European Vacation Day 2: Beaches of Normandy

Our daily selfie, from the center of Carentan.

18 July 22: An exhausting, emotional, and educational day. We visited 8 sites throughout the Utah and Omaha Beach areas, painting a story of the American forces’ role in Operation Overlord. Once we got >1 km from the coastline — such as in La Cambe and Carentan — the heat became somewhat debilitating. Because of this we decided to forgo the Maisy Battery in Grandcamp Maisy.

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European Vacation Day 1: We Made It to Port-en-Bessin-Huppain!

There’s a canal that bisects the town, where the fishing boats can be stored safe from the incredible tidal variations. We are at the vehicle bridge that crosses the canal.

BTW I’ve been getting lots of genuine smiles out of my boys when I ask them to pose for a selfie. I appreciate that so much ????

17 July 22: We made it to Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, a town on the French northern coast, in the early afternoon. This town is the junction between Omaha and Gold Beaches (for you history buffs). But it’s also a thriving seaside town with lots of touristy activities for visitors from throughout Europe. We have an AirBnB right on the shoreline overlooking the port.

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European Vacation Day 1: The Drive from Paris to Port en Bessin-Huppain on the Normandy Coast

A crazy trip out of the city, trying to figure out the car and the roads all at once. Good thing there wasn’t heavy traffic to complicate things.

17 July 2022: We made it to France!! We got the rental car and are on our way to the Normandy coast!! I’m only on Wifi for now…we are at a rest stop now just outside Paris after a chaotic trip out of the city. Tim’s doing a great job navigating…and Jacob’s 5+ years of French is being put to good use!

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European Vacation Day 0: A Redeye Flight to Paris

16 July 22: We flew from Denver to Newark, then Newark to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I had been watching the FlightAware app for weeks tracking delays and cancellations. We did well — we had a 30 minute delay between Denver and Newark, and then another 30-45 minute delay between Newark and Paris. … Read more