After spending 5 days in Switzerland, we are now on our way to France, where we will spend 9 days.
We rented a 8 passenger van, see below, for the trip.
On Saturday morning we had planned to ride the Aiguille du Midi gondola, but the weather was overcast and we could not see the top of the mountain, so we decided to skip the ride and head for Vandenesse-en-Auxois, our next overnight stop. It is located about 17 miles west of Dijon.
From left to right is Paula, our Captain Max, Greg, Joan, Jerry and Terri. Upon our arrived, Max had prepared us some nice drinks. One of them, seen above, was champagne mixed with a black currant liqueur. Very tasty!!
We discovered during our two days with Max, how funny he could be...knows all about wine, French politics, President Francois Hollande, the US elections and he is best friends with everyone we met. We also discovered that, Bea, his charming wife and Max are both good cooks and gracious hosts.
Our traveling group in front of Max and Bea's Wine & Water Barge where we stayed for 2 nights.
The castle was built in 1132 by Jean de Chaudenay for his second son Jehan. Jehan took possession of Castro Novo in 1175. The family reigned over the fief for 9 generations, ending in tragedy in 1456, when Cathrine of Chateauneuf was burnt to death, after poisoning her second husband, Jacques d'Haussonville, thus ending the Chateauneuf family line.
The castle was then given by Philippe le Bon (Duke of Burgundy) to his godson Philippe Pot. The interior courtyard buildings were rebuilt and the castle made much more comfortable. As Philippe Pot had no children and died in 1493, the estate was given to his brother Guy Pot and through marriages Marie Liesse de Luxembourg. As she became a Carmelite nun, the castle and lands were purchased by Charles de Vienne, Count of Commarin. For almost 150 years the castle remained in the family, until Louis Henri de Vienne sold to a rich banker, Paris de Montmartel, in 1767. Through various heritage the castle returned into the hands of the Veinne family.
With the French revolution, the castle was taken away from the family, the lands divided. The new name of the village was Montfranc. All coats of arms and "Royal" symbols degraded or destroyed. The village remained important as garrison for the National Guard and a commercial center.
In 1894 the castle was classified as a Historic Monument and became the property of the Burgundy Regional Council in 2008.
The next stop was Domaine Quivy. This winey was established in the early 1700's.
In the morning, we had to leave early, so that we could drop Greg and Joan at the Charles de Gaulle airport to pick-up his sister and brother-in-law, Terry and Jim , who were flying in from St Louis.
Claude Monet noticed the village of Giverny
while looking out of a train window. He made up his mind to move there and
rented a house and the area surrounding it. In 1890 he had enough money to buy
the house and land outright and set out to create the magnificent gardens he
wanted to paint. Some of his most famous paintings were of his garden in
Giverny, famous for its archways of
climbing plants entwined around colored shrubs. The water garden, formed by
a tributary to the Epte, with the Japanese bridge, the pond with the water lily, the wisterias and the
azaleas.
Monet lived in the house with its famous pink crushed brick façade
from 1883 until his death in 1926. He and many members of his family are
interred in the village cemetery.
One of the items on my bucket list has always been a visit to the site of the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion. We left Giverny and headed for Arromaches, where we stayed for 2 days in order to tour the area.
Pictured above are the names of the beaches where the troops landed. Below is a recap of what troops landed at each beach and how they fared on their first day of very intense fighting.
Who landed on Utah beach? This was an American landing beach. The US 4th Infantry Division came ashore here at 6.30 am on D-Day.
Pictured above are the names of the beaches where the troops landed. Below is a recap of what troops landed at each beach and how they fared on their first day of very intense fighting.
Who landed on Utah beach? This was an American landing beach. The US 4th Infantry Division came ashore here at 6.30 am on D-Day.
What were their orders?
To
break out and split up. Most of the troops would push north towards the important
harbour at Cherbourg.
How did it go?
Small landing craft
were launched from bigger ships several kilometres offshore. This was a problem
as 6.5 feet high waves meant some soldiers were injured or even drowned as they
climbed down into the smaller boats. Twenty three thousand troops were landed
and 210 were killed, missing or wounded.
The waves and strong winds meant the first soldiers
landed 1.25 miles to the south of their target. This turned out to be a good thing.
