NEW! Caen & Normandy

Tuesday July 28 - Day 11

Today was an amazing educational experience that opened our eyes to even more of what happened during World War II. We began at the Caen Memorial Museum to view in depth the events that led up to WWII. We learned about Hitler’s rise to power, the uncertainty of war time, and how we can look back on the events and value the vision of peace. We stopped for lunch at the cafeteria and drove to the coast of Normandy.

It is difficult to imagine such a serene, lush, and peaceful place being the site of our D-day landings. The beaches were tranquil and calm. We had watched Saving Private Ryan on the bus yesterday, so we were already aware the this was where they actually did their filming the of landings... We walked through grassy mounds and hills (created by the bombings) and saw first hand how intricate the German structures were. There were underground tunnels, thick cement walls, and huge areas for their large guns, capable of turning a full 360 degrees.

Soon after this contemplative experience, we visited the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. This cemetery contains the remains over 9,000 American soldiers who died during the landings and ensuing confrontation. As a group, we lined up next to the large memorial at the front of the cemetery. We participated in a simple ceremony recognizing our fallen soldiers and four of us had the honor of placing a large wreath at the foot of the monument. We then turned to the flags on our left and we listened to “American, the Beautiful,” over the loudspeakers of the memorial area.

We then had a short walking tour (of sorts) at the cemetery. Our guide showed us where Theodore Roosevelt Jr. is buried and explained how the cemetery is laid out, why all the markers face west, and where to go to find other important features of the cemetery. Off in threes we went to spend some time in the cemetery, contemplating the effects of WWII.

This long day filled with information seemed to fly by. We arrived early for our dinner reservations and had a bit of free time at the shore. There was a small carnival going on and a few of us went on a ride, had some snacks, and played games. After dinner we took a five minute drive to the ferry building to wait for our overnight voyage to England.

Here are some “hellos” from a few of us:

Bonjour Everyone! We are waiting for the ferry (from France to England) and have some free time. Here are some words from the Ambassadors…


This is Kari! Hi we are at the ferry waiting for it to take us to Europe and its really boring bc we have to wait for 2 hrs…fun! Oh well its been great so far I’m really glad we all got to come!

Hey mom it’s Brittni. Yeah, well today was pretty cool. Uh, I will message you sometime soon. It’s my birthday in such a few amount of days.

Hello it’s Codi! Having some free time…. And a blast!! Currently listening to Shelby singing…again J

Heyloooo! Now it’s Shelbys turn!
I don’t exactly know what to write about, so I’m going with my favorite part of the trip so far. MY BIRTHDAY! On the 26th we went to the Eiffel tower. It blew my mind! We managed to fit about 20 people in a little orange elevator and rode that to the top. It was insane, you could see on forever! The side stacked buildings contrasted with the dark streets and made it all stripe-y. All the big monuments we had previously drove by were visible but really tiny! I took some UH-MAZING pictures, and I’m really excited to show everyone. There are sales men everywhere, and I mean everywhere! They were at the Palace of Versailles and basically everywhere else. Did I mention they were everywhere? So they walk around with millions of Eiffel Tower figurines and key chains. When they flood around you like hungry seagulls the sound of all the product clinking together sounds like a bunch of prisoners running rampantly in chains. They’re such pests!
I really love everyone here. I didn’t know I could make such strong friendships in such a short period of time. All of us are getting along great! Last night we played a hardcore football game in which I feel the need to tell everyone that THE OTHER TEAM CHEATED J. And after that we played an even more hardcore game of Red Rover, I don’t know one person that’s not covered in bruises. Patrick got completely clothes lined and almost flipped over their arms. Seriously, I’m going to be really sad when I have to leave all my new buddies L I think I’ve rambled on enough, someone else's turn. Toodles.

Once we settled into our tiny rooms on the ferry we all went to the “disco” part of the ship and danced with people from two other People To People delegations until it was time for bed. The DJ played some popular songs and kept the energy up so we were sufficiently exhausted and hit the hay.