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Published: September 7th 2017
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Geo: 49.2773, -0.703897
Well, I thought that
Paris would be my favorite part of this trip, but I was wrong! Our days in
Bayeux were amazing and allowed us to see another part of France. It might have been the change of pace that made it so nice- we went from one tourist destination in the world to an old town in northern France- still touristy, but much quieter. We stayed at a real convent (!) and got to meet some nuns and taste their delicious homemade food. A choir group was also staying at the convent, and I was able to have a long conversation with two of the ladies in the group, one of whom spoke no English! This was probably one of my favorite things that I did on the trip- interacting with people in a different language. It made all the quizzes, tests, and early morning language classes worth it.
I was also able to interact with a lot of people at the Bayeux medieval fair. This fair puts our local one to shame- I could tell that most of the people participating were hardcore! I had fun looking at all the little booths and watching the
music groups. I also discovered some of the American stereotypes that the French have. Here are some of the responses I got when I told people I was from Washington state in America:
"Washington state... oh,
so you work for Boeing?"
"Oh, Washington, yes...
you all live in big white house! Oh, you mean Washington state in the west? Lots of cowboys, right?"
"Oh, I could never go to
America... much too big!"
I wasn't sure how interesting the D-Day tour would be (I'm not a big WWII buff), but it was
incredible. We had an amazing tour guide who could answer any question and did a great job of explaining things to us. We visited tons of landmarks where troops landed and important battles and events took place - we were able to stand in the same places that American troops stood 67 years ago. Most of the places we visited have remained unchanged since the war, and I thought that was better than anything I had seen in a museum. For those of you who have seen the Band of Brothers TV series, our tour guide took us to places that Easy Company went. He showed us pictures taken by American soldiers during the war, and we stood in the same spot as the pictures. Pretty cool!
Overall, I had an amazing trip. I'm glad that we only chose three places to go to and spent several days in each spot. It allowed me to get to know the city and explore not just the famous spots, but the real parts of the city that aren't as famous. If I get to go again, I will try to spend more time in rural, small town places, and I will bring less clothes (hard to pack in all the souvenirs at the end of the trip!) I am so thankful for the opportunity, the great group of people I traveled with, and all the memories I got to make.
Carlie
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