Day Twelve - Cherbourg and Normandy, France

Day Twelve – in Cherbourg, France

I think today might have been the best day on the trip yet. This morning we got off the boat to start our journey in Cherbourg much like we started our journey in Brest…clueless. When we stop at these ports, we really don’t have any idea what there is to do or see in the city and typically we wander around and have found some really cool stuff. Well today was a little bit different.

Someone had told me that Cherbourg was only about an hour away from the Normandy beaches. Well I really wanted go to see that so I talked to a few other people and they thought it would be really cool to go see as well. Well we had two options to get there: either take a taxi and pay $50 a person or take a $100 shore excursion that would take us around the area and make a stop at Omaha beach. Both of these options seemed a little too expensive for us but we figured we’d keep asking around to see if there were any other options available.

At this point, it was Caleb, Sam, Caitlin, and me (I know most of y’all don’t know these people but this is for their parents if they’re reading this haha) along with Mark (our master navigator) and three guys we’d met and spent some time with on the cruise who were recent college grads, making their way to London to do mission work for 6 months. So the 8 of us were on a quest to get to Normandy. Ryan, one of our cruise friends, worked some magic with the tourist office and found out that we could rent a van for a lot cheaper than the other two options. So we went to the rent a car place and thankfully the tourist office was right! For only 22 Euros each, we could fit the 8 of us in a van and head to Normandy and be on our own time. We said HECK YES. Mark was kind enough to lay down the 1000 euro deposit and since he was legal to drive it – cause he’s 25 – and he drove us out to the beaches. It was so funny driving in France because we couldn’t read the signs obviously but Mark did a great job driving a manual and following signs in a language he couldn’t read and Caleb was our master navigator with the GPS which thankfully had an English option.

So after the adventure of getting there and seeing some of the most beautiful scenery along the way….we truly drove through the countryside of France with rolling hills and fields of flowers and quaint little towns….we arrived at Omaha Beach. For those of you who are not a history buff, Omaha Beach is one of the four beaches that the Allied Forces stormed on June 6, 1944, which is otherwise known as D Day. I’ve been to a lot of cool places but I’m not sure if I’ve ever appreciated being somewhere as much as I did today. Maybe it’s because I’m older and have a new respect for things or maybe it’s just the fact that I never expected to go there (this was not one of the places we expected to go on this trip) but it was so incredibly moving. Not to mention that it was one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. We went to the museum to learn more about it (and dad, Mark gave me the History Channel run down of all the details that I know you would’ve told me if you were there), walked around the monument on the beach, and then drove to the American Cemetery afterwards.

Squishing my toes in the very sand that American soldiers died on in order to preserve liberty for the entire world was an unreal experience. And then visiting the beautiful cemetery afterwards was equally moving. It reminded me a lot of Arlington National Cemetery and it was such a beautiful day to appreciate this site. I personally loved reading the quotes from different presidents about the importance of what these men did and having the ocean in the backdrop of the cemetery made it even more touching. After that, it was time to head back to the ship before it left port and the drive back to the boat left nothing for want once more.

When we got back on the English channel, there was a huge fort extended all the way out into the water and it was absolutely stunning. There were also some really pretty little boats that went by.

We then packed up most of our things, I got some ice for my foot that I hurt yesterday, and then we went to our last dinner on the boat. It was so sad to say goodbye to our waiters because they seriously have been like family to us for the last 12 days.

After that, we finished up some “last night” stuff and packed up and now it’s almost time for bed. Thankfully we gain an hour tonight since we’re moving from France to England.

I can’t wait to be in London tomorrow! I also can’t wait to do some laundry…laundry was VERY expensive on this ship so I’ve been 12 days without doing any and I’m dying! I’m ready for some clean clothes.

It’s going to be weird to get off the boat. I feel like I’ve been on here for years…I can’t believe it’s only been 12 days. I also can’t believe that I’m not eve halfway through with this trip!! What an experience it’s been already and we haven’t even done our main touring yet!!

Well, until next time!!!

MC