken her hand, and Swaff’s hands were much bigger. To make a long story short, he was not happy.