Another Best Weekend Ever!

This past weekend I made the trip down to Normandy (Sorry J-Money, I didn't get to crawl on my belly). I had been planning this trip for some time now and was stoked to finally get to visit the D-Day beaches. Yet, I was a little nervous about traveling alone, and although I had never experienced anything negative in France, others stories still brought anxiety to my mind. The travels went great, no real adventures to tell you about there despite a brief moment of confusion when I stepped on the wrong train and was promptly advised by a French woman that I need to go upstairs to catch the proper line. Honestly, the French have always been very helpful to me, thankfully so, or else I probably wouldn’t have arrived in Normandy as I was a bit lost for a bit under Gare De Nord.
Anyway, upon finally arriving in Bayeux where I was to stay for the weekend and set up base camp before seeing the sights, I decided to go find my hostel. I had previously called and made reservations with a woman who spoke very little English. I didn’t always know what she was saying. She said she spoke English, but apparently not my English and all I could understand was that Los Sablons was some sort of family hostel. I gave her my name and my date of stay and we hung up the phone, both a bit confused.
Well, upon finally finding the hostel, the gate was closed. I found a way through the hedges and explored the building to find all the doors locked. I walked around the teepee in the front of the hostel and checked out the windows, it looked as if this place was just finishing construction. I was a bit confused, and then it hit me she was not in fact confirming my reservation but instead explaining the fact that they were not yet open. Well, I saw a teepee in front and therefore I had little concern about finding a place to stay. This was a beautiful small town, and therefore if worse came to worse I would camp out Indian style. Hopefully with a nearby Buffalo to keep me company.
Yet, watching so many episodes of MacGyver prepared me for such an event. I really wish I could tell you I pulled a paperclip, ducktape, and some sort of pill out of my pocket to inflate a life raft which in turn creates a great shelter point allowing me to stay for free, but I can’t. Instead, I just pulled out my trusty travel planner and looked for the address of my plan B. I found it and it was the nicest hostel I have stayed at since I have been in Europe, except for the fact that the toilets had no seats. Oh the crazy French.
This town was absolutely beautiful. It was small, clean, and the narrow streets meandered through the wonderful architecture. They also had a great Cathedral I went through. It was super nice, I recommend it to anyone looking to stay in France. Absolutely beautiful.

On Saturday morning my guided tour of the D-Day beaches began. It was simply spectacular. I decided that instead of trying to find the beaches by bus I was going to hire a guide to take me around and fill my head with facts. It was definitely worth it! I can’t believe all the facts and history I would have missed out on had I not had this guide. He was very knowledgeable and had story upon story about the war from veterans and research he and others had done. It was great. I went to Ste-Mere-Engles, Utah Beach, Point Du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetery. I was captivated by the stories, and to think I was standing in the spots where men younger than I gave up their lives for the freedom I now experience. I still don’t really have many words to explain it. You will pretty much just have to talk to me when I get back, it was that amazing. Probably one of the best weekends I have had here in Europe. Here are a few pictures of the sights.

Oh, one story I want to tell you. Apparently the Germans realized their large guns which could shoot up to 13 miles where vulnerable because of the incessant Allied bombings. Thus, they decided to remove them from Point Du Hoc while bunkers where made for them. They replaced the guns with wooden poles so that from aerial photography it would still appear that they where there. The destruction of these guns was one of the main reasons for the Ranger’s mission to scale the cliffs. The guns where not there, but they did find them later upon walking down a road and seeing a rusty trail leading into some trees. The Germans had left them unguarded and the Allied soldiers quickly destroyed them before the Germans were able to race down the hill of their camp and stop them. Yet, that is not the story I am going to tell you (I guess I already have though). The story I want to share is the one which involves another time the Germans used this wooden pole tactic to attempt to fool the British into thinking there guns were somewhere they were not. The placed these wooden poles in a certain area, and the French underground alerted the British that in fact these were not guns but wooden poles. Well this apparently pissed off the British so they decided to bomb it anyway. Yet, not with explosive bombs but wooden ones. Anyone with a sense of humor that good during wartime deserves to win the freaking thing!