Our hotel, London County Hall
Balcony rooms overlooking The Thames!!
Too bad Big Ben is being restored
We then began our short walk to Buckingham Palace and stopped for a bite of British food and drink.
After some Shepard's Pie and a pint we were off to see the Queen!
From Buckingham Palace we took The Tube to St. Paul's Cathedral were we took >580 steps to the top of the dome for a look out over the forever-rainy-city of London! Our legs were jello after walking back down!
After St. Paul's, Mitch made his way back to the room for rest while Ryan, Sam and I continued our journey to Tower of London, Tower Bridge and then walked along The Thames to see the HMS Belfast. This was the British ship that led the British Navy across the English Channel on D-Day.
We then hopped The Tube and headed back to our hotel for dinner at a nice steak house where we found that the British struggle a bit with the concept of medium rare and tried some house made gin cocktails that were interesting but not spectacular. We also all had bone marrow with our meals. When in Rome. We then headed up to our balconies to wind down and get ready for the early trip to St. Pancras train station and our Chunnel train the next morning to Paris.
Bone marrow upper left plate
After the first of many nights with less-than-enough sleep, we headed out of London at 188mph under the English Channel by train. We arrived in Paris around 1100 and headed for our hotel, La Comtesse. The Frenchman at the front desk had a disgusted look on his face when we walked in and seem to have difficultly comprehending that our motley crew would be staying at his hotel. This was just the beginning of several encounters with what seemed to be a disproportionate amount of rude people in France.
After dropping our bags....mine included this time...we headed out for Napoleon's tomb that was just a block away from our hotel. I'm always surprised by the size of the building and coffin that was built to house such a small man. In death he sure hasn't done anything to disprove the 'Napoleon complex' we all refer to.
After a quick exploration of Napoleon's Tomb we headed back to the hotel to finish checking into our rooms then hit the Metro to go see the Eiffel Tower. We stopped at Trocadero Center to overlook the fountains, Seine River and the Eiffel Tower. This is the location of a famous picture of Hitler after he conquered Paris. We stood right where he stood and took our own pictures. Creepy.
We hopped back on the Metro and headed to The Arc de Triomphe where we witnessed the madness of what seemed to be the worlds largest roundabout that is completely unrestricted by traffic lights or seemingly any sense of right-of-way. Pure chaos!
Look down the Champs de Elysees to the Louvre
Back on the Metro and off to The Pantheon. I was excited about this stop and the next because these were two places that I'd never seen on my two prior trips to Paris. The Pantheon is the resting place of many influential French men and women. Some of the most famous people entombed at The Pantheon are Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Louis Braille, among others. This is also the place where the French Physicist, Leon Foucault, used a large pendulum to prove to the world that the earth rotates. I'm a nerd. That's cool to me.
After touring the crypt at the Pantheon we headed for an even creepier place. The Parisian Catacombs. In the late 1700's Parisian cemeteries were being overrun and they were running out of space to sanitarily bury bodies. There were beginning to be disease outbreaks and they had to find somewhere to store the remains of those that were long ago deceased in order to make rooms for the newly deceased. They exhumed the bones of over 6 million people and placed them deep under Paris in a huge labyrinth of tunnels. Amanda and I tried to go to the Catacombs during our last visit but the line was unbelievably long. We got skip the line tickets this time and were first in the line! We walked down hundreds of narrow spiral stairs and found ourselves in the claustrophobia of the underground tunnels, surrounded by the bones of >6,000,000 people. It was mind blowing!
We all said that this was one of our favorite sights during the trip. They really do a good job of not overcrowding these tunnels. Despite the huge line outside, we really didn't run into many people while in the tunnels. After The Catacombs we hopped back on the Metro and headed for a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe. At dinner we tried all kinds of local dishes. Escargot, Veal, Rabbit, Duck and many more. We all enjoyed the Escargot and even ordered a second round! Amanda was disgusted when I sent her the picture of our snails! We had a good time at dinner after running around two major cities for 48hrs straight. Mitch had a REALLY good time, to all of our amusement!