They found there were fewer German defences there - so the rest of the troops
also came ashore at the "wrong" place
Who landed on Omaha beach?
This was an American landing beach for the US 1st
infantry division with the 116th regiment of the 29th division.
What were their orders?
To
capture the coastal villages and then cut off the important road from Bayeux to
Isigny.
How did it go?
This was the
toughest place to land. The US soldiers had to fight really hard to get ashore
and 2,400 were killed or wounded. There were problems even before the first
soldier landed on the beach.
The German defences on the beach were supposed to
have been damaged by an attack from bombers and warships, but these had missed
their targets. The defences were intact, so troops had to advance 1,970 feet up the
beach under heavy fire from German machine guns positioned on a cliff.
Thirty amphibious tanks that would have helped
protect the American troops nearly all sank because the waves were too big. The
conditions on the beach were recreated in the film Saving Private Ryan.
Despite all this by the end of the day 34,000 US
troops had been landed here and the push inland had begun.
Who landed on Gold beach?
This was a British landing beach. The British
50th Infantry Division, and the 47th Royal Marine Commando, led the attack.
What were their orders?
To
cut the important road from Caen to Bayeux and take over the small port of Arromanches.
It was hoped they could link up with the US troops at Omaha Beach and the
Canadians at Juno Beach.
How did it go?
There were 400 casualties as the beach was secured. The landings took place
from 7:25 am onwards. Landing craft dropped armoured vehicles onto the beach,
some of these were damaged by land mines. A naval bombardment in the morning
weakened the German positions and the town of La Rivière was taken at 10:00 am. By
the end of the day 25,000 troops had come ashore at Gold beach.
Who landed on Juno beach?
This was a Canadian landing beach for the 3rd
Canadian Division, joined by tanks from the British Hussars.
What were their orders?
To
cut the road from Caen to Bayeux, link up with the British forces at Gold and
Sword beaches and take an airport west of Caen.
How did it go?
The Canadian troops
suffered a lot of casualties. There were 1,200 dead or wounded out of the
21,000 troops who landed at Juno on D-Day. Casualty rates in the first hour
were very high, with half of the first assault teams killed or wounded.
By the end of D-Day the Canadians had linked up
with the British from Gold beach. They took the towns of Bernières and Saint-Aubin.
Some of the tanks managed to cut the Caen-Bayeux highway.
Who landed on Sword beach?
This was a British landing beach for the 3rd
Division together with French and British commandos.
What were their orders?
The
aim was to capture the town of Caen which was at the centre of the local road
network. The commandos would move inland and meet up with the airborne Allied
troops who had taken over important bridges a few miles in from the coast.
How did it go?
About
29,000 soldiers landed on the beach on D-Day and there were 630 casualties,
dead or wounded. They finished the day four miles short of the town of Caen but
were successful in linking up with the airborne units.
Mulberry Harbor – Gold Beach.
This picture was taken from our hotel. It shows one of the only remnants of the portable temporary harbor
that was developed by the British, to facilitate rapid offloading of cargo onto the beaches, during the Allied invasion of Normandy.
Omaha Beach, looking west. All the sites have a sober and subdued feeling.
Our next stop was the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer.
At the entrance to the cemetery is a plaque that reads as follows: "If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it could be ground in this Cemetery. Here was our only conquest, all we asked was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead".
The Cemetery and Memorial is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8. It borders on the left flank of Omaha Beach, and overlooks the sector where the 1st Division landed on D Day.
The cemetery site covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.
It is a very somber and moving experience to see all of the rows upon rows of headstones. The headstones, made of Lasa marble, are precisely aligned.
The Chapel.
This is built from limestone and the main inscription inside reads "I Give
Unto Them Etneral Life and They Shall Never Perish".
The
main feature, which is difficult to see in this picture, is a 22 foot bronze statue "The Sprit of American
Youth Rising From The Waves". On either side of the Memorial, are huge wall maps, showing the campaign in the European Theatre of Operations during WW II.
This plaque overlooks the cliffs that were climbed by the 300 handpicked US Army Rangers who were chosen for this mission. Over 200 of them were killed before they took Pointe du Hoc.
