Normandy
Trip Start
May 08, 2006
1
78
108
Trip End
Mar 07, 2007
Bayeux,
France
Thursday, November 23, 2006
I was carrying my posters with me. All 4 of them. Was a massive pain in the arse.
So i get to Bayeux (prounced bayu). Found the hostel that the lonely planet recommends, the Family home hostel. The french lady pulled up as i arrived at let me in. Let me in to the 4 bed dorm with just myself in it. It was dark by then. By 5 its completley dark here
a. walking through the normandy countryside
. I walked around the cold wet down, feeling sorry for myself. Went to a kebab shop and grabbed a french kebab. A baguette with meat inside. 10 bucks. Shocking!!!I walked around town for 3 hours looking and asking around for internet. There was everything else in triple but no internet cafe. Only in the hotels for like 12 euros an hour. I went back to the hostel and saw there was a tv with a sign that said "US videos". It was bulls#2t. There were US movies but were all dubbed in french. I started to watch hot shots 2 in french then gove up. The only thing that was in english was an old documentary on D Day where what now would have been computer models were shown as illustrations on paper. Reminded me of that simpsons documentary on the moon.
So i went to go to sleep. Saw a man had moved into my room but he wasnt in yet. It was midnight and i wasnt tired since it paris it wasnt my bedtime yet, so i read his english paper. About 10 minutes later the man came in. A swiss man. I should have guessed by the lindt chocolate balls he left on his bed. We talked and I found out he was a sports therapist for the olympics comittee and countries hire him to support their teams and stuff. He told me his life story and stuff. Was a real nice guy. He is also like a masuer
b. Sherman tank at the museum
. He insisted I have a lindt ball. I ate it. I was suprised by how liquidy it was inside.He said he had been studying peoples body types and said my forearm length compared to the rest of my arm was ideal for tennis. He offerred his services as a maseur. He said a lot of people fall asleep while he massages them and I dont know if it was the lack of sleep the day before or what. Now dont laugh too hard when i explain the following.
I sure I remember his him massagging my inner thigh. I woke up at 11am the next day. Complete solid sleep. I woke up and there were chocolate stains on his bed and it looked like he had left in a hurry or just didnt care. I walked around the next day all groggy. Like I had been drugged! Seriuosly, if i leant to one side i just fell over. And i felt sick as well. Maybe it was because the massage released toxins or something. Maybe i was drugged and raped in the night. I just dont know. My mind was racing, the night before was a blur. The last thing i remember for sure was him insisting on me having a lindt chocolate, even thought i brushed my teeth. All my organs appear to be in their correct places and there was no blood anywhere on my bed so i guess he was ok. The errry thing was that he left and i didnt even realise, and that he left a box of lindt balls next to my bag
c. American cemetary
.Forget it now, im sure nothing happened and im just having a laugh writting about it. At the time i was a little bit concerned though!
The next day i missed paris more than ever. I realised it was a sunday in Europe because everything was closed and the buses were not running, and no taxis around. I saw this american guy looking at the same board as me and he also wanted to go to Omaha beach (beach you see in saving private ryan). On the map it said it was 10 ks away. We decided to walk it. We left at around 11 30 and at 3pm arrived at some water somewhere. The stupid thing was we had tryed to hitch hike the entire way there, and no one had wanted to pick up 2 guys in the middle of the countryside. We realised it wasnt omaha beach we were at and asked a nearby restuarant. They said it was 15 ks the other way. It turned out we had been walking in the wrong direction. So me and Dave from Pennsylvania decided just to turn around and walk back. The countryside was nice though. We didnt talk much, except to complain how tired we were. Dave said that this was the most he had walked in his life and he hadnt even gotten anywhere. I said it happens to me all the time.
We got back at 6 30 and Dave had to catch a train back to Paris
d. Clear shot from the bunker
. I decided to go and search for some kind of internet again. I walked into a 5 star hotel and saw a sign on a door inside that said internet is free. So i walked into like a broom closet and used the internet. You have to stand so i wasnt on long. The young girl at reception could tell instantly i wasnt from the hotel but i used my charm and said something like Tu Es Partout and i was ok. Actually i just smiled and said bonjour and walked in. I think at night your meant to saw Bonseuir because bonjour means good day. Im not sure im not french.Walking around the Normandy countryside I felt like I was part of a movie or something. Like that man on the moon movie. I just felt like someone above was laughing at me.
I went back to the hostel and bummed around. Went to sleep. There were some couples there but they kept to themselves. The next day i woke up early determined to go to Omaha beach. I had originally planned to go to a whole heap of places in the area. But because of the time of year and lack of transport, i bought a ticket to Bruge for the next morning.
I went to the bus stop for Omaha beach. The only bus that went there that day left at 12
e. hidden bunker
. So i went to the war museum and checked out the tanks and stuff. Got the bus there to the cemetary. (Also in the movie). Was eery to see the line of crosses. The beach was in front and I walked down on it. It was low tide like it was when they invaded. I couldnt believe how far it was to the bunkers. A good 100 metres. There was little left of the bunkers. You could see bits of old landing crafts in the water. I had a go running from the water to the edge of the sand then up the cliff bit. Killed me. I found a bit of a bunker and went in. Its full of beer bottles and rubbish inside. But its scary when you look onto the beach from inside and see what would be a clear shot up the beach. I also didnt realise how wide the invasion was on the beach. Took me a good 20 minutes to walk from end to end of the said invasion area. Just insane when you think how many people died on this beach.It turned out the bus back was either 40 minutes after i arrived or not until 5 20 in the the arvo. So i walked back around Omaha again. This aussie guy came up to me and asked me if i spoke english. His name was Michael from Cronulla. It turns out he also had been staying at my hostel the last few nights as well but in a different dorm all to himself. Everytime he had checked the tv room there was no one there so he went back up to his dorm. Bizarre.
We walked to a museum that was closed. It then pissed down rain and we got drenched. We went back to Bayeux and used the illegal internet at the 5 star hotel. It was actually a wierd sight. I had an army jacket on and he had like an old air force once on. There was a guy on reception this time and he gove us a dirty look. There was a room there in the hotel with fancy couches and pictures of celebrities that had stayed there
f. Me at Omaha
. Would you believe John Wayne and Tom Hanks had stayed there. Tom hanks!! Now i can always boast i used the internet illegally at tom hanks. Tom hanks is actually a big WW2 buff so it made sense he stayed here.We went back to the hostel eventually. Made some spaghetti and watched the rest of the old documentary. We said we have to meet up at tradies or something next year.
I left the next day. It was raining again. Would you believe as I check out. 4 beautiful girls check in. So it goes. It always happens to me. I always make friends the day im leaving or something like that.
I have to go back to Normandy. There is so much i want to do there. I tryed to book a tour in advance but they were all closed for the winter. You can do special band of brothers tours if youve ever seen the mini series by tom hanks and steven spielberg. You need a car to do it properly here. My bro is really interested in this place so maybe i will come back with him one day.
Because of flamming Fiona. I have been struggling to get used to walking the streets by myself again. The all by myself song is back in my head again. I was tempted to go back to Paris and instead of going to Belgium. But I dont think Fiona would be too happy. So i left. I was exhausted and wet after normandy. I also still had by stupid posters to carry around. Felt like everyone had finished travelling but me. Here i was still going through the motions. Exhausted at the moment. A bit over seeing the sights. More into just hanging out with people right now. Money nearly zero. Its getting colder and the days are getting shorter. But still i was glad to see Omaha beach.
