After leaving Paris we headed west to see the Normandy and Brittany Region (two days) and then Bordeaux (one day).
Omaha Beach/Utah Beach/American D-Day Cemetery:
We took a guided tour of Omaha Beach and the American D-Day cemetery. It was incredible to see the height of the cliffs that the Allied forces had to scale… particularly given the troops had just been awake all night, were seasick from rough seas, had 80 pounds of wet equipment on their backs, had wet ropes which prevented them from using their planned climbing equipment, and were being pummeled by German mortar from above. It certainly made us feel so incredibly thankful for our military forces. We had wonderful weather which made the cemetery and overlooks quite striking. After our tour ended, Emily and I toured Utah Beach ourselves at sunset (which is at 10 PM local time! Despite being south of England, this region is 1 hour ahead which means the sun goes down quite late here).
Normandy/Brittany:
On our second day in the region we toured several locations – each unique and interesting!
Mont Saint Michel
This is a fortified island in the Atlantic on the border of Normandy/Brittany. It was a monastery from around 700 – 1800 and a pilgrimage site for centuries. The site was so interesting given the density of the city compared to the countryside of the main land. Historically the site could only be accessed during low tide, but a permanent road has now been built.
St. Malo
This is a fully functioning walled off city also in the Atlantic. Due to its strategic port location, the city was mostly destroyed during WWII as the German forces took over France. It took over 30 years, but the city has been fully rebuilt and now contains many restaurants and stores.
Dinan
This is a Brittany town that survived WWII and contains historic wooden homes. While we were there, we stopped at a Creperie and also had gelato! A local bike race was occurring (complete with announcers and crowds) while we were in town which was very interesting to see!
Cort d’Rose
We headed even further west to see the red limestone and sunsets of this region. We got to the town just in time for sunset which was beautiful! There were trails all around the water so Emily had a blast running trails while watching the sunset.
Bordeaux
Driving from Brittany to Bordeaux took about 6 hours so most of our time was spent in the car. We have several books on our iPad that we want to read so we turned on the iPad’s Accessibility Feature so the iPad can read books to us through the car stereo system. The drive was beautiful as we passed by fields of sunflowers and vineyards.
One interesting thing that we have seen is that people seem to transport just about any trailer/camper with tiny cars. It’s the start of vacation time in France (which lasts 3-4 weeks in France) so we’ve seen lots and lots of families traveling to the beach.
While in Bordeaux we had a fantastic dinner at Le Bistro de Gabriel which overlooked the main square, fountain, and river. The restaurant gave us the best table in the restaurant overlooking all of this which was fantastic!
After dinner we took some pictures of the reflecting pool and then went on a city tour of Bordeaux. The tour was only supposed to be 1 hour, but somehow ended up being 1:45. It was a very good tour in both French and some English so we were able to figure out what we were seeing. 🙂 After the tour we took advantage of the fact that our hotel actually had a washer and dryer! We already have done laundry in the sink 2x, so we were happy to use a washing machine/dryer although they charged us $25 USD for the privilege. 😦
Ryan & Emily - The Globetrotters 
Wow! It looks like you guys are having a great time! That’s cool!
BTW What camera are you using?
Your pics are great!
Hi! We are using a Sony NEX-5n we bought last year (there are even newer models out now). It is a newer type of camera that is mirrorless with a very small body to reduce overall weight with the ability to interchange lenses. I have a 16mm wide angle lens, 18-55mm regular use lens, and then a 55-210mm zoom lens. It is great to have the ability to interchange while not having to lug around as much stuff!
Emily, I am so excited to see and hear about your wonderful trip. What a great experience for you both. It makes me want to book a flight and head to Europe. I am so proud of you (and Ryan) for accomplishing what you have. To me you will still be that little girl eating spahgetti with her fingers at my kitchen table. Waiting to hear more. Sandy Marshall
Thanks so much for the sweet note and for taking the time to follow us! We are definitely having a blast!
And thanks for the memories from around your kitchen table. I still like to eat as you can tell! Ryan has heard lots of stories of fun times with Jamie over the years. We always had so much fun together!
Take care!!
PS: I noticed the email I have for Jamie may not be the latest so please pass along a hello to her and feel free to share the blog if she has any interest!
Feels like I’m watching a travel show – Really enjoying each episode!
Love the updates guys! Awesome pictures. Glad it’s going great!
$25 to wash and dry your clothes?
Mon dieu! Ze french…zey are crazeee. [except for Julien!]
Ha 🙂 We needed Julien to help us negotiate!
Emily..the photo of you with/ behind the gelato is my favorite because it is adorbs …and it is from Ryan’s view…what more would he ever need to see?! Perfect! Strong, gorgeous woman! :). Close running for 2nd place…you in the reflecting pool because you are having fun 🙂
Ha! The shots of the ocean where I went running came after the ice cream to work off part of it! Hope you guys are doing well! Tell the boys hi for me!
Beautiful, beautiful pictures…of both the scenery AND the food! 🙂 Looks like you are having a fantastic time. Mom shared your site with me and I’m excited to follow you. Have fun!!
Amy,
Thanks for following the blog! Given how much your family traveled I am sure that you have seen some of these places before. 🙂 Thanks for checking in!
I hope it is okay that I am living vicariously through your adventures. 🙂 What a blessing to be able to experience so much. I can’t wait to see Bolivia as I send people there a lot but don’t get very much feedback from the volunteers. 🙂 Have a safe trip!
Stephanie,
We’re so excited you’re following us! Yes, we are very blessed to have the opportunity to do this. We are so looking forward to the Bolivia missions work and can’t wait to meet the rest of the team in person. It will be wonderful to see what God has in store for the field work. We will definitely be posting on the Bolivia portion so you can see pictures and a get a recap. 🙂
Have a wonderful week, and let us know if you need anything from us!!
Emily
Did you dry your clothes in a clothes line? We had to do that last week which was ok with me, but Lionel was not all that happy. He is so used to having a dryer 😉
Yes, we bought a travelers clothes line with suction cups on each end to hang in the bathroom. I am sure that the cleaning crew really enjoy cleaning our room when we do this. 🙂 We pretty much clean our clothes during the stays of 2-3 days so by the end things are mostly dry 🙂