Our guide is standing in one of the craters that were the result of massive Allied bombings. The bombings were to soften up the German entrenchment at Point Du Hoc. There are hundreds of craters like this one, all over the area, due to heavy Allied bombings during May and June and most intensely on June 6th.
Our next stop was this church at Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
The American Paratrooper, Private Jon Steele, was made famous in the movie The Longest Day. An effigy of Steele, in his 82nd Airborne uniform, hangs from the church steeple. Bullet holes are still visible in the church's stone walls.
On the night before D-Day (June 5–6, 1944), American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne parachuted into the area
west of Ste-Mere-Eglise in successive waves. The town had been the target of an
aerial attack and a stray incendiary bomb had set fire to a house east of the
town square. The church bell was rung to alert the town of the emergency and
townspeople turned out in large numbers to form a bucket brigade supervised by members of
the German garrison. By 1:00 am, the town square was well lit and filled
with German soldiers and villagers when two planeloads of paratroopers, from the 1st and 2nd battalions were dropped, in error, directly over the village.
The paratroopers were easy targets, and Steele
was one of only a few non-casualties. His parachute was caught in one of the
back steeples of the church, causing the cables on his parachute to stretch to
their full length, leaving him hanging on the backside of the church to witness
the carnage. The wounded paratrooper hung there limply for two hours,
pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later
escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd
Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attacked the village capturing thirty Germans
and killing another eleven. For these actions and his wounds, Steele was
awarded the Bronze Star for valor and the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat.
We then proceeded to La Fiere, about 2.5 miles west of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. This is where on June 7-10, 1944 members of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, fought a fierce battle against repeated German attacks.
The small stone bridge over the Merderet River was a key point for the Germans to take in order to break up the American landing at Utah Beach, while at the same time being key to the Americans so that they could expand their beach head in Normandy. Over the course of the battle, the Germans attacked the lightly armed Americans with both infantry and armor but were never able to cross the bridge.
The bronze statue pictured above, is "The Airborne Trooper". It was dedicated, by the French, to the Americans who fought and died here. On the statue is written, "A grateful Tribute to American Airborne Solders of D-Day 6 June 1944 - 7 June 1944".
Utah Beach, which is about 3 miles long, was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion. Utah was added to the invasion plan toward the end of the planning stages, when more landing craft became available. Despite being substantially off course, the US 4th Infantry Division (part of VII corps) landed with relatively little resistance, in start contrast to Omaha Beach, where the fighting was fierce.
Our last stop was the church at Church at Angoville-au-Plain.
On June 6, 1944, a US medic post was set-up in the church at
Angoville-au-Plain. Over subsequent days the village changed hands three times
between the German and American forces, and each time the US Medics, Robert E.
Wright and Kenneth J. Moore of 2nd battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of 101st Airborne were
ministering to the wounded of three nationalities, US paratroopers, French
civilians and German soldiers.
Today, you can still see the blood stains, on the pews, of the
people who were treated by Wright and Moore.
The main alter of the church.
Our D-Day tour ended and we headed back to Bayeux to pick-up our car. I think I can speak for our group, it was one of the most memorable and emotional days of our lives.
Bayeux Cathedral
(Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux).
The church is the same size as the Notre Dame church in Paris.
The church is the same size as the Notre Dame church in Paris.
This site was once
occupied by Roman sanctuaries. The present cathedral was consecrated on July 14, 1077 in the
presence of William, Duke of Normandy and King of England.
In 1064 it was here that according to Duke William, Harold Godwinson (who in 1066 became King Harold II of England) swore an oath to support and recognize Duke William's claim to become King of England. The breaking of this oath led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and lead to the killing of Harold II.
In 1064 it was here that according to Duke William, Harold Godwinson (who in 1066 became King Harold II of England) swore an oath to support and recognize Duke William's claim to become King of England. The breaking of this oath led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and lead to the killing of Harold II.
The Sainte-Catherine church, pictured on the right, which has a bell-tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France. The church was built in the mid 1400's.
It is arguably the most
stunning gothic cathedral in the world—and is undoubtedly the most famous.
Construction began in 1163 and was completed in 1345. Notre Dame Cathedral
was the very heartbeat of medieval Paris. After a period of neglect, it
recaptured the popular imagination when 19th-century writer Victor Hugo
immortalized it in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
The cathedral is 420 feet long, 226 feet wide and the 2 towers are 226 feet tall. Its one spire is 300 feet tall.
