Remembering Normandy

My paper is finished! I can not tell you how nice it is to be able to write on this blog in English and not have to continually look up words on a translator - writing about the "cure for human apathy in Don Quijote" in Spanish was not the most fun thing I've ever done... anyway, back to blogging! 

An iconic shot of the cemetery

The day after I arrived to Paris, I woke up bright and early to take a train to Caen to visit Normandy and the D-Day beaches with my friend Leonard, who I am studying with in Barcelona and was also visiting Paris for the weekend. After Carolyn dropped me off at the metro strop (so nice of her... it was REALLY early), I was on my own to navigate my way to the train station, print off my ticket, and get on the right train. The whole endeavor was a little overwhelming since I had never taken a train on my own before, do not speak french, and was unable to print off my ticket ahead of time, but eventually I figured everything out after a lot of hand gestures and pointing to my confirmation info on my phone. Thank goodness for e-mail on blackberries!

First stop on our tour was the Mémorial de Caen, a beautiful museum dedicated to educating people about what caused WWII, the war itself, and its aftermath. The museum was full of interesting pictures, pieces of propaganda, and artifacts from the war, including a couple of tanks.

Nazi artifacts

Propaganda from the war - before the days of photoshop - images (even photos) were altered to make them appear a certain way

The exhibits were really well done and included a lot of symbolism to make an emotional impact on the audience - for example in the main room the walkway was a downward spiral, alluding to the state of world affairs as the war progressed. We also saw a film at the museum that featured two video recordings playing side by side of the invasion of Normandy - one from the point of view of the Germans, and one from the point of view of the allies. Definitely a museum worth seeing.

After the museum, we went to one of the artificial harbors crafted by the allies to offload cargo onto the beaches during the war.

concrete remnants of the temporary harbor

 We continued on to visit German bunkers that still remain (with their original guns) from the war. It was interesting to hear that when the French farmer bought his land, the bunkers just came as part of his property. Also interesting was to see where the bunkers had not completely protected the guns and the machinery was damaged.

After the bunkers, we visited the American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy. I had a hard time wrapping my head around all of the history that I witnessed throughout the day, and when we arrived in the cemetery and saw all of the headstones with the names of young American men, it finally started to feel more real. It was very sobering to see names upon names of men, surely close to my age, that had all risked their lives for the sake of protecting our country. I realized that I often take things for granted, and knowing that I will never have to make that decision myself, it is hard to even fathom such bravery. It is hard not to feel patriotic here.

The ceiling mosaic -  protecting a soldier...

...and caring for the wounded

After the cemetery our group went down to Omaha Beach, to see one of the five sectors of the invasion. It was hard to believe that such a pristine, beautiful beach today was also the site of so much violence and death. A self-proclaimed history buff from South Africa on our tour told us a story of how the men on the boats were hardly prepared for what they were about to face, often stumbling out of the boats seasick only to find a gun aimed straight towards them. One young man slipped and fell into the water, and when he surfaced the 30 men who had just left the boat with him were all dead. He had just missed the pass of the machine gun. Others fell into the water and drowned simply because their packs were too heavy. Again, it was so hard to even imagine this taking place on the very beach we were walking on during such a beautiful day.

Our final stop on the tour was the Pointe du Hoc, a German installation on a clifftop where you can still see craters in the ground from the artillery to this day.

I feel like I left Caen and Normandy with a better understanding of the war and even of our own country's mentality. Whenever we talk about history, it feels antiquated and removed. Actually walking through history, as I did, was an entirely new and different experience. To be able to say I walked on the hallowed ground where so many risked their lives is still surreal. The entire day was emotionally and physically exhausting, but definitely worth it.

When I finally got back to Carolyn's that night, it made it that much sweeter to be greeted by some of my best friends from Minnesota: Erin, Kyle, and Katie!

... and because I know you are going to ask (I'm looking at you, grandma, aunt janet, etc. :) ), Leonard is JUST a friend.