European Road Trip Part 2: Normandy

We drove from Bruges to Brussels on Saturday night, and got there just in time to head into town and grab dinner.

After dinner we wandered around the town square and saw a light show on one of their cathedrals!

However, Brussels just wasn't quite doing it for us, so we decided that instead of spending Sunday in Brussels (our original plan), we would re-configure our road trip!

And we settled on.... NORMANDY! 

Remember how I said in this post that it was on my bucket list? I was so thrilled that I was going to be able to see it!

So, Sunday morning we drove the 4.5 hours to Normandy. 

Along the way, because it's been quite a while since I've taken a history class, JP relayed the story of WWII in its entirety, from beginning to end, Hitler's rise to power all the way through America joining the war to the liberation of the concentration camps and the dropping of the atom bomb (it took a good 2 hours). 

It was incredible (both hearing the entire story of WWII in one sitting like that and also JP's memory for every single fact he's ever read about WWII) and made the experience at Normandy that much more meaningful. 

I don't really know how to put into words what seeing Omaha beach felt like, and how moving the endless lines of crosses at the American cemetery were, or what went through my mind when I stood on the cliffs of la point du hoc where the US army rangers climbed up make-shift ladders through german gun fire & barbed wire, and how I tried but really couldn't fathom the extreme bravery of the first wave of soldiers who landed on the beach on D-Day, but our whole day at Normandy was one of those experiences that makes you so proud to be an American and so grateful for the people who are still sacrificing their lives so that others can be free. 

American Cemetery:

Omaha Beach:

La Point Du Hoc: