Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 3 {Part 3}

Actual Date of Event: March 12, 2014

After spending our early afternoon in Arromanches and the Musée du Débarquement we were off to the remaining two beaches, the Juno Beach Centre, and the Canadian Military cemetery. 

Juno Beach Centre

Juno Beach is the beach the Canadians landed on that proved a military success but costly in terms of men lost. The main task of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division upon landing was to move inland to cut the Caen-Bayeux road and form a connection between the British beaches, Gold and Sword.

The plan was to land at low tide so the German defensive obstacles would be exposed but low tide was three hours prior to their landing so they were partially submerged. The mines took a toll on the landing craft and destroyed or damaged 30% of them. The men, after wading ashore, were then met with heavy firepower with an estimated 50/50 chance of surviving the gunfire.

After fighting hard for Juno Beach they reached the German positions behind the beach and were able to move inland with some speed to reach their target by the end of the day. The price they paid was 1,200 casualties of the 21,400 men that landed on the beach.
 

Exhibits at the Juno Beach Centre

In September 1939, Canada declared the state of war and joined its allies by mobilizing the mightiest military force in its history at sea, on land, and in the air. The Juno Beach Centre tells the story of the Canadians who fought in the military, as well as those the waited at home for their return. In the first room we stood in a simulated landing craft to watch a film projected around us showing images of the war, D-Day, as well as families back home describing what they were thinking and feeling at the time.

The permanent exhibits have lots of photographs and other artifacts to tell the story but my favourites are always the more personal documents like letters to home, even the letters sent home with the sad news that a loved one wouldn't be returning. The batteries, bunkers, and guns can tell part of the story but those artifacts are always what gets me. One word. Heartbreaking.

For the Fallen

by Laurence Binyon

They shall grow not old

As we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them

Nor the years condemn;

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning

We will remember them. 

Sword Beach

 

Sword Beach

Sword Beach was the furthest east of the five beaches used on D-Day that was assigned to units of the British 2nd Army. The area around the beach was lightly defended by the Germans, but only as compared to some of the other beaches, and doesn't mean that the British troops didn't lose soldiers too.

The landings started at 7:25 am and by 8:00 am most of the fighting around the beach was over. By 1:00 pm that day the soldiers had met up with the paratroopers at the bridges over the Orne waterways, but on the right were unable to link up with the Canadian troops from Juno Beach. At 4:00 pm the 21st Panzer Division (German) launched an attack but it wasn't to last long. 

By the end of D-Day the British had 29,000 men landed with 630 casualties. German casualties were much higher and many German soldiers had been taken prisoner, but the Caen objective was still several kilometers away. 

Musée Radar

Musée Radar de Douvres

After our short visit to Sword Beach the sun was starting to set so it was time to make our way to the Canadian War Cemetery which was our last planned stop of the day. On the way though we realized we had come upon the Musée Radar (which was on our list for the morning) so we decided to make our stop then.

This is the site of a former German radar station that was one of the most important radar detection links in the Atlantic Wall defenses with a unique example of the Wurzburg Riese radar. The site was closed so we took in the views through the fence and therefore didn't stay very long. 

Canadian War Cemetery

Before the sun did set on us it was time to make our way to the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery which is the very peaceful resting place of 2,048 soldiers. A large number of these soldiers were killed in early July 1944 in the Battle of Caen and the also those soldiers that fell during the D-Day assault on Juno Beach. Canadian prisoners of war, that were illegally executed at the Ardenne Abbey, are also interred here. 

After quiet wander it was time for another wonderful day out to wind down. Time to head back for a delicious {and romantic} dinner and our last night at our rustic and charming hotel in Crépon. 

In my next post I'll finish off our time in France as we spend the morning at Pegasus Bridge {with a guest post about this by L!} and at our last WWII cemetery in Ranville. The it is off to Belgium!

Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 2 {Part 3}

Actual Event Date: March 11, 2014

After visiting Utah Beach, the Utah Beach Museum and the German Military Cemetery our next stop on the Battle Plan was Pointe du Hoc.

Pointe du Hoc

Photo by L

We had only allotted about 15 minutes for this site on the Battle Plan but after arriving we quickly realized we would be spending quite a bit more time here. There was quite a large area to roam around with gun placements, bunkers, and bomb craters to explore and then a beautiful view of the coast.

Pointe du Hoc is a 30 m (100 ft) cliff on a small rocky beach that offered no protection to the soldiers tasked with scaling it on their rope ladders. It is between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach and was a well fortified part of the Atlantic Wall that the Germans had created.

On D-Day the US Army Rangers Assault Group were assigned to land there, scale the cliffs, and overtake the German defenses. While they were shelled upon by the nearby Maisy Battery and German soldiers firing at them from the cliff's edge with machine guns and grenades, they reached the top and soon discovered that the guns in the emplacements had been replaced with telephone poles. The German troops had moved the guns inland to an apple orchard to save them from bombing and then left them unguarded. Once found by the Rangers they were quickly destroyed.

Although the Rangers mission on D-Day was considered a success as they seized this land from the German soldiers the casualties were many. Two hundred and twenty-five men landed on the beaches but at the end of the two days of fighting only ninety remained.

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach is a six mile stretch of beach overlooked by cliffs that made it very difficult to attack for the Americans on D-Day. In addition to the cliffs the Germans had built intimidating defenses around the the beach with things like 'dragon's teeth' which were designed to take out the bottoms of landing craft and in case they didn't work they were mined as well. Gun emplacements covered the beach and there was a system of trenches in places to allow the German troops to move about.

Tasked with attacking this beach were troops from the US 1st Army and their plan was to land infantry troops along with Sherman tanks to give them a lot of fire power against the Germans. However, these tanks never made it as they were released from their landing craft too far away from the beach and all but two of the 29 were swamped and sank. In addition to this, due to strong tides and winds, many of the American troops landed in the wrong place which caused confusion about which unit was where and what they were to do.

The only way off the beach and out of the line of fire from the German machine guns was to sprint across the beach and then scale the cliffs. Some small naval crafts got as close in to shore as they could and attacked the German gun emplacements in order to provide some protection to the soldiers on the beach. Despite the odds, by nightfall the Americans had gained a hold on the beach with 34,000 troops successfully landed. Sadly though it was at a high price as 2,400 soldiers died on Omaha Beach that day.

On the center of Omaha beach is the 'Les Braves' monument for the American soldiers who helped to liberate France. The sculptor Anilore Banon said this:

I created this scuplture to honour the courage of these men:
Sons, husbands and fathers, who endangered and often sacrificed their lives in the hope of freeing the French people.

Les Braves consists of three elements:

The wings of Hope
So that the spirit which carried these men on June 6th, 1944 continues to inspire us, reminding us that together it is always possible to changing the future.
Rise, Freedom!
So that the example of those who rose against barbarity, helps us remain standing strong against all forms of inhumanity.
The Wings of Fraternity
So that this surge of brotherhood always reminds us of our responsibility towards others as well as ourselves.
On June 6th, 1944 these man were more than soldiers, they were our brothers.

Normandy American Military Cemetery and Memorial

Built on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach this cemetery is the resting place for 9,387 soldiers, 307 of whom are unknown.

On June 8, 1944 the US First Army established the first American cemetery on European soil in WWII. After the war the current cemetery was established just a short distance from the original one. Like all other military cemeteries France has granted the United States a special, perpetual concession to the land which means it's free of any charge or tax.

Only some of the US soldiers who died in France are buried here because when it came time for a permanent burial the soldier's next of kin were given the choice to have their loved ones repatriated for burial in the US, or to let them rest in France.

