Storming the Beaches

Kathy was the designated driver of our stick shift VW Touran since I've never owned a stick shift and almost all of her previous cars have been stick. I figured our first trip in a foreign country wasn't the time for me to work on it. Plus it's a great excuse for me to let Kathy do all the driving.

The first day out was longer than expected thanks to all the traffic. Apparently everyone in northern Europe takes the month of August off to go to the beach. It's pretty much like heading down to 'the shore' from Baltimore in August on a weekend. The French put plenty of toll roads along the way so we had the pleasure of waiting in line to pay or get a ticket about 5 times.

We got to St Malo in the late afternoon. St Malo is a walled city with narrow lanes full of shops and restaurants inside and packed full of tourists, all very cool until we realize that our hotel is in the middle of it. After asking the local police about how to reach our hotel she says that hotel guests and residents can drive into the city but all other traffic is off limits. So she opens the chain to let us in the gate to the city. We drive a few yards and just past the gate is a sea of people (I wish I had taken a picture). Imagine a narrow road jammed full of people, like you would see at a large outdoor festival or tourist trap. Now imagine driving up this road in a strange city, somewhat lost, after driving for 8 hours in heavy traffic. Needless to say Kathy was about to lose it by the time we reached the hotel.

Now for the topper: the hotel says the parking garage is full and that we can park outside the walls of the city - now Kathy lost it.

After unloading our bags and recovering for a few minutes we drove out of the city (again with the sea of tourists giving us angry looks). We had to drive about a mile away to find a place to park since all the lots were already full near the city. Needless to say our initial impression of St Malo was pretty bad.

Things got better from there. We had a nice dinner with plenty of wine, bought the boys some toys for being reasonably good during our long ordeal, and took a sunset stroll along the city's walls and down to the beach.

The boys checking out the rocks at St Malo

Sunset at St Malo (Jack took this one)

Kathy and I are probably both buzzed with wine at this point so we're looking pretty relaxed. I think Jesse's slightly manic grin is due to the sugar rush from the large ice cream he consumed just before this picture.

The next moring Kathy made the jog to our car and met the boys and I just outside the gates for the drive to Mont Saint-Michel.

Mont Saint-Michel - impressive sight as you drive up.

Less traveled path between buildings

Saint Michel was just as crowded as St Malo but Kathy spotted a secret passage to get us up and down and avoid the large crowds.

Near the top of Saint Michel

The cars in the background give you an idea of the crowd. Gotta love the boys posing. Jesse sticks with his Richard Nixon impression and Jack is more free form. I call this one the face smash.

Big Wheel at the top of St Michel

Apparently the monks would use this wheel for exercise. Sort of like a huge hamster wheel. I guess you need a good work out after transcribing manuscripts all day.

Sled at the top of St Michel

Actually the wheel is for hoisting up and lowering this sled to haul up supplies. There was sort of a stone ramp up the side of the wall and the sled had rollers on the bottom that would roll up the ramp. The large wheel would give them mechanical advantage to lift large loads. Not sure how they turned the wheel, maybe they did go inside and walk?

Walking the beach around St Michel

Climbing the rocks around St Michel

The shore in this area has a very shallow slope and the height change of the tides can be as much as 50 feet. This combination leads to the shore line moving as much as 9 miles in and out. So at the highest tides St Michel is surrounded by water but most times the beaches are exposed. As we were leaving we had some time so we hiked around St Michel on the exposed beach. About half way around the loud speakers came on and said everyone should leave the beach due to the danger of the incoming tide. We had plenty of time and were heading around the other side anyway, but the loud speakers were a little disconcerting.

Just to prove it wasn't all smiles and fun here's a shot of Jesse having a melt down after the long day at St Michel.

Jesse in melt down mode

The next morning we headed for Normandy. We stopped in Bayuex so Kathy could check on the location of a famous tapistry for our upcoming trip with the Loyola students.

Jesse in a happier moment at Bayeux

From Bayeux we went to Point du Hoc, the site where US Rangers scaled the cliffs to take out German guns between the landing beaches Omaha and Utah. The site still had bomb craters and the remains of the German fortifications. I'll try to get some pics of this site when we go back at the end of August.

After that we went to Arromanches where the allies had set up a temporary port to off load supplies. Parts of the floating port and break waters are still there. The hotel in Arromanches was great; our room had a sea view and they even had parking at the hotel - definitely the best part of our trip.

View from our Hotel in Arromanches