Man down.
After getting Mitch back to the hotel, Ryan, Sam and I headed back out to check out the Eiffel Tower at night. Once in the large park that surrounds the Eiffel Tower, we were relentlessly hassled by souvenir peddlers and people offering us intoxicants of all types. We just stuck with beer.
On the morning of day three Ryan and I decided to replenish our sleep stores and sleep in while Sam went to the Louvre by himself and Mitch recovered. I've been to the Louvre twice before and knew that the race weekend was coming up and if we wanted to check out night racing we'd need to be well rested in order to get the most out of Le Mans. Sam returned from his solo foray to the Louvre, we packed for the race weekend and then headed to yet another train station for another high speed direct train ride, this time to Le Mans.
Arrived at our B&B!!
We checked into our surprisingly nice B&B, dropped our bags and headed out in search of food before the Driver's Parade.
The Driver's Parade is a Le Mans tradition in which the drivers from all 62 teams ride through the small medieval town of Le Mans on classic cars and sign autographs, shake hands, take pictures with fans, throw out free team swag and generally have a good time. From what I understand, this is one of the Le Mans highlights for drivers because they get to experience the excitement that they are generating off the track. We bellied up to the rails and watched a limitless stream of classic cars go by, punctuated by random supercars, the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche to name a few. They would all rev their engines to the cheers of the crowd. If they didn't rev loud enough they got a cohesive BOO!! from the crowd. It was hilarious! I stood next to a very large Frenchman who's size was disproportionate to the amount of deodorant that he was wearing for hours in order to try to get a picture with Patrick Dempsey. I stood there for HOURS enduring the most pungent body odor that France had to offer but Dempsey never came. I really wanted to get a pic with Dempsey for Amanda. She would have been floored.
Le Mans Cathedral was super cool
Le Mans downtown race crowd where Sam and I saw two guys push each other and one throw his entire beer in the other's face. I can't believe they didn't throw punches after that. Once again, hilarious.
The next morning Sam made us all breakfast and we headed to the track for the race. The race started at 1500 local time but there were plenty of pre-race activities. We upgraded our seats to get access to the Club member lounge. As it turned out, our seats were great! Getting to the track was a bit of a chore. We had to walk through town, get on the tram for 30+ mins, stop at the track, walk to another pick up point for another 15+ ride to the track, then walk under the track and down a long row of grandstands to our seats. The total journey was well over 1hr, all the while being assaulted by the BO of non-deodorant wearers and relentless tobacco smoke, as it seems that 105% of the French population smokes.
On track racing
After watching the start of the race and hearing the V8 Corvette's go by several times we headed out to the 'Fan Village'. This is a huge area where all of the manufacturers, teams and vendors set up displays and sell race swag. This was a super cool area for a car nut like myself.
This guy was just so sleepy at 1700! Ha!
We eventually headed back to our seats to check out the night action. At this point, the expeditionary team's favorite, Corvette was in the lead of the GT PRO class. We soaked in the uniqueness of the night racing for a bit then began the long journey back to our B&B.
We woke up Sunday morning and Ryan, Sam and myself began the long pilgrimage back to the track for the end of the race. Mitch stay back to rest, as his back and leg had had enough 'short walks'. He had also had a bad experience the night before with directions and a Russian cab driver that tried to cheat him. We got back to our seats and began to try to catch up on the standings. Eventually, we decided to go do some more exploring and check out the 24hrs of Le Mans museum.
Back to our seats for the final views fo the race before heading back to our B&B to pack up and catch a train back to Paris.
Mitch was still sleeping and we were locked out of our B&B for a bit so we took the opportunity to walk around the Cathedral in Le Mans and take in the ancient architecture.
Mitch awoke. The team assembled. We disembarked. We found a McDonalds and ate Big Macs and fries. All were happy except Sam who couldn't figure out how to order and ended up with no food. We shared our food with the poor guy.
We eventually made it back to Paris and our snobby hotel. We unloaded and headed back out on another 'short walk' to the Seine River for an evening sightseeing river cruise. This offered us views of sights we had yet to see. The Louvre, The D'Orsay and Notre Dame that recently burned.
Our hotel at night
After foraging for food after midnight in Paris we went to bed in preparation for our last big day in Europe, our day trip to Normandy.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE WWII history buff. After my last trip to Europe I said that I'd never go back without seeing Normandy. This would be the part of the trip where Amanda would have perished of pure boredom. Not me. This was by far the part of the trip that I was most looking forward to. If you are not a history fan, reading further may be a struggle for you but the pictures are cool. I'm about to geek out on some history. You were warned.
After another less-than-adequate night of sleep, we awoke at 0500 in order to make our way to another train station and catch our 2hr 30min train to Carentan. Carentan was liberated by the members of the Band of Brothers on D-Day +6. This is seen in episode 3 of Band of Brothers. We stopped by Starbucks for excessive amounts of caffeine first.
We were met in Carentan by Tom, our Bayeux Shuttle guide. Tom first thing Tom said was 'Today is your day. What would you like to do?' I mentioned that we'd like to see Dead Man's Corner, Angoville au Plain Church, St. Mere Eglise, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the National Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Tom paused for a minute and asked how I knew about Angoville Church. This is a tiny church that was the site of some incredible works of humanitarianism and is not well known to most Normandy visitors. It was now that Tom realized he had a group of well prepared and excited Americans. If anyone is ever planning a trip to Normandy, do yourself a favor and request Tom of the Bayeux Shuttle guide company. Tom made our day so impactful and personal.
We left Carentan after seeing where Dick Winters, Commanding Officer of Easy Company (Band of Brothers) was treated for a gun shot wound to the leg. We cruised past Dead Man's Corner, that was the headquarters of the German Commander Von Der Heydte during the early days of D-Day. He was the Commander of the 6th Fallshirmjager Division (essentially German paratroopers), these were the guys that the 'Band of Brothers' fought on several occassions throughout the war. Elite troops vs. elite troops.
Dead Man's Corner
Angoville an Plain Church was designated as an aid station in the early hours of D-Day by two 101st Airborne medics, Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore. Here they treated over 80 casualties for >48hrs straight with no rest. At one point a live mortar round crashed through the ceiling and landed at the feet of Robert Wright without exploding. He looked around and realized that there were wounded laying everywhere, he wrapped the live round in his jacket and ran outside carrying the unexploded ordinance! He discarded the round outside and returned inside to treat the wounded. Interestingly, the church changed hands several times and at one point armed Germans entered the church. Wright and Moore kept their cool and the Germans left after seeing their wounded being treated. Yes, the crazy thing is that Wright and Moore were treating Americans and GERMAN wounded. They even treated a young boy who's family was killed by an artillery shell. There are still blood stains on the pews and a cracked tile in the floor where the mortar shell landed. Standing in that church gave us all goosebumps and brought tears to our eyes.
After leaving Angoville au Plain Church, we headed to St. Marie du Mont where the Band of Brothers took a famous photo that we replicated. The confessional in the church still has bullet holes in it where American paratroopers shot a German who was trying to hide in the confessional!!
After leaving St. Marie du Mont we headed to Brecourt Manor where the Easy Company 101st Airborne, The Band of Brothers, led by Dick Winters, had their baptism of fire. Here they attacked and destroyed four large artillery guns that were firing on Utah Beach. This action earned Dick Winters the Distinguished Service Cross. This action is seen in Band of Brothers episode 2.
After Brecourt Manor we headed to Utah Beach where the 4th Infantry came ashore during the early morning hours of June 6th 1945. Here our troops came ashore and were led inland by Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of President Teddy Roosevelt.