In addition to the cemetery there is a memorial at this site that commemorates the lives of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in Normandy but could not be located or identified. At the center of a semicircle of columns is a 22 foot bronze statue called 'The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves'. In front of the memorial is a reflecting pool where visitors can watch the ceremony of the Lowering of the Colors that happens at the end of each afternoon to the sound of a military hymn.

After our very full day filled with history we decided that dinner that evening would be something we both enjoy- a picnic in our room. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to the hotel, picked up some cheese, a baguette (mais oui...we were after all in France!), and some other treats and enjoyed our very casual and relaxing dinner.

Bon appétit!

In my next post about this trip we'll start in Bayeux where we visit the Bayeux British Cemetery but also took a little detour from WWII history and stepped further back in time to visit the Bayeux Cathedral and Tapestry.

Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 2 {Part 2}

Actual Date of Event: March 11, 2014

Last Friday we left off having just visited the Crisbecq and Azeville batteries and now we were on the short drive to Utah Beach and the museum that has been built at this beach.

The US Navy Monument which is the only monument dedicated to the US Navy outside of the US

Utah Beach

Utah Beach was the code name for the westernmost of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord. The US 4th Infantry Division landed on this beach, a little off course, but with relatively little resistance as compared to Omaha Beach that suffered with fierce fighting.

The landing was a success due to several military divisions who played a part in the D-Day landings.

It started at 11:00 PM the night before with the first Allied bombs falling near the planned landing beach. Then at 1:15 AM, 13,000 paratroopers dropped behind the enemy lines with a mission to neutralize German defenses, secure the landing area, and prevent the arrival of German reinforcements.

Naval Forces 

At 5:36 AM the Allied fleet of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers launched an uninterrupted barrage of fire at the German defenses along the coast and even further inland to the Crisbecq and Azeville batteries. One German soldier noted upon seeing the armada as the sun rose that "The sea was black with ships."

Air Forces 

From 6:10 to 6:25 AM all along the coastline was pounded with the bombs from B26 bombers. The timing of this operation was critical because with only five minutes to spare the first landing craft were due to arrive at 6:30 AM and going off schedule at all would put those troops in danger of friendly fire.


One of the men, Major Dwight Dewhurst, led the final bombing run over Utah Beach. In the museum an original B-26 is painted in the colours of his plane called the "Dinah Might". Major Dewhurst was born in San Antonio, TX and enlisted in the Air Force six months before the attack on Pearl Harbour. Over the course of WWII he accomplished 85 combat missions against the Germans but sadly, shortly after returning home to Texas after the war he was killed in a car accident and left behind his wife and two young sons.

B26 Marauder in the hangar of the Utah Beach Museum

Land Forces

After spending a night at sea crammed into the landing barges the troops start landing on the beach at 6:30 AM. When they landed they needed to wade through 220 yards in the water, carrying 70 lbs of equipment, and then run another 550 yards under fire from the Germans. Fortunately due to the actions of the Naval and Air Forces the enemy lines were greatly weakened and they were able to reach the anti-tank wall in just 30 minutes.

By nightfall of June 6th, 23,000 men had landed on Utah Beach.

Examples of obstacles on the beaches that the troops had to contend with

View of Utah Beach Museum - photo by L

Utah Beach Museum

The museum stands on the actual site where the American troops landed and tells the story of the war through different sections set up in chronological order.

The story starts with the German defenses and Rommel's part in the building of the Atlantic Wall. It continues by telling visitors what life was like for the local people living under the German Occupation. And finally, visitors learn about D-Day through the preparation of the landings to the final outcome and success.

There were lots of artifacts, photos, letters, and machinery- the ones below are some that made me stop and linger on them.

From Left to Right- 1) Bulky, heavy boots (weighing up to three lbs each) worn by German soldiers. Sadly the felt often contained human hair from prisoners in concentration camps;  2) Documents, cards, money etc. found in the wreckage of the USS Rich; 3) Respect for the fallