On to Normandy and the Loire Valley

Wednesday

Today, we made our way to Normandy and the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach. We were there very early, and it was incredible to have the place almost to ourselves for a few minutes. It is a very moving experience seeing all of the graves of the soldiers who never made it home.

The Memorial at the entrance to the cemetery is something to see. On each side of the memorial, there are maps showing the invasion points and movements into France.

The Cemetery is located just off Omaha Beach. The beach is still very wide and open and there are high cliffs to negotiate after you cross the beach. It is incredible that men were even able to make it.

After that, we moved on down to Pointe du Hoc where American Rangers climbed the cliffs to take out positions of the German cannons. Still today, the fortifications are still there.

And, you can still see lots of the holes in the ground that were made by Allied bombing.

After this, we drove on to Chambord.

Thursday

We have made our way to the Loire Valley and the Land of Chateaus. Our fist is Chambord. Built by Francoise I, it is a beautiful place.

As Amy says that the only reason anyone is reading this is to see pictures of her, here is a picture of Amy at Chambord.

And a picture of the Chateau without Amy.

That picture shows the view from our room at our hotel that was across from the Chateau. It was very nice and staying on the grounds, we were able to walk around after dinner and see things without all of the tourists. And, we were some of the first people in the Chateau this morning, before all of the buses arrived.

This is our hotel.

After Chambord, we moved on to Villandry, know for the incredible gardens. The chateau was nice, but it is the gardens that really makes the place. they are still in early spring, so they were not completely in bloom yet.

Here is the much sought after picture of Amy at Villandry.

And a couple pictures of the gardens.

And finally, the Chateau Villandry.

Tomorrow, we continue around the Loire Valley in search of the grand chateaus!