The cathedral houses three relics of the Passion, a piece of
the Cross, which had been kept in Rome and delivered by Saint Helen, the mother
of Emperor Constantine, a nail of the Passion and the Holy Crown of Thorns.
The crown is a circle of canes bundled together and
held by gold threads. The thorns were attached to this braided circle, which
measures 21 centimetres in diameter. The thorns were divided up over the
centuries by the Byzantine emperors and the Kings of France. There are seventy,
all of the same type, which have been confirmed as the original thorns. See picture below.
These relics are presented to the believers for veneration
on the first Friday of each month, every Friday during Lent at 3 pm, and on
Good Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.
In the center is the Blessed Virgin Mary and Christ Child,
surrounded by prophets and saints.
The Arc de Triomphe (Triumphal
Arch) .
It is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the
center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the
Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for
France in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all
French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces.
Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
The monument stands 164 feet high,
148 feet wide and 72 feet deep. The large vault is 95.8 feet
high and 48 feet wide. The small vault is 61.3 feet high and
27.7 feet wide. Its design was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. It was
the largest triumphal arch in existence until the construction of the Arch of
Triumph in Pyongyang (North Korea) in 1982.
The Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that
three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, (marking the end of
hostilities in World War I), Charles Goxefroy flew his biplane through the
archway.
It is one of the most recognized structures in the world. It was built for the1889 World Exhibition, which was held in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the French Revolution in 1789. It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffle, whose company designed and built the tower.
Originally intended as a temporary exhibit, the tower was almost torn down and scrapped in 1909. City officials opted to save it after recognizing its value as a radiotelegraph station. In 1957 they added additional broadcast antennas.
The tower is the tallest structure in Paris, at 1,050 feet, and the most-visited paid monument in the world. In 2011, 7.1 million people ascended the tower. It received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.
Counting from the ground, there are 347 steps to the first level, 674 steps to the 2nd level and 1710 steps to the small platform on the top of the tower. The public can only climb as far as the 2nd level, access to the top is by elevator only.
On this street, of outdoor markets, you can find a wonderful selection of specialty food
stores, patisseries, butchers, delicatessens, cheese specialists, fishmongers,
greengrocers, chocolate shops and cafes.
Most of the street is a
pedestrian area and still has its original cobblestones. This authentic
market street is where the locals go to buy their favorite foods or to meet
friends and enjoy sitting outside the many cafes while they watch the world go
by.
We ate breakfast most days on the Rue Cler.
King Louis XIV originally built the Les Invalides complex, in 1679, as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers.
In 1905 it was established as the museum of the Army of France. The museum has
a huge collection of military paraphernalia dating from antiquity to the
present day. It contains 500,000 objects, including weapons, armor, artillery,
uniforms, emblems and paintings.
It also houses the museum of military models and the museum of
contemporary French history.
Cathedral Saint Louis des Invalides.
The tomb of Tomb of Napoleon is located in this chapel that is also located in the complex.
In this chapel are buried some of France's war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).
Napoleon's Tomb.
Napoleon was initially interred on Saint Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815, but King Louis-Philippe arranged for his remains to be brought to France in 1840.
The Tomb of Napoleon is made from red porphyry (a type of quartz) with a green granite base and circled by a crown of laurels and inscriptions of the great victories of the Emperor. His remains, inside the sarcophagus, are protected by six concentric coffins, built from different materials, including mahogany, ebony, and oak, all one inside the other. His body was laid in the tomb on April 2nd 1861.
The main alter in Sainte-Chapelle (The Holy Chapel).
It is one of the only surviving buildings of The Capets who ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. The church is close to Notre Dame cathedral, in the heart of Paris. It was commissioned by King Louise IX of France King to house his collection of Passion Relics, including the Crown of Thorns - one of the most important relics in medieval Christendom. Construction began some time after 1239 and was consecrated on April 26,1248. The Sainte-Chapelle is considered among the highest achievements of Gothic architecture.
Although damaged during the French revolution and heavily
restored in the 19th century, it retains one of the most extensive collections of installed 13th century stained glass anywhere in the world.
The 6 people on the alter were the musicians and they were magnificent.
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