Normandy

The morning we left France, we made a stop at the home and gardens of Monet. It's interesting that we are to the point where we can identify when we are making a stop for education purposes and when its just for one of our fearless leaders. I'm not complaining at all - we've seen some beautiful places, but the gardens had no educational value - they were strictly for Barb. :) As we adventured, we got to see some of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, and take a break from the long drive to the abbey. 

Angela and I

Corrine

Mike...

Monet's house

THE BEST PART - we found KITTENS!

Happy, happy, Kylie. 

They were named Monet and Lily Pad (by us - we know, we are original) and loved us. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the food we gave them :)

Mont Saint-Michel

Remember what I said about going places for the sake of the Pointers wanting to go? Yeah... this was the definition of that. We had a lovely tour in broken English. From what I got, this is an old church (we see a lot of those) and it's claim to fame is that it was barely touched during WWII and is beautiful.  

And most importantly, it looks like Hogwarts. 

...

Our next day was spent at the Caen Memorial Museum in the morning and on a guided tour to a few sites in Normandy throughout the afternoon. We watched Saving Private Ryan the night before and after we visited, and never having seen it before, it gave me an appreciation for the importance of the sites we were visiting. The Pointers dad stormed Normandy on that first morning, and we heard stories of grandparents who were POWs and involved in a variety of ways. The last few weeks have been me realizing several times over that WWII was not that long ago. We think ourselves so beyond that kind of total war, but the reality is that while we are more interdependent now and war would complicate our economies, its still entirely possible and something similar could very well happen in my lifetime. It may not be in my country, but there are people abusing and slaughtering one another in the same ways today. It's not something we are fully past. So many of the museums that we've visited focus on theme that no one wins in war, and everyone is a victim. But the question I've been asking is that if no one is to blame, then how do we learn from our mistakes and prevent these instances in the future when we can't identify what was done wrong?

Throughout the fields, there are massive ditches, presumably from where the bombs hit 60 years ago. My pictures don't do the landscape justice, but seeing how unnatural the territory is makes you realize how little and insignificant the soldiers must have felt. 

When watching Saving Private Ryan, it was overwhelming to see the bodies fall as soldiers died and the blood washing up as red ocean water... the manner which it was portrayed was gruesome, but it seemed as bad as it could get. I overheard (okay, eavsdropped) on a veteran explaining to a tour guide that the movie was extremely accurate in a lot of 

ways -  but the gore and brutality should be multiplied 10 fold to understand what it was actually like.

Upon entering the cemmetary, there is a semi-circle wall with the names of those US soldiers never found from WWII. With over 9,000 orthodox crosses and jewish stars in the actual cemmetary, you can't help but feel sick when walking through it. One of our texts for the nationalism course is called "War and Genocide" and I was reading it on the ride to the cemmetary. And all I could think about when looking at the graves was that these men were so few in the grand scheme of the war. 9,000 graves was making me sick to my stomach... but there were millions dead. Those 9,000 died honorable deaths, and made huge sacrifices, and I don't mean to diminish that in any way. But its all the more disgusting to think of those who were simply thrown into pits - whether they be Jews, Communists, Resistance fighters, prisoners of war, or gay people. 

During our time there, it was pouring. Dr. Rick read a piece of the speech of President Clinton on the 50th anniversary of the invasion on the site we were at. The Pointers had brought their dad back for the occasion when Clinton reminded us that "when these men were young, they saved the world". We were talking one of the fathers at the abbey and he encouraged us and said that the people of Normandy love Americans... because "we came on June 6th". 

It's interesting to realize that I am a part of what happened here 60 years ago. My parents weren't even alive, but how these people view me is forever intertwined with who those men were and the commitment they made. There have been countless times over the last 10 years when I learned things about America that make me frusterated and sick of who were are precieved to be as Americans, and at times, what our nation is. However, it was humbling to remember what they did 60 years ago still matters in defining who we are. 

The abbey was where we stayed as we took our day trips. It was simple, but a nice quiet place to return to each night. Hannah was my roommate, which was entertaining, but we didn't have much time at the actual abbey. In the time we did spend there, Hayley and I managed to sneak out for a run in the rain (stopping alongside the road to pick blackberries and peaches), as a group, we attended an orthodox vespers service, and were given a tour of the abbey by one of the kanons (sp?). The community living at the abbey are not called monks, because they each serve a post within the city (father to the prison, volunteering, working with the homeless, ect.)  and are therefore not secluded. On our tour, we asked about their opinions on the current state of Christianity in Europe which is reported as bleak, and were reminded by the kanon that at the end of Matthew, we are told "surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age", and that community and fellowship is sufficient.