Saturday, March 29, 2014

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

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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.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Taking Off

Emirates 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.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Arromanches Circular Cinema

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

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Playing on the Beach

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Notice the remaining pieces of harbor in the background.

Monday, March 24, 2014

View from Above

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

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Charlie Runs!

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Charlie Swims!

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

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Monday, March 17, 2014

Flags of Arromanches, France

Arromanches, Normandy, FR
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.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Monday, March 10, 2014

Walking the Labyrinth

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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.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Malcolm Miller at Chartres Cathedral

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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!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

BAM!

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It was a grey day and then...

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Glacier Tunnels

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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)!