Over the past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the chance to
travel to the northern coast of France, to the region know as Normandy. Since I
arrived in France I had wanted to visit the beaches of the D-Day Invasion and
the site of the American Cemetery. The trip to Normandy came the weekend before
our major project was due. I had to decide whether it was more worth my time to
see the beaches of D-Day and the fortified monastery of Mont Saint-Michel. It
was a more difficult decision than it may seem. I was far behind where I wanted
to be and the weekend would be the perfect chance to catch up. But the obvious
revelation hit me; I might not get to see these things again, at least not on
this trip.
The trip began on Thursday as we headed
over to Paris by train. We stopped to see an Art Fair at the Grand Palais, a
magnificent piece of turn of the century architecture. The Grand Palais was
originally constructed as an exhibition hall the Universal Exhibition of 1900.
Its glass roof and Art Nouveau iron structure were a marvel for its time. It
was very entertaining to view art in such a grand space. The art pieces on
display were presented by a number of prominent local artists. After spending a
few hours exploring the exhibit, we departed for the train station. Our next
stop was Bayeux.
In Bayeux we spent the night exploring
the city and having a great French dinner and woke Friday for a tour of several
D-Day sites. The tour started at Pointe du Hoc, where a group of U.S. Army
Rangers climbed a cliff to assault a Germany fortification at the top. The
fortification is one of the most well preserved in the region and many of the
bomb craters are still there. After that we went down to Omaha Beach where 3000
some American Soldiers lost their lives. The beach had few historical treasures
left. Only a few remnants of German bunkers in the hill side, but it was not
hard to image what it would have been like to run across that beach into the
storm of chaos. While I was there I ran back across the beach, imagining what
it might have been like. After leaving the beach, we visited the Normandy
American Cemetery and Memorial. Many may recognize it from the movie Saving
Private Ryan. Visiting the cemetery was an almost surreal experience. I wish I
gotten to spend more time in these places but our tour did not allow for that. I
didn’t really get the chance to connect with the spaces. I’m sure I would have
cried at the cemetery or the beach, I had found myself with more time. After
the tour was over, we took a train to a town called Pontorson to visit the
Abbey at Mont Saint-Michel.
Mont Saint-Michel is a fortified
monastery built on a tall rocky tidal island. The island is surrounded by
extraordinarily flat ground that is exposed when the tide fades. When the tide
goes out, it goes out for miles. The monastery was a marvel of human
construction. The spire towers over the barren landscape and can be seen for
miles when the fog has lifted. From inside the top of the monastery, you get
the impression that it was literally built among the clouds. I found it hard to
believe that humans were capable of building something so fantastic. The rooms
of the monastery go down into the rock and im sure I only got to see a portion
of the catacombs that exist below. When the tide goes out it becomes possible
to walk around the outside of the fortification. Walking among the barren sands gives an even
greater contrast to the towering structure. When wet though, the sand turns to
quicksand, which will really only suck you down if you are missing half your
brain and don’t notice that sort of thing. After spending an entire day
exploring in awe, we had to depart and head back to Lille.
The weekend was full of experiences I could only dream of back in
Fargo. In the end I experienced both somber tragedies as well as unparalleled
awe. I wonder what next weekend will bring.
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