Original Sea Wall where our troops took cover on D-Day. The dunes have shifted and grown since D-Day
After Utah Beach we headed for St. Mere Eglise, which was the first city liberated in the early hours of D-Day by the 82nd and 101st Airborne paratroopers. This was the site of landing for many of the members of the Band of Brothers, Dick Winters, Earl McClung, Carwood Lipton, and Wild Bill Guarnere to name a few. This is also the town where 82nd Airborne paratrooper John Steele got caught on the church spire as he descended from the air. He ended up hanging from the church for hours feinting death to avoid his inevitable capture. There is now an effigy of him hanging from the church. Here, we had lunch and walked around town looking at the scars from the battle 75 years ago.
Location of Band of Brothers soldier Earl McClung's landing on D-Day
After St. Mere Eglise, we headed to Pointe du Hoc. This was the site of an intense battle between the Germans and the Army Rangers. The American Rangers climbed the 100ft cliffs in less than ten minutes to find and destroy a battery of 6 105mm artillery guns that where capable of inflicting heavy casualties on both Utah and Omaha Beaches. The Pointe is still riddled with bomb craters and blown out bunkers, evidence of the intensity of the 3 day battle. Of the 225 Rangers that disembarked to take Pointe du Hoc, only 90 were alive and capable of fighting when relieved on June 8th, the majority of those 90 were still fighting after being wounded.
After Pointe Du Hoc, we headed to Omaha Beach were roughly 2000 US men were killed, wounded or missing. This was the beach portrayed in Saving Private Ryan and was the site of some of the most intense fighting as the troops landed on the beach on D-Day. It was moving to imagine what our troops experienced on this beach 75 years ago.
Site of Norman Cota's breakout where he proclaimed 'Rangers Lead the Way!!'
After the sober experience of Omaha Beach we headed to WN62. This was a large German resistance nest located on the eastern end of Omaha Beach. This is where a German machine gunner named Hein Severloh claims to have inflicted >2,500 casualties during D-Day. He claims to have fired over 12,500 rounds from his MG42 machine gun as the American troops clambered from their landing crafts. He has been called 'The Butcher of Omaha'. Standing where he was, it was simply unfair. His view of the beach was unobstructed and gave him a wide view of the beach. Here we found an old ribbon of barbed wire in the dirt.
We left WN62 after yet another short walk and headed for our final stop, the Omaha Beach National Cemetery. This was a sobering site. There are over 9,000 American soldiers that were laid to rest here. If standing at one end of the cemetery, you cannot see the other side. This is the resting place of so many Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in order to allow us to enjoy the freedoms that we all so often take for granted.
Prior to leaving the National Cemetery, we saw the flag lowering ceremony that was accompanied by the playing of Taps. We all teared up but hid behind our sunglasses and tired to act tough, as if we weren't. After a somber experience at the National Cemetery, we headed back to Bayeux for our train to Pairs. We hit up another outdoor cafe on our last night in Paris. I then went in search of Kinder eggs for the kids that I would have to smuggle in through customs. I may or may not have had success in my mission.....Ainsley said they tasted good...
Last morning, getting ready to leave. SO. TIRED.
Back home after a 9+ hour direct flight
We had an amazing trip and got to experience so much in the short week that we were in Europe. I had so much fun with our expeditionary team! It was very cool to see everyone's reaction to the sights, sounds, tastes, and all too often, the smells of Europe. I got to see exotic cars, race cars, night racing at the greatest race in the world, experience the sights of London & Paris, and walk in the footsteps of my heroes in Normandy. I had an amazing time with the guys but missed Amanda and the kiddos more than I ever thought possible. Being in Europe was fun but it really made us all appreciate what we have here at home. I love Europe but it will be a while before I go back. I got home to Amanda and Parker waiting in the driveway. I then got to go pick up Ainsley from camp, where she was so surprised to see me. We then went to dinner at Chuy's and the kids just wanted to sit in my lap all through dinner. My life was once again complete, I'd gone to Europe with my buddies, but was back with my family, just enjoying time together.
Philip out.
