Normandy Invasion (Trinity Style)

Would you like me to regurgitate the list of tourist attractions I went to this past weekend? No? Don't worry it won't take long: The village of Honfleur, the Abbey Mont St-Michel, the memorial of Caen and WWII museum, village of Arromaches, the American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, site of the Normandy D-Dau landing, Pointe du Hoc (bombed-out cliffs and bunkers from D-day), a working cider farm, The Tapestry de Bayeux, The Cathedral de Notre Dame de Bayeux, the memorial to reporters without Borders, and the port town Port en Bessin. Phew.

That wasn't so bad, huh? I mean, each location was about a thirty minute bus ride apart from each other, and we were four hours away from Paris. And we were only consistently about an hour behind our meticulously planned schedule. No, it was a casual 60 hour trip. I guess that's what you get when Trinity plans one weekend-long group excursion. At least they paid for all my meals.

In all seriousness, I can't remember the last time I learned so much in such a short period of time. Yes the Mont-St-Michel Abbey was built in the eighth century. But it also sits at the tip of a peninsula on the top of the mountain, and watching the tide come in and totally surround the pseudo-island reminded me of watching bore tides and playing in the mudflats in Anchorage. There were even idiots trying to beat the tide as they ran back from the mudflats. The beach towns of Normandy (Honfleur, Arromanches, Port en Bessin) were sleepy and precious and quaint, and had delicious buckets of mussels and fries (moules frites) and too many nautically-striped items of clothing to pine after (I got a kid's raincoat and a scarf). But the WWII history is what really got me.

D-Day is known throughout the U.S. as June 6, 1944, and credits the United States with ending the war in Europe. Well, that's sort of true. American and British soldiers did storm a number of Norman beaches in Nazi-occupied France in order to march on and liberate Paris, causing the Germans' surrender. The mission wasn't done in a day, but over that sumer of 1944, tens of thousands of British, American, French, and German soldiers died in combat. We walked on the very beaches where young American boys scrambled out of their boats and crawled through the wet sand, sitting ducks for the Germans at their superior vantage points. We stood in bomb craters and bunkers occupied by Germans, using their radar technology for the first time to spot the Allies' planes overhead. We saw the cliffs that the Allies scaled using a rope ladder, rushing head on into enemy territory.

More pictures coming soon. Uploading is a struggle.
But words don't do it justice.

Saturday was cold and windy with torrents of rain as we walked up and down the rows of pure marble crosses, marking each young American killed at the Normandy landings or in the subsequent weeks. Where an unidentified soldier was buried, the words: "Here lies in honored glory, a comrade in arms, known but to God." We saw veterans visiting the graves of their friends, and walking on beaches they had fought on nearly 70 years earlier. It certainly wouldn't have felt the same if it had been sunny, I'm sure. The rain helped match the mood of sadness and remembrance. WWII really wasn't that long ago at all, though we may like to push horrors like the Holocaust and atomic bombs as far out of our memory as possible.

In Normandy, in the rain, standing in the soft sand or a massive bomb crater in the earth, it was impossible to push out of our minds. France tries to cover up and forget about its involvement with the round up of Jews--its "darkest hour." But in the past few years, people have begun to face that reality again and address it. We did the same thing on our weekend visit to Normandy. America may not always be the good guys, and we may have made some mistakes, but there on those beaches, thousands of Americans died for an honorable and glorious cause.

Prost!

I did it! My first weekend away, at the glorified beer drinking party in Munich. We left Friday morning from Paris, took a train that arrived in Munich at 4pm, and left Munich on Sunday at 4pm and arrived back in Paris at 11pm. It was definitely a wild experience, but I loved traveling and feeling independent and figuring out a new city all by myself.

Things I liked about Oktoberfest:

Dirndls and lederhosen:
While I didn't make the investment to purchase a real dirndl (those magical three-piece apron dresses that makes the beer maids look sooo good) or leather capris (lederhosen), i loved how everyone wore them. Not just Germans, and not just tourists, but everyone (except me, it seemed) was parading around the festival, the metro, and the city itself in their beer-drinking clothes. Next time, I will be sporting one for sure.

Much more affordable prices than Paris (Germany in general):
Even within the fair gates, where drunk people would surely be willing to pay exorbitant prices for a bratwurst, Munich was very reasonably priced. Maybe I've gotten used to the outrageous prices in Paris, but a liter of beer cost 9.40 (with a sixty cent tip going directly to the beer maid), which is the equivalent of at least three normal-sized beers that would cost at least 5euro in Paris. A half-meter long bratwurst on a bun was only four euro. Public transportation in Munich sort of operates on the honor system, though you will get fined if caught without a ticket. I bought one metro ticket when I first arrived and didn't pay again all weekend. All in all, I ate and drank excessively all weekend and ended up spending far less than I anticipated. It helped that our campsite provided unlimited alcohol for five euros and a decent breakfast was included when we got up to go to the tents at 5:30 am.

Songs and convivial atmosphere:
After standing in line for two hours and making the mad rush to grab a table when the halls opened at nine, it was so nice to see everyone so friendly. I felt it was too stressful to coordinate with a big group anyway, and didn't go to the popular American tent on Saturday when everyone was there. Luckily people at our campsite were super friendly and inclusive and each table was one giant party. When the band started playing, every other song was the typical German drinking tune without any discernible words, interspersed with American classics like YMCA and Country Road. Every single person was up on the benches Swinging their steins around in a very convivial way.

Rides and fair food that outs a state fair to shame:
By about 1pm on Saturday, Molly and I were falling asleep in the beer tent. We had been up since 5:30 after quite a late night. We decided walking around was a necessary change of pace, even though it meant losing our place in the beer hall. Weaving through packs of German families in matching lederhosen and stumbling tourists, we experienced the other side of Oktoberfest: the rides! It was just like a state fair except bigger than any I had ever seen. There were about six different themed funhouses (amazon, luau, haunted house...no beer themed funhouse though) and huge roller coasters with flips and loops that belonged in a permanent amusement park, not a carnival. So many rides mixed with so much alcohol seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but luckily everyone stayed buckled in. The food was also obviously delicious and included staples like cotton candy, candied nuts, soft serve ice cream, and hot dogs, but also traditional fare such as pork knuckles, aforementioned bratwurst and gingerbread cookies.


Also, we realized we accidentally sat in first class on the train there and got a free meal and super comfy seats big enough to lie down in. Unfortunately, on the way back, when I really needed the nap, this was not the case.

Things I didn't like about Oktoberfest:
Pressure to drink a liter of beer at nine am and then stay awake and continue drinking for the next 17 hours or so (didn't happen).

Being cold at night, because we decided to camp with a company that we thought provided sleeping bags but didn't. We instead rented dirty fleece blankets that really didn't do much in the way of warmth and we had really underprepared for the rain and wether. Luckily my quest leader self made. Do with the resources we had and we survive the night and had a great experience.

A total of eight million people attend Oktoberfest each year, over the three weeks that it runs. I think one million of those people were there on Saturday. It was nearly impossible to move, let alone find friends and coordinate meeting up with people. Sunday was a lot quieter, but that was because so many people were on their way home anyway. Crowds can be overwhelming and it was a little frustrating not being able to meet up with everyone!