Wednesday we were in the airport and had to pack the busses with everyone's luggage and instruments and stands etc etc. It took a very v e r y long time to complete, but finally we were on a bus on our way to Caen.
We had a rest stop half way there and there was a cow bouncy house, which we all agreed should a a standard all American rest stops should follow 🐮
We got to the hotels around 8:30 and dinner was supposed to have started at 8, so the chaperones were kind of stressed and upset. We hurried our suitcases upstairs <to the t h i r d floor> and ran down to eat dinner.
The hotels were set up in such a way that there were "two" of them, but connected in the ground floor with a large dining room that could probably be used for business meetings and weddings and things like that. So even though we were technically in 2 hotels, we all still got to eat together, which was really nice.
We got back to the room, showered for the first time since the night before we left the college, and crashed. We had followed Mr Memolis advice and slept on the first plane but not on the second one or on the bus, and it really worked to ward off the jet lag. As of the next day I was barely tired, other than just from walking everywhere and the stress and excitement. But this meant we were immediately able to sleep, which was really good.
Thursday (yesterday) we went on bus to basically a world war 2 tour of the northern coast of France. First we stopped at a museum that was all about the Allied efforts in that part of France starting with D-Day planning all the way up to the liberation of Paris. I knew a lot of it already though, and seeing everything while being there in real life was a lot to take in. It made it real, and I could barely reconcile that. We walked across the street to the British cemetery, which was gorgeous. All the cemetaries we went to were very very well kept and looked pristine, but it was hard to admire that because there were just so many headstones.
We watched a movie and before it started, Asia and I were talking to these 2 men siting next to us who wanted to know where we were from, since they were from Rhode Island. We told them about our trip and they thanked us for representing our country so well. It was so nice to hear that, and made the stress and everything seem worth it for a while.
After the movie we went to a town called Bayeoux, which had lots of shops and a 10th or 11th century cathedral. It was super cute and we went to a sweets shop for lunch, since none of us were too hungry and the desserts looked amazing. I had this thing that was in the shape and size of a peach and had pieces of peach inside it, mixed with this crunchy nougat stuff. It was really good but so rich, I could only eat half. We wandered all around and on our way back it just started pouring out of no where. There was thunder and we wanted to stop in a store to not get soaked, but if we did we would've been late to the concert. So we sucked it up and ran through the rain. My hair was so wet it was just dripping onto my face the whole next bus ride.
From there we traveled a little ways to Omaha Beach and the American cemetery. We set up for our concert and performed, with a sizable audience. I had several people tell me afterwards, since we all were in the same polo shirts, that my group did a really great job, which meant a lot. Everyone here has been so friendly and even if they don't speak English, they try to help and are always so polite and kind, it's been amazing. Europe is just "more chill" (as we've been saying) than the U.S. No one cares if they're late, one lady straight up stopped her car in the middle of a 1 way street today to run into a store and blocked traffic, but no one got upset at her. Just little things like that which would never happen in the U.S.
We wandered the cemetery and realized that we only had half an hour to see the actual beach. You would think that it would only take a minute or 2 to get to the water, but it was a HUGE hill and it took us a solid 10 minutes of speed walking/jogging to get down. We stood there and looked at it but other AMA people were already on their way back to the busses, so we hurried up and took some pictures and then ran back up the hill. Daniah runs usually for fun, but Asia and I nearly died, especially cause it was pretty hot and the sun was finally out. I found a rock and it was shaped like a heart, so I took it (shh don't tell)
From Omaha beach, we drove again a little ways down the coast to i think around either the eastern end of Omaha or the western end of the other American beach, the name of which is escaping me right now, to see the remains of German bunkers and fortifications. It was like a park, you could climb on and inside all the cement creations that used to be stands for giant guns and underground shelters. It was a little morbid though, to imagine that this place with little kids and us running up and down the craters left by bombs had once been a major Nazi stronghold. The view of cliffs and the water was spectacular, and we all had a decent time climbing in and around the ruins, it was good to move after so much traveling for the past several days.
We bussed back to the hotel for dinner at that point, and were given free time to explore Caen from until dinner around 8. Asia, Daniah, my new friend Margaret who sat with me all through the choir rehearsals, her friend Sarah and all walked around together. We went to a 10th century castle and walked all around there. You could walk up stairs and stand on the wall of the castle which was maybe 8 feet from the ground inside the castle grounds, and probably at th very least a 30 foot drop if you went off the wall the other way. But the view, since the castle was on a hill above the city of Caen, was absolutely amazing. We walked around and saw the place where the dungeon used to be, reduced to ruins complete with a single sheep nowadays though. There was also some sculpture done by a Chinese man in 1997 that was called "1 man 9 animals" and it was bunches of animals with human heads or legs all up on separate 20-30 foot poles. It was... interesting...
We went back for dinner and they gave us more free time from after dinner (9pm?) until 11 to keep exploring Caen. The sun doesn't set here until after 11, and it rises at 6. The days are so long! It's fantastic though, means we can stay out later and wake up earlier and still see our surroundings. Asia, Daniah, Margaret and I walked up and down the harbors sidewalk and took tons of cute photos. Then we wandered the town in search of a "crepe with just chocolate, nothing else" for Margaret, as that was her only request for France. We finally found one around 10:15, and all sat down outside a cafe to eat/ have hot chocolate, which was nice.
The weather here, although Paris was a horrendous 100 degrees when we arrived, has been actually quite temperate. It's gotten down into the 60s at night and only maybe high 80s in the daytime. Plus it has been cloudy/raining most of the time, which sounds crappy, but we are all in agreement that occasional spot downpours are better than humid and 100+ degrees.
This morning we got up and loaded the busses to go to Belgium. We just made a rather long stop, from 9:30 to 12:30 in a French harbor town called Honfleur. It was absolutely beautiful. The buildings were all so cute, we were thinking maybe there was some Dutch or German influences in the architecture perhaps.
The same 4 of us from the night before walked around the town together. We all went on a really old carousel that had horses, but also a plane, a terrifying pig, and a creepy giraffe, among other creatures that you could ride on. It was super fun despite the creepy factor! (They played carnival music on the ride, but at the end the the music ran out and they played a carnival rendition of Taps, which was kind of odd, but we just went with it)
We went in and out of shops, I found a few things to bring back to people (shhh don't tell them!) and we had paninis for lunch, which were so so good. We went to another candy shop, but it was all chocolate and candied fruit that you could buy by weight. Daniah got so chocolate and Asia and I both got the fruit. I got candied kiwi, banana chips, pineapple, "melon" and a few other things that I can't remember the name for. We moseyed on back to the busses and took lots of photos on the way.
Currently I am on the bus to Brugges, it'll be another 3 hours minimum til we get there. We have 2 double decker busses, I'm on coach 2, and on the bottom floor, everyone around me is sleeping. You can hear all the kids upstairs talking loudly though. There's people from Rochester area, I think I heard them debating whether it's "dog" or "dawg" and "coffee" or "cawfee" (we know that accent, right mom? 😉)
I'm really happy and not that tired, because I get to meet Lynn tomorrow! I had a chance to message her these past few days and we know exactly where we are going to meet, and we are both really excited to see each other in real life.
But for now, that's all. I'll keep you updated!
~Taylor
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