Versailles, Napoleon, Arch De Triumph

Our last day in France we stayed in Versailles (with the Palace of Versailles, home of Louis the 14th). We took a train back to Paris to finish up a few last things. We went to Napoleon's Tomb and the Arch de Triumph (yes, Tim had to take a picture of a mini cooper--he missed his so much, in front of the Arch). Sorry these are in backwards order! After we finished up France, we drove back up to Germnay and did a couple of day trips while staying at Spangdhalem AB before trying to catch a ride home! We finally found a C-17 leaving at a decent time and the crew was super nice and let me ride in the cock pit for the take off and landing! Pretty impressive!!

Notre Dame

The Louvre

Home of the Mona Lisa. We're just not big art fans so we weren't in love with this place. It was HUGE.

Eiffel Tower

Ahh, what would be a visit to France without the Eiffel Tower? The Rugby championships were being played there while we were there, so there were PLENTY of drunk rugby players walking around! The white thing in the middle of the Eiffel tower is a gigantic rugby ball.

Mont St. Michel

This was my favorite place in France that we visited. It is an abbey built up on a rock, with a little town built around it. It is the sight of the largest tide in the world. During low tide, you are able to park your cars and walk up to it, but at high tide, water comes right up to the bottom of it! It was amazing! We visited the abbey during the day (you can see the sign telling you when to move your car or else it would be under water!). Then we went back (after eating muscles) to see the tide. We went into the little town and by the time we came back out, the water was up so high that I had to take my shoes off to get back on the bridge!

Normandy

After Etreat, we drove down the coast to Normandy, and the sight of the WWII invasion at Omaha Beach. This land is actually owned by the United States. It was a very beautiful and serene setting and really gave us chills to be standing there. It also gave us a whole new sense of pride for what our soldiers did/ do!!

European Vacation

My dear, sweet Mom came and stayed in SC for nearly 3 weeks so that Tim and I could space A on another Europe trip. This time, we decided to hit the coast of France and Paris. We drove through Belgium to Etreat as our first stop. This beautiful town was the sight of 2 of Monet's paintings of the arches. This was also our first taste of Crepe's, of which we became very fond of!!