Normandy

We started the day with a bus ride from Paris to the town of Arromanches, home of the Mulberry Harbors. Remnants of these portable harbors made from sunken ships and floating barges can still be seen today.  

          

We then made our way to Omaha Beach and the Normady American Cemetery. It is a powerful testament to the sacrifice made by the thousands  of soldiers and other helpers that died in the Normady attacks. 

   

                

In the gale force winds it was uplifting to see the kids bring joy to this hallowed ground. 

   

     

 Our last stop was Point du Hoc, 

     

The Louvre, crazy metros, and French Pizza

Bon nuit!

We have been quite busy here in France! Yesterday, we made it to Paris from Amsterdam, and then headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. After looking around a bit at the amazing gothic architecture, a few students headed over the river to check out Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore.

We then went to a lovely dinner in the Latin Quarter and to the Eiffel Tower. Sadly, the top was closed so we went to the second floor, which has great views of the city.

The next day, we headed out to the Louvre Museum. Students got to see the Mona Lisa and then broke into smaller groups to check out the other parts of the museum. It was great going with this group of students because they would offer interesting tidbits to whichever exhibit you were looking at. For example, one group was lucky enough to have a amateur Egyptologist with them while looking at the Egyptian artifacts.

After lunch, we went on a great bus tour of Paris. Highlights included Napoleon’s tomb, the Arc de Triomphe, parliament buildings, the Pantheon, and the Champs de Élysées. For dinner, we had Flammekueche, which is a pizza-like food traditional to France. We were proud of the students handling very crowded metros and new foods!

                         

  

  We’re off to bed! Tomorrow-Normandy!

(Note from Tacoma: The official photographers on the trip have been dealing with scarce and slow wifi in uploading pictures to the blog. Several photos that were originally on this post didn’t load all the way, so we’ve deleted them for now. They’re doing a great job despite the technological difficulties and we promise a big show of photographs when they get back!)

Amsterdam to Paris

It’s quite late so here’s somes quick pics. We made it to Paris via Thalys train, then onto Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. In the rain! Everyone’s having a great time!  

                       

Anne Frank Museum and Windmills

Hallo again!

Today we had the great opportunity to see the moving and poignant Anne Frank House. In the words of one student, “She represented those who didn’t have a voice.” The experience was meaningful and really brought Anne’s diary and the experience of those in hiding during the holocaust to life.

After that, we stopped for a quick lunch and drove to two traditional Dutch villages where students got to see the inner workings of windmills (one even made paint!), learn how cheese and chocolate are made, and see the process of making a wooden clog! We also got to stop for some souvenir shopping.

For dinner, we had wonderful Indonesian food. There are a lot of Indonesian immigrants in Amsterdam and its food has become popular with native Dutch people. We were particularly proud of the kids because everyone, including some notoriously picky eaters, tried new foods!

We’re up again early tomorrow morning to catch our train to Paris. More updates to come!

Hallo from Amsterdam!

Hallo! The kids (and adults) are doing great here in Amsterdam! We’re well rested after a good night’s sleep and a busy first day.
After a walk through the city, yesterday, we took a beautiful canal cruise (did you know that Amsterdam has more canals than Venice?) and then stopped for a delicious lunch. After that, students explored the Rijksmuseum and got the opportunity to see Rembrandt’s Night Watch.
Right now, we are standing in line for the Anne Frank house and later we’re visiting traditional Amsterdam villages. We’ll post more as we go along and as wifi allows!

Pics to follow (wifi is being… Interesting)!

Amsterdam Day 1

Internet very spotty but here’s a few pics from today everyone is tired but loving Amsterdam! 

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  

    

                 

And we’re off!

We’ve completed the hard part, getting to the airport and loading the plane. We’re all set and ready to takeoff shortly on our Amsterdam, Paris and Normandy adventure.  We’ll post when we arrive. Bon voyage!