Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed out of Paris. We drove around the Arc de Triomphe a few times, and it was so cool! There happened to be a marathon just getting started, so we were the only car in the huge roundabout with hundreds of people, so it gave us a great view of the Arc. Next time we'll go inside!
Our first stop of the day was Omaha Beach, on the northern coast. The beach is beautiful, and much bigger than I had anticipated. We also went to the Omaha Beach Memorial Museum, and that was really neat. Very humbling to learn about what those men and women went through, and see all of the artifacts.
The next stop was the Normandy American Cemetery. The cemetery grounds are beautiful- they sit on a hill that overlooks the beach, and hold the remains of nearly 9,400 Americans, including 45 sets of brothers. The visitor center is very well done, and full of history. We also drove through a little town next to the cemetery, called Colleville-sur-Mer, which has really cool posters of photos taken around town during the war around town, and show the troops and destruction.
From there we continued to head east, and stopped in a little seaside town called Port En Bessin. We had lunch and walked through the shops, then walked along the beach to look at some bunkers built into the hillside. While we were on the beach, the tide started coming in, and we had to scramble across some huge rocks to get back out. Luckily we made it without getting too wet, and some locals even cheered me on!
Then we stopped in Arromanches-les-Bains, to visit some souvenir stores. Arromanches is also the location of the Gold Beach landing zone, which was where one of the Mulberry harbor artificial ports was installed. This artificial port allowed the disembarkation of 9,000 tons of material per day, and there are several pieces of it still along the beach and in the water. It was really cool to see how huge it is, and stand on top of it.
Our last stop of the day was Le Havre, which is where we stayed the night. It is a super cute port town located on the estuary of the Seine River, on the English Channel. It was about dusk when we arrived, and drizzly, so we walked down the beach to find some dinner (which included the best frites we had the whole trip!), but didn't do much more sightseeing.
The next morning we headed out again, on our way to Dunkirk. We stopped at the Batterie de Leffrinckoucke, The fortress was built between 1877 and 1878 as part of France's coastal defense strategy to protect Dunkirk from naval attacks. It was originally used by French and British troops, then it was taken over and used by the Germans during WW2. It was pretty crazy to stand inside the bunkers and see all the tunnels going into underground areas.
From there, we crossed back into Belgium and stopped at the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. The museum is located in an old church building, and when you enter, you receive a "Poppy Bracelet" containing a microchip, which activates the personal story of four individuals throughout the exhibitions. The exhibit tells the story of the invasion of Belgium, the first months of the mobilization, the four years trench war, and the end of the war. The displays include medical equipment, gas masks, and a mule and munitions wagon exhibit. I really enjoyed having the bracelet, and listening to the stories.
Our last stop for the day was Bruges. We stayed at the coolest hotel, called the Duke's Palace. The palace was built in 1429 by Duke Philip the Good to mark the celebration of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. Duke Philip's original palace was eventually destroyed, and the current palace building dates to the 1700s. Over the centuries, various royal families have lived there, and it has been a hotel for several decades. We loved the history and location of the hotel, as well as the beautiful garden. We spent some time walking around town that evening, and went to the museums of Torture and Witchcraft, which were equally interesting and disturbing, followed by dinner at Opus Latino which was probably our favorite dinner spot the whole trip. We went downstairs to the restaurant, and sat right at canal level. It was so beautiful, and we loved watching the ducks swimming by while we ate.
Tuesday morning we did a canal ride around the city, which was super fun. We loved seeing all the old buildings and bridges, and we both agreed that Bruges is probably our favorite city of the trip.
We made our way out of town, and headed northeast into The Netherlands. We stopped at a lighthouse called Nieuwe Sluis, near the city of Breskens. It was built in 1866, and is the oldest extant cast iron lighthouse in the Netherlands. During World War II the lighthouse was deactivated and covered in camouflage paint, but now it is a really pretty black and white striped. Unfortunately is was locked when we were there, so we were not able to go inside and see the view.
From there, we made our way back into Belgium and on to Antwerp, where we spent the rest of the day and night. Antwerp is a really cool city, and our hotel was right in the city square. We walked all around town and visited a castle called Het Steen, which is a medieval fortress built between 1200 and 1225 as the first stone fortification of Antwerp, and is still the oldest building, It is now part museum, part art gallery, and really cool to walk through. We also loved walking through Antwerp and visiting all the shops. It is a really cool town, and we'd love to go back and see more of it!
