Looking Out

Behind the big gun.

Big Gun

German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer, Normandy, France

The next stop in our Northern France trip was to the Battery at Longues-sur-Mer which lies between Omaha and Gold beach and formed part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications. There are four 152-mm navy guns, a command post, shelters for personnel and ammunition, and several defensive machine-gun emplacements.

Taking Off

Yesterday Janet took off in this plane headed to Dubai. It is the biggest plane we see take off and land every day, once a day. We always wondered what it would be like to fly on it. Janet reported back that the service and food are as good as we've heard.

Arromanches Circular Cinema

Seen in the film "Normandy's 100 Days" playing at the 360 Circular Cinema.

Playing on the Beach

Notice the remaining pieces of harbor in the background.

Pieces of Harbor

View from Above

A view from above of Arromanches and remaining pieces of the harbor.

Piece of the Port

Mulberry Harbor Model

Running on Water

Charlie Runs!

Charlie's first time running on a beach. This may be his new favorite thing!

Charlie Swims!

His first time in the ocean (against his will, of course)!

Riding the Carousel

We couldn't pass it up!

Flags of Arromanches, France

The next stop on our road trip was Arromanches in Normandy, France. A temporary harbor was built here by the British in World War II to facilitate rapid offloading of cargo onto the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy. It is an amazing place. We made it our base for a few days while exploring the beaches of Normandy.

Side Entrance Detail

Side Entrance

Chartres Cathedral

Rose Window

Chartres Chandeliers

Chartres Cathedral

Walking the Labyrinth

Most days of the week, the Chartres Labyrinth is covered with chairs. We just got lucky and were there on a Friday when they uncover it for people to walk on. Apparently many other labyrinths are patterned after this one.

Malcolm Miller at Chartres Cathedral

Back to our road trip from last August/September. We visited the cathedral in Chartres. I think this has been my favorite cathedral so far. Not necessarily because it is grander than others, but because we had a tour with the famous Malcolm Miller. He has been guiding tours here since 1958! He is an expert on the subject and has given talks all over the world. He has received from the French Government two of its highest civilian honors: Knight of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. His tours are fantastic and each one is different. I'd love to go back and do another one!

BAM!

It was a grey day and then...

Red Ice

Peeping Out

Purple Ice

Blue Ice

Pink Ice

Ice Cold Living Room

Ice Polar Bear

Glacier Tunnels

Every year they bore a new tunnel into the glacier for people to go inside. You can see the old tunnels in the photo. Also, note how thick this glacier is by comparing it to the size of the people in the photo. We climbed down about 450 stairs to get to the entrance (then had to climb back up afterwards)!