Mes Voyages en France: Last Day in Paris and Travels Through Normandy

Monday was the last we spent in Paris. There were no group organized adventures planned, so we had the whole day to ourselves. I slept in a little, but not much. I left around 9:30 to go to Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre. The Montmartre area of Paris is one of my favorite areas of the city. It has a very lax atmosphere and lively feeling. The only issue I had there was the African immigrants that try to get you to give them your money. I should of known better, but it didn't occur to me until I got there. I got off the Metro at the nearest station and casually made my way to the place, and right as I turned the corner and looked up at the church, some African guy came up to me, grabbed me by the arm, and tried to get me to pay for the wristbands they were making and were claiming that I looked at them and so had to pay some "looking charge." Fortunately, the guy didn't have a strong grip on my arm, so I was able to shove him away and get away from them without anything significant happening. Aside from that incident, the day was really good. I walked up the hill to the church and looked out from it and looked at the amazing view of the city. One can see most of the city from Sacré-Cœur. I then walked into the church and sat down to look at the interior. I've always enjoyed the churches and cathedrals of Europe. After I left the church, I went over to the artist section of Montmartre. I wanted to buy a painting, but they were expensive and I didn't have much money. But it was nice to see all the painters painting their paintings. I stayed there until around lunch time and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe. I like to collect Hard Rock Cafe shirts, so I had to go there. I had lunch there too. After lunch, I went over the Champs-Élysées and walked along the avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. It was fun to watch people shop along the avenue.

After the Arc de Triomphe, I went back to the hotel to relax until dinner. For dinner, I went with some of the other people in the group to a fancy restaurant near the Louvre. I had escargots for an appetizer. I had fun having to use the specialized forks to pull the snails out of the shells. After the dinner, we walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed watching it light up. It was a great way to spend our last night in Paris. We had to get up early the next morning to make our way to Mont Saint Michel, a cool old church on an island that is only accessible during low tide. We had lunch there at a small creperie that mad the crepes in the small kitchen in front of us. Those were probably the best crepes I've had thus far. After lunch, we took a tour of the church and saw how uniquely constructed the church was, having been built upon itself and incorporating the rock island into its structure. The little community surrounding the church is known for its cookies and I made sure to buy some of their famous butter and sugar cookies. Once we left Mont Saint

Michel, we made our way to the small town of Bayeux. We got in last night and I relaxed at the hotel for awhile. This morning, we took a tour of the town and saw its cathedral and some of its main parks and streets. We then left the town to go to Omaha Beach. We toured the American Military Cemetery there and learned of the D-Day Invasion and what all went on during the invasion. It was a really amazing experience getting to walk along one of the beaches that the Allied Forces crossed during the invasion and one of the two that America took. It was quite an emotional experience to know that that

was were our troops crossed during the invasion. To get to walk along that beach is a very powerful experience.

When we left Omaha Beach, we made our way to Honfleur, a quaint port town on the coast of Normandy. We aren't going to get to do anything here and will have to leave early in the morning. So, after dinner, I walked around the town and saw the port and some of the other main areas. It's a really nice place and will definitely come back some time. But, anyways, that's what I did the past three days. I would have posted sooner, but the internet has been rather inconsistent these past three days. Tomorrow, we leave for Lille, where we'll be do the actual studying part of this trip. We'll make a few stops along the way, but I'm rather excited to finally make it to Lille and see what all the city's like.