On the road (2) – beaches, castles and chateaux COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Boy, I sure did miss alot in one weekend - all caught up now
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Originally Posted by chezp
I love this shot - so quaint - we don't have anything like this here in the states
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Originally Posted by chezp
The French guy next door to us (we were seated next to two French couples who were dining together) grabbed my dessert and started moving it for me to make it even harder, which gave Mark a great laugh. We had a few moments like that during dinner with them, which just goes to show that you don’t need to speak someone’s language to communicate with them. I personally really enjoyed seeing Mark laughing with the French, a language he has very little grasp of.
I have to say a word here about our server. I don’t think I saw her stop the whole time we were in there and we were there nearly two hours in total, as the French do not rush their meals.
Cheryl, Such a great photo of you and love to hear about the server and other patrons. People here always say the French are rude but I didn't find that so on our trip and looks like you had a great experience too.
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Originally Posted by chezp
This is what I remember from my trip - why would someone choose this sort of location???
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Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry about your back.
So sad, and so true about the "unknown" soldiers - very moving.
The cow looks like "what is this crazy lady doing?"
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Originally Posted by chezp
The wait was worth it to see this. I must admit that I was a bit sceptical about this. It’s the sort of thing that you have to see when you’re in Bayeux, but I didn’t expect much from it. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. It went on for ages and the audio guide was incredibly detailed and ensured that you saw everything. Every time you might have missed a detail, perhaps on the borders either below or above a scene, it would be pointed out to you.
I have to agree - I saw this tapestry on our tour and was something I would have NEVER done if I was on my own but because we were on a tour and stopped there I saw it and was very impressed. It was really unique and worth the visit.
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Great update Cheryl! It seems you got a great deal on lunch! It looked wonderful! Did you not buy the tapestry magnet? I think its just amazing that you ended up in Normandy on June 6. I would love to just visit there! I'm a huge history buff!
we did, although the selection wasn't as good as we'd hoped. Considering the most famous scene is Harold's death, we were surprised you couldn't get a magnet of that.
Once back, we found ourselves at the car park near where we had had lunch. This didn’t look right. : It was too close to the city and there was no way that this could be home to a huge cemetery. That was the case and we headed out again, programming Tim with a museum near the cemetery. As we got close, we discovered that the road was closed, but we didn’t let that put us off. Instead, we went a back way and made our way to the museum and were able to park up there.
I thought the fact that there were poppies by the museum sign was really poignant and got some photos of that. There were also tanks around, which we also got some photos of.
It was only a couple of minutes’ walk to the cemetery from there. It was packed with veterans there and it really made you so proud to see those old men, who had served their country so valiantly.
We headed inside and it was again a wonderful sight to see. All the poppy wreathes that were around the first monument included this beautiful one, which came from the French, which was a nice touch.
As we walked past the war graves, taking photos, I suddenly found myself next door to a veteran, who said to me in a very matter of fact way that those graves in front of me were “his boys”. He told me that he had watched them die either before they made it to Port en Bessin, where we had stayed last night, or on the beach. He told me that most of them had been aged around 20 and that was o age to die. I couldn’t agree more. I found it very moving to talk to him and hear his story. I found myself with tears in my eyes as I moved off.
The veteran I spoke to
We walked a little further and found a lot more veterans, gathering by another memorial. From the conversations we could overhear, there was due to be a service at 2.30, in half an hour’s time. We made a mental note to be well out of the way by the time that started, as the last thing we wanted to do was intrude.
We got some photos of the wreaths laid around the memorial.
As we did, some of the French army arrived, and over the next few minutes, they went through details of what would be happening during the service – in French of course – which was fascinating to listen to.
We also watched the veterans laying their own wreath, which again I found very moving.
As we walked past the war graves, taking photos, I suddenly found myself next door to a veteran, who said to me in a very matter of fact way that those graves in front of me were “his boys”. He told me that he had watched them die either before they made it to Port en Bessin, where we had stayed last night, or on the beach. He told me that most of them had been aged around 20 and that was o age to die. I couldn’t agree more. I found it very moving to talk to him and hear his story. I found myself with tears in my eyes as I moved off.
How very sad but so very sweet at the same time. I just can't imagine going through something like that. It takes a very special person to be a soldier.
As we walked past the war graves, taking photos, I suddenly found myself next door to a veteran, who said to me in a very matter of fact way that those graves in front of me were “his boys”. He told me that he had watched them die either before they made it to Port en Bessin, where we had stayed last night, or on the beach. He told me that most of them had been aged around 20 and that was o age to die. I couldn’t agree more. I found it very moving to talk to him and hear his story. I found myself with tears in my eyes as I moved off.
How very moving - what an experience that must have been.
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Beautiful pictures from the cemetary. What a moving experience to be able to talk to that Veteran. That's a memory that will probably stay with you for the rest of your life.
We headed out slowly, getting some more photos as we went and seeing more veterans arriving. It was also lovely to see that children were also being taught about the graves. We saw a group of them seated, listening intently to their teacher, which makes a pleasant change. How often do you see children doing that?
We wandered back slowly towards the car, stopping to get more photos on the way.
From there, it was ironically back through the area that we had driven out to earlier to see the first cemetery.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we were on the motorway and we were off. As we drove, the sky clouded over and it became very dark. I had a suspicion that we might see some rain, but fortunately not. Again, the forecast was wrong, and this time, it was in our favour.
We drove through beautiful lush green countryside again, full of lovely rolling hills, which seems to be the mark of this part of France.
Soon, we were heading off the motorway and towards Mont St. Michel, picking up a couple of RVS on the way, one from Germany and one from Austria. Let’s just say we were very relieved when they turned off.
Finally, we got views of where we were heading and it looked just as stunning as all the photos that I’ve seen of it. What a beautiful place – and it looks as if it’s rising out of the middle of nowhere.
We pulled up at the parking lot and paid our €5 ($6) and managed to snag a parking space very near the entrance. The only area nearer was for those who would be lucky enough to be staying the night at a hotel at Mont St. Michel. This is something I had tried for, but with no luck at all. Mind you, as we were later to see, to get to these hotels, you would have to go up a heck of a lot of steps and, with luggage, that would be no fun at all. Perhaps the fact that they were fully booked had ended up being an advantage after all.
As we walked towards the Mont, we stopped to get some photos with the tripod.
It was a zoo, the closer we got to the place with literally tons of coaches parked beneath it. We entered and there’s only one main street, La Grande Rue, that takes you up through the place. It’s packed with restaurants, shops – and people. Honestly, it was so crowded in there that I started to feel claustrophobic at times. I would’ve liked a bit more personal space, but that was not happening....
We browsed a couple of restaurants, intending to eat there and found one that we really liked the look of, with a great choice of reasonably priced fixed price menus. Keeping it in mind, we carried on up the main street and wandered through some shops, with me mentally identifying the ones with the cheapest magnets and the ones with the cheapest T-shirts that I liked.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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we did, although the selection wasn't as good as we'd hoped. Considering the most famous scene is Harold's death, we were surprised you couldn't get a magnet of that.
: It was too close to the city and there was no way that this could be home to a huge cemetery. That was the case and we headed out again, programming Tim with a museum near the cemetery. As we got close, we discovered that the road was closed, but we didn’t let that put us off. Instead, we went a back way and made our way to the museum and were able to park up there. 
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