Day 18: Thursday, July 9, 2009 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM As mentioned in my last blog, I had wanted to head north to Hannover, Germany from France, but couldn't get on the train I wanted. So last night I headed to Brussels instead. So that's where I find myself this morning. I'd been to Brussels before (twice), so had no desire to explore. My objective now was to get to Hannover, Germany. I stayed at the Capital Brussels (EC Hotel) last night. Nice hotel. If taking train to Brussels, it's a good place to stay. I mainly picked it for it's proximity to [View Full Entry]

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Day 17: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 BAYEUX, FRANCE Bayeux is one of the closest towns to the Normandy D-Day beach landings and was the first town liberated. While most Normandy towns suffered great damage during WWII, Bayeux is one of the few to sustain none. This is due in part to how quickly it was liberated, but also I read somewhere that the mayor got word to the allies that the town was of no strategic importance and germans weren't there. As a result, a bombing mission planned for the town was cancelled. Alarm 7:00am, but I rolled over. Breakfast wouldn't [View Full Entry]

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Day 16: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 SAINT MALO, FRANCE Slept pretty well, but woke up a couple times. I think I first woke about 5 am, perhaps earlier. When I noticed the sun wasn't up yet, I went back to sleep. I think some part of my brain was trying to tell me something because I awoke again at 6 am and roughly every 15 minutes there after. Had I listened to my brain, I would have caught an earlier train. I finally got up around 7:30 am. Showered, dressed, then spent some time trying to formulate a plan. I'd done [View Full Entry]

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Day 15: Monday, July 6, 2009 MONT-ST. MICHEL, FRANCE Alarm went off at 6:00 am, but no point in getting up that early. Not only was I tired, but it was very overcast outside. Went back to bed. Decided to get moving around 7 am or so. Today the plan is to tour Mont. Saint Michel. This UNESCO listed site was a former abbey built on a rocky island mount. Around the base of the mound were built protective walls within which a town and the abbey were built. Everything spirals up to the abbey, which sits at the [View Full Entry]

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Day 14: Sunday, July 5, 2009 CAEN, FRANCE Awoke 7:00 am. Paid the 6 euro (8.40 USD) to have breakfast at my hotel. The breakfast was ok. I thought it pricey for what I got. They offer the following: Cereals (3 kinds), Yogart (fruit or plain), orange juice, coffee / tea / hot chocolate, and 3 kinds of bread (croisant, roll, sliced bread). Maybe I'm just cheap. Today's plan is to tour Normandy. As many will know, Normandy has become synonymous with the WWII Allied D-Day landings that occurred there on June 6, 1944. The allies entered fortress europe by bombing [View Full Entry]

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Day 13: Saturday, July 4, 2009 PARIS, FRANCE 4th of July, Independance Day in the United States. Yet, I'm in France. Doesn't mean a thing here. Having completed my research yesterday, I am ready to travel south to Normandy. Aside from it's other attractions, many would know that the Normandy area is where the D-Day landings took place during WWII. After checking out of my hotel, it took about half an hour to travel via metro to St. Lazare train station. Note: Paris is a large city with several train stations. So when you are taking a train from Pari [View Full Entry]

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Day 12: Friday, July 3, 2009 PARIS, FRANCE I'd set the alarm to awake at 7:00 am, but didn't really get up until a bit later. Was scheduled to check out today and had intended to go to Normandy, but that didn't happen. I spent morning gathering information and planning, but it became evident at 10:00 am that I really wasn't ready to go to Normandy yet. So I opted to stay in Paris another day to rest, catch up on my Blog, and better prepare for Normandy. Gorgeous sunny day. Haven't had rain since reaching Paris. Didn't want to waste [View Full Entry]

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Day 11: Thursday, July 2, 2009 PARIS, FRANCE Decided today I would visit The Château de Versailles (or Palace of Versailles). According to the Versailles website, it "is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improveme [View Full Entry]

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Day 10: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 PARIS, FRANCE New day, my first full day in Paris for this trip. Paris holds so many opportunities, there is so much to see and do. However, as I said in my last blog, I'd been to Paris before and wasn't interrested in doing the same things I've done before. Three objectives for this trip were Château de Versailles, Musée d'Orsay, and Musée Rodin. My friend an [View Full Entry]

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Day 9: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 LONDON, ENGLAND Woke around 8:00 am. Was still tired as I'd stayed up late last night cruising the Internet using the Wi-Fi in the hotel lobby. Unfortunately, that was a waste of time as I didn't find what I was looking for. Today taking the EuroStar to Paris. A friend decided to come along, so we agreed to meet at St. Pancras station at 11:45 am. That should give us plenty of time to catch our 12:29 am train. Got up, dressed at 8:30 am. Went downstairs to eat breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee). [View Full Entry]

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