Our Trip Blog

The Events of Saturday, April 30, 2011

                Paris has been fun. It is chock full of history, music, art, and attractions that every tourist just has to see. We could spend another month in this city without seeing it all. But, this morning, it was time to move on to another destination. We all woke up early, packed our bags, and hauled them down to the street. Lindsey and Dad headed off to fetch the van while the rest of us prepared for loading. The pair pulled in, the car was loaded, and we zoomed off. After going through a series of tunnels and paying a series of tolls, we were out into the French countryside we love so much. There were grassy hills and fields of yellow mustard making a patchwork quilt of the land. Two and a half hours after we left, we arrived on the outskirts of Caen (pronounced /căhhhhh/, since the French tend to drop the ends of their words and speak like their tongue is swollen).

                The entrance to Caen is a large roundabout with four exits. We went around once just getting oriented, and then took the third exit to the Carrefour. Dad and Lindsey ventured inside to purchase some lunch supplies. We then went to the other side of the roundabout to a park and picnic area, where we enjoyed cheese and croissants. It’s strange how French we are becoming: we eat slowly, have lots of cheese and breads, and enjoy the local fresh produce.

                After this pleasant repast, we got back on the roundabout and took the other exit to the Caen WWII Memorial Museum. We purchased our tickets, then, seeing that an introductory film was starting soon, headed into the theater. The film took us through the events of June 6, 1944: D-Day. It went from the bombers’ raid and the sailors setting off to the French Resistance sabotages to the actual assault of the beaches to the preparations of the Nazi soldiers. The screen was split down the middle with the left side showing the Allies’ actions and the right showing the Nazis’ response. It was fast-paced and full of action but effectively told the story without using a single word of narration.

                We headed then to a quick audio exhibit of eyewitness accounts from five major cities that were bombed. The noise, the flames, the panic, the widespread death…I couldn’t imagine experiencing what they endured. We then headed to the bottom floor of the museum, which traced the entire story of the war. It did a great job explaining the events leading up to the war, starting with the end of WWI. Mom and I (Ben) have been reading Herman Wouk’s books about a family during WWII, so we were able to attach stories of important events with the timeline.

                The exhibit moved into the start of the war and the German blitzkrieg into France. Then came the section about the “Black Years”, the French term for the years under German occupation. It focused on both forces at work in France: the resistance against and the collaboration with the Nazis. During WWI, France suffered heavy losses and lost half its male population between the ages of 18 and 40. Therefore, they didn’t have the manpower or resources to resist and fight another war, so they just let the Nazis create an armistice. We turned another corner into an exhibit about 1944, which surprisingly held absolutely no information about the D-Day invasions. It just talked about how the Allies gradually liberated France, finally reaching Paris, where they were met with much joyous celebration.  

                After a well-done exhibit about the Holocaust and the Nuremburg trials, we entered the detailed exhibit about Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasions. Although D-Day (June 6, 1944) was the beginning and possibly the most important fight of the campaign, the exhibit gave a detailed description about the entire operation. There were many elements to the campaign. First was the choice of location, as they didn’t want to attack a fortress on Hitler’s “impenetrable” Atlantic Wall. Then there was Operation Quicksilver, which led the Nazis to believe that the Allies would invade a beach 150 miles northwest of Normandy. Films then showed the actual bloody assault on Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword beaches. Then what did the Allied forces do? They worked their way inland, building runways, setting up bases, taking down the Atlantic Wall, and liberating town after town after town. So D-Day wasn’t just about the beach storming. It was truly a key action, but the ultimate goal was the liberation of France.

                We headed to the Hope movie, a film about the world after WWII, which told the story of the rise of communism, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the problems and military conflicts in the world today. Then we headed to a fabulous exhibit about political cartoons. It identified problems in the world (like the Darfur crisis, global warming, hunger, and the conflict in Palestine), and showed how cartoonists turned these problems into artwork to tell the public about the needs of others. It was very well done.

                When the museum closed at 7:00, we headed back to the car and drove to our hotel. We expected to see some restaurants near our hotel where we could have a quick, cheap meal. Alas, there were none. So we headed to the nearby commercial center (aka huge strip mall) to continue our search. Everything was either too expensive, closed, or not good quality. Finally, we found Leon de Bruxelles, a chain of Belgian restaurants that specializes in moules, or mussels, and frittes, or fries. We got mussels, fish & chips, marinated beef, and a fish platter. Our food choices are crazy. In France, we go to a Belgian restaurant, and three of us get English food! It was all very good, topped off with crème brulee, a waffle covered in chocolate and ice cream, and an ice cream sundae with Smarties, France’s version of M&M’s. We have now tried all the dishes we wanted to try in France: ratatouille, omelettes, pastries, crêpes, duck foie gras, Parisian onion soup, roast duck, croissants, baguettes, cheese, and crème brulee. The only other one would be escargot, but none of us are really sure we want to try it.

                We drove to F1Hotel, a small, cheap, self-serve hotel (actually more like a motel) with small but modern rooms and shared baths. In each room was a double bed under a single bunk. Down the hall was the communal toilet and shower. So we decided on the sleeping arrangements and headed to bed for our last night in France.