Hotel Otelinn Caen

This last weekend my program's group traveled to Normandy and Brittany. It was a very cool trip! On Saturday we drove from Paris to Caen, Normandy. We visited the Memorial de Caen, which is a museum/memorial from WWII. Caen was a city during WWII that was occupied by the Germans, and it was a major victory when the Allies were able to seize it. After Caen, we drove on to Omaha Beach to the American ...

Next stop were we stepping back in time even further...to 1066 to be exact and the battle of Hastings which is deplicated on a 70 m piece of embroidded cloth known as the Bayeux taperstry. On entry to the tapestry you are given an audio guide which provides a running commentry on what is ...

... we drove past Courseulles code name Juno Beach and onto Arromanches code name Gold Beach and where the famous Mulberry Harbour was built. <br><br>The Mulberry Harbour was made by the British. Over a dozen old ships on their last voyage were intentionally sunk as the foundation of the harbours break wall. Several dozen extremely large concrete blocks which were transported across the seas ...

Arrived at Ouistreham just before dark and found an Aire de Service right on the beach and this time it was free! The downside was it was right next to the ferry terminal and the 6am ferry to Portmouth the next day was kill the tranquilo the next morning. Kim's Maison du Scooby cooked up a storm. Pork fajitas on rice - delicious. I gave it 5 stars.

... many. My French guide made the comment as we explored Normandy... "I may have been speaking German now to you if it were not for those that fought here." Their sacrifice affects many, and touches many... as my guide gave us the details of the American Cemetery, the Australian man next to me had to excuse himself. There is not much else to say, but, Thank you.

... Pegasus Bridge where we had lunch at the Cafe Gondree where were were met by Mme Gondree. The cafe Gondree is located in the first house that was liberated by The Allied Forces in France. Just before midnight on  June 5, 1944 (some say after midnight...which would have been D-Day) paratroopers landed via gliders just 200 meters from the home where Mme Gondree was a girl and her parents broke out the good champange (that they had burried in the back yard) to greet their ...

From July 11-July 14 we had free days without any class (whoop!) and I went to Germany to visit Sascha, an exchange student I met at A&amp;M in Fall 2007. He lives in Duisburg (approximately 40 miles from Cologne) which is famous for having the largest inland port in the world (connection of the Rhine and the Ruhr) and is considered by some to be the single most bombed German city during WWII due to its important industrial ...

... It is a 20-minute train ride from Caen. From the Bayeux station it is another 20-minute walk to the village center, past numerous agencies offering day trips to the beaches of Normandy and World War II sites. But you want to see a stunning legacy of a much older battle that also changed history. Housed in a rambling 18th century seminary on rue de Nesmond is the Bayeux tapestry, or as the French call it, Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde (the tapestry of ...

... for breakfast from the bakery down the street and heading into town again to pick up our little Citroen rental car. Once we got out of the confusing maze of one-way streets and roundabouts in Caen, the drive through the countryside was beautiful. As soon as we reached the coast, we passed through a string of tiny villages with narrow streets lined with centuries-old stone homes. All along the beaches here were reminders of the battles and ...

... brandy), cider, seafood, and an area whose butter & cream based cuisine boasts a proud disdain for most things nouvelle. As we drove through some of the quaint villages dotting the countryside we were able to view some roadside pictures from 1944, pictures showing the same villages as they sat in ruins. It's remarkable how much has survived or been restored since the Allied landings in 1944 and the subsequent Battle of Normandy ...