"Jour J"

Today I took a day trip to the D-Day Beaches in Normandy (Jour J in French). It was a long day, a 14 hour trip, but it was well worth the time and money. We traveled three hours to our first stop in Caen, Normandy, where we visited a memorial museum. There was one section dedicated to the invasions of Normandy and a separate section for the entire World War II. From Caen, we traveled 45 minutes to Pointe du Hoc, situated near Omaha Beach. Here we saw relics and intact bunkers from German troops. We then drove along the coastline until we stopped in Vierville to go onto Omaha Beach. I hate to admit it, but it was absolutely gorgeous. It's hard to believe something so atrocious occurred here so many years ago. Now the town is like a paradise with beautiful houses along the shore overlooking the ocean. From here, we traveled to the American Cemetery and then had a final stop at Juno Beach where the Canadian forces landed. Overall, it was a nice day, and I learned a lot. 

"Jour J" Normandy D-Day Beaches

Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach 

Bunker at Pointe du Hoc 

Omaha Beach 

American Cemetery 

Juno Beach 

It's Officially...

summer vacation!! After four solid months of french grammar, phonetics, film, and art history, I have finally finished my classes and finals. At the same time, the countdown to going home begins (23 days). Crazy how time flies. I'll be traveling for the next 2 weeks, and my friend, Kelley, is visiting for my final week in Paris. 

Alisha and Arthur Come to Paris!

This past weekend, my friends Alisha and Arthur (who go to UConn and are abroad in Sweden for the semester) came to Paris. We had lots of fun and did all the tourist attractions of Paris, including Versailles!

Versailles

Krakow

Auschwitz-Birkenau 

The ruins of the gas chambers

The city center of Krakow

The salt mine! 

Chandeliers made of salt crystals

Krakow

I finally got to Krakow on Thursday afternoon. I got to my hostel and then explored the old town, castle, and Jewish quarter for the rest of the day. Krakow is a beautiful and historical city. Friday, I woke up early and did a tour of Auschwitz. It's a short drive from the center of Krakow. It was really crowded, and I was a little disappointed that it was treated more like a tourist attraction than an informative tour, but it was still touching. It was very different from Dachau; it is much larger and the buildings are all brick. It was so large that it was literally its own city. All of the buildings are original and in almost perfect condition. The gas chambers, however, are only rubble, because the Germans bombed them before the camp was liberated. It was still a very touching experience. After this tour, I took a trip to the famous salt mine. It's over 2200 miles of paths and would take you 4 months to explore the entire thing. Throughout the mine there are several statues, all made of salt. There is even an active chapel which holds masses and weddings in which all the art and chandeliers are made of salt. I even got a chance to lick the wall, and it was definitely salty! After the salt mine, I headed back to the hostel and hung out with some people I met. Saturday morning I flew back to Paris. I had a great week of traveling, but I was relieved to be back home. 

Prague