Trip to France Sept. 28-Oct.14

[robin]

Our trip as begun. We had a 7:30 pm flight out of PHL along with 6 other people-4 of which are good friends. Originally, we were on British Airways, but a few weeks ago, we were moved to American. As of the weekend the flight was only about 40% full. However; I the earlier flight was cancelled and the empty seat next me was filled by a very large young man. Luckily, the flight was still very empty and the flight attendant was able to move him so we were both comfortable. The flight was uneventful and we arrived early at Heathrow. We had to change terminals, which we had never done before. I never realized how far apart the terminals were from each other. We spent some time in the lounge and then boarded another fairly empty plane for Paris. Immigration moved fast and our luggage was waiting for us. After some confusion meeting our driver, our coach bus drove us the 4 hours or so to Caen. Originally, there were supposed to be 12 or 14 more people in the group, but one had heart issues and another Covid(the travel agent who was supposed to lead the group) and others were supposedly afraid of lockdowns. 6 of us had dinner together and went to bed. It was a long, sleepless trip. To we are headed to Normandy. We will get to meet the rest of the group. I'll post the link to pictures later.

[Pegmeister]

Hope you have been able to at least get a little sleep. It sounds like a long travel day to start but I’m sure it will be worth it.

[schexc]

Our trip as begun. We had a 7:30 pm flight out of PHL along with 6 other people-4 of which are good friends. Originally, we were on British Airways, but a few weeks ago, we were moved to American. As of the weekend the flight was only about 40% full. However; I the earlier flight was cancelled and the empty seat next me was filled by a very large young man. Luckily, the flight was still very empty and the flight attendant was able to move him so we were both comfortable. The flight was uneventful and we arrived early at Heathrow. We had to change terminals, which we had never done before. I never realized how far apart the terminals were from each other. We spent some time in the lounge and then boarded another fairly empty plane for Paris. Immigration moved fast and our luggage was waiting for us. After some confusion meeting our driver, our coach bus drove us the 4 hours or so to Caen. Originally, there were supposed to be 12 or 14 more people in the group, but one had heart issues and another Covid(the travel agent who was supposed to lead the group) and others were supposedly afraid of lockdowns. 6 of us had dinner together and went to bed. It was a long, sleepless trip. To we are headed to Normandy. We will get to meet the rest of the group. I'll post the link to pictures later.

We're already exhausted, reading about you travel day. Hope you get a good nights sleep. Enjoy.....

[Andrea J.]

A long travel day indeed.
looking forward to seeing photos!

[robin]

Today we went to Utah Beach and museum first, then we were at Gold Beach for lunch(one of the British and Canadian beaches during the invasion) to have lunch. Next was the American Cemetery and then on to Omaha Beach. Words and pictures cannot describe the emotions you feel being there, no can they accurately document the enormity of what happened there. I have seen movies and read books, but being there is different. It's humbling. I learned a lot I did not know and was reminded of things I learned years ago. People who take our freedoms for granted or think we should be free to do whatever we want, really need to visit here to gain a greater understanding of what those freedoms mean and the sacrifices that our young men and their families went through for us and the rest of the world(not meant to be a political statement). So very tired still. Maybe I'll be able to get my pictures up tomorrow.

[SusieLovesAruba]

Very humbling indeed Robin - just reading your post gave me goosebumps. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Today we went to Utah Beach and museum first, then we were at Gold Beach for lunch(one of the British and Canadian beaches during the invasion) to have lunch. Next was the American Cemetery and then on to Omaha Beach. Words and pictures cannot describe the emotions you feel being there, no can they accurately document the enormity of what happened there. I have seen movies and read books, but being there is different. It's humbling. I learned a lot I did not know and was reminded of things I learned years ago. People who take our freedoms for granted or think we should be free to do whatever we want, really need to visit here to gain a greater understanding of what those freedoms mean and the sacrifices that our young men and their families went through for us and the rest of the world(not meant to be a political statement). So very tired still. Maybe I'll be able to get my pictures up tomorrow.

[sgt11946]

Thank you Robin for posting your experiences. I wonder if young people would identify with what happened there. My father-in law was on the first landing. He didn't talk about it much.
Enjoy Paris.

[robin]

Thank you Robin for posting your experiences. I wonder if young people would identify with what happened there. My father-in law was on the first landing. He didn't talk about it much.
Enjoy Paris.

From what they said, I can't imagine he would want to talk about it.

[robin]

Sleep is a wonderful thing. We were both out at 9:30 last night. We decided to have dinner alone so we were back in our room relatively early.

Today we went to Mont St. Michel Abbey which was a two hour bus ride. It was a windy, cool rainy day. We surely got a workout climbing steep ramps(one person in our group sometimes uses a wheelchair) and many, many, many wet stone stairs, but it was worth it. My app said I walked up 16 flights of stairs. It is a world UNESCO site. It sits on what seems like marshland during low tide, but once high tide comes in, it is an island. It would be impossible to go through it's very long history, so if you are interested, you can Google it and read about it. We ate lunch in the village that is part of the island and then headed back to the shuttle to take us to the parking lot for the ride back to Caen. Our wonderful guide for the past two days really had a workout today. One member of our group got lost sometime after leaving the very large abbey and while we were eating he went out to look for him in the rain. He helped move our group member in the wheelchair. Once we were back at the parking area, he received a call from the restaurant that a couple left their vaccination card on the table(yes, they do check everywhere for them). He took the shuttle back and walked the distance(it is a walk from the shuttle stop to Mont St. Michel), picked up the cards and reversed the travel. He was really awesome. Stu and I opted to have dinner alone tonight and headed in a different direction and stumbled on a Lebanese restaurant that was great. Lebanese Restaurant with English menus in France.

Tomorrow we leave at 7:45 for the all day bus ride to Bordeaux and embark on our Viking Riverboat Cruise. We do have an evening walking tour booked.

I did upload all my pictures-I'm still just very tired. Sorry there are so many.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iSFrRxUhFtsJ4mJr7

[Pegmeister]

Glad you got to catch up on your sleep and an now really get out to explore and enjoy. Also appreciate your posting all your photos and I’ve enjoyed viewing them!