Paris, France

Paris was quiet overwhelming! The language, at times, was an issue. France is everything people say: dirty, rude people, very crowded. The landmarks are wonderful, though. The Eiffel Tower we could have just sat and stared at it all day. Actually, we went back there three different times, and I must have over 100 photos from every angle, day and night! We took the elevator to the summit (very top) on a overcast day. The photo of the Arc de Triomphe was taken from the Eiffel summit showing the 14 roads leading to it! What a traffic congestion. Of course the Musee du Louvre is massive and we spent several hours there trying to find the famous art pieces it is known for; like the Mona Lisa (very small) and Venus de Milo (Aphrodite). The sculptor, A. Rodin, most famous piece "The Thinker" was a surprise for us, situated in a beautiful landscaped garden next to the Hotel Biron. A very peaceful area, away from the hustle of the Paris streets.

We did all the other tourist site seeing like the Pere LaChaise cemetary to see Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and Chopin grave. Interesting how many others did the same. The grave of Jim Morrison was surrounded by about 15-20 young people, all non Americans. Were the Doors that popular? And how do these kids know their music? Andy and I were the oldest ones there! He does have a very modest headstone that could be overlooked, except for the guards standing by and the gate around it. Another site, to just take pictures, was Moulin Rouge, where the French Cancan became famous along with Cabaret nudity. They offer dinner shows, but we passed.

The highlight of our trip was going out to Normandy (you had to be there to appreciate the difficult of this adventure we incurred). The Beaches are not really advertised. Unless you book with a private tour company for $300.00 a piece! We did alot of asking on how to get there on our own, with many different routes, and ways, given to us. In the end, it took 2 metros within Paris itself, 2 trains (one to the city of Caen and the other to Bayeux), and one taxi ride (bartering a fare in French!) because the buses were not running this day. All this with five other strangers to reach the US military cemetery and Omaha Beach....and it took the entire day! The "friends" we accumulated along this journey to Normandy was an older couple from Cleveland, Ohio, an Aussie lad in his late teens, and two young male Swiss Alp backpackers from Georgia. We spent the entire day with them and never exchanged names. The cemetery is breath taking! Overwhelming! There are 9,387 perfectly aligned white marble crosses or the Star of David marking the graves and then another 1,557 in the Garden of the Missing. We could only walk and walk through aisle after aisle of headstones and only imagine that day. A short walk at the beach along the English Channel was very quiet and somber for us. We are both glad we made the effort to travel out there. It was so worth it.