On the road (2) beaches, castles and chateaux COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Saturday 5 June part four: soldiers, memorials and a surprise for the D-Day weekend
From there, it was back on the road, although it took us a while to find the right road to get out of Rouen. Just as we did, we spotted a garage and decided wed better fill up, as we were getting low. I was very glad wed waited, as the price per litre here was just 1.22 ($1.46), compared to the 1.28 ($1.54) wed seen on the motorway. I can tell you with the strength of the pound against the Euro (heck, it has to be strong against something, as it certainly isnt strong against the dollar right now : ), that worked out to some very cheap diesel, compared to what wed pay at home. I appreciate that, to most of you reading this, this will sound ridiculously expensive, but at least you get to see how life is on the other side of the pond as far as fuel prices go...
Leaving Rouen
We set off again, this time heading further into Normandy and towards the famed Normandy beaches that played such a crucial role in World War II. As we drove along, we saw lots more moo, moos and even mooeys on the way and I have to confess that I fell in love with the beautiful all white cows that we regularly saw on our journey there.
On the outskirts of Caen
We soon found our way to Sword Beach, to give its D-Day name, and my goodness, this place was packed. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it was a boiling hot day and the sun really was blazing down by now. This wasnt something that had entered my equations on today, as the forecast had never been for weather this hot, but of course, and perfectly naturally, everyone had headed for the beach to enjoy the sunshine. We went past plenty of parking spaces, all completely full.
As we did, we saw lots of soldiers heading somewhere, coming along the road towards us. It was just the first of many reminders that it was D-Day weekend and it truly did prove to be a wonderful time of year to visit this area.
A little further down the road, we saw some flags and we quickly learnt that lots of flags meant that there was a war memorial nearby. Fortunately, our parking luck continued, and although the lot nearby was full when we entered, first we spotted one couple leaving, then another. Within a couple of minutes, literally about four or five cars had left. Was it something we said?
As we arrived, we saw some British troops heading somewhere, proudly carrying the Union flag, which was a great sight to see.
We settled down to eat our lunch in the car, as it was much, much cooler in there than outside. Wed bought sandwiches the night before at a local supermarket and brought them with us and that turned out to be a fine lunch and kept us going nicely.
We then headed out to explore the memorial here. It was a beautiful one and I was amazed by the fact that people did treat it with reverence, despite the fact that we could hear holidaymakers on the beach right by us, having a great time. Everyone who came in here was respectful and quiet, which was so good to see.
Just as we finished exploring it and were about to move down to get some photos of the beach, I heard a sound in the air and looked up. There was a plane heading towards us, which Mark reliably informed me was a set of C130 Hercules. They circled a couple of times, before heading off, but we would be seeing them again in the afternoon...
We wandered down on to the packed beach to get some photos. Both of us stood there, saying that it was almost impossible to imagine what it must have been like on D-Day, especially seeing it so busy on a day like today. There were car ferries heading into the port and plenty of people enjoying the sun and the sea.
Sadly the only downside was a group of French men, who looked like they were on a hen weekend. One peeled off his top and asked us to take photos of him. I ignored him and so did Mark. Mark had been up on some nearby dunes taking some photos, and lets just say that the guys found a different use for them. Im sure there were probably toilets around somewhere, but they didnt take the time to look for them. You get the idea...
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: ), that worked out to some very cheap diesel, compared to what wed pay at home. 
I appreciate that, to most of you reading this, this will sound ridiculously expensive, but at least you get to see how life is on the other side of the pond as far as fuel prices go... 
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