different names for the same thing: On The Road Again

Today was road trip day! We decided to go to Normandy, and today and tomorrow are the only two days we could do it. So, we rented a car. We got started a lot later than we had hoped, surprise, surprise. We got to the rental place, and realized that we needed a passport to rent the car. So Dave made the metro trek back to the apartment while we waited in the office.
Getting out of the city was easier than we had expected. We stopped at this big rest stop/gas station/eatery, etc. It was fun to stop with all of the other travelers. It felt like a real summer road trip.
We headed to the Caen Memorial. It was pretty incredible. We all learned so much about World War II and D-day. I really enjoyed all of the detail in the museum. I feel like I know SO much more than I have ever known about the war and what happened. It ended with a film that showed footage from D-day. One side of the screen were the American/British/Canadian troops and the other side of the screen showed the Nazis. It was very emotional. I am really glad that we made the stop.
Next we headed down to Omaha Beach. We drove down through Arromanches to get there. WOW-WOW-WOW!! The drive was so amazingly beautiful, we just couldn’t believe it. It was a whole different France than we have seen in Paris. We loved the small roads, the beautiful old farmhouses in light stone, the old stone walls, the beautiful flowers,the cathedrals, etc.
We went to the American Cemetery. Again, I am out of adjectives to describe the beauty of the things we are seeing out here. It was incredible. So beautiful, so peaceful, such a gorgeous setting. It was sad to read the names of the soldiers and see how many were killed in such a short period of time.
We then went down to Omaha beach. Another beautiful historical site. We wandered on the beach, then Dave, Dillon and I hiked up the hill to look at the monuments. The coolest part was seeing the underground bunkers on the hill! It was great to see all of this after just watching the war footage of D-day.
Once it started getting late, we decided to go in search of our hotel. We were staying in a cute little town called Bayeux. We got to drive through some more pretty countryside on our way and reached the town right before sundown. I was really nervous about the hotel because it was only 2 stars. It has been a VERY long time since I have stayed in a 2 star hotel, but this one had good reviews on Trip Advisor and we only needed one night. The hotel was great. We had to split boys and girls again, but it was not a big deal. Our girls room is very spacious and clean – yeah!
We went to dinner at the restaurant that our hotel manager recommended. I think all of the people staying in our hotel were there. We had a great meal and when we were done, I took the kids home while Dave waited the 30 minutes for the check. :) It was a beautiful night with the full moon out. We are right by the town’s cathedral which was so pretty at night.
We had a really good day. We are so grateful that we were able to see so much and travel without any trouble today.