Normandy, France

July 22, 2014 by Harold Hall

Monument “Les Braves” at Omaha Beach

Upon arriving at Omaha Beach, on the coast of Normandy, France, it was surprising to see it being used much as any beach would be on a warm summer day with people swimming, playing and having family picnics. What a difference 70 years make…. I am not saying the beach should be off limits, just that no TV documentaries I’ve seen depicted it being used as a normal beach, so I was surprised. There are two war monuments on the beach, memorializing the 2,500 Americans who died during the initial assault. The metal one, shown above, seems very appropriate for the marking of the site. To me the artwork depicts bombs dropping into the sand and the resulting explosions.
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Eiffel Tower Twinkles at night…

July 15, 2014 by Harold Hall

The Eiffel Tower has thousands of lights that twinkle on the hour, every hour for about five minutes, much to the delight of those partying at the base of the tower and along the Seine River.

Dijon, France

July 11, 2014 by Harold Hall

We stopped in Dijon, mostly due to poor travel planning. We looked at a map and calculated ‘this is about how far we can travel from Lauterbrunnen in one day,’ something we commonly due when driving in the States. However, when already on a train going 185 mph there is no reason to get off at an arbitrary point. Not much went well in Dijon for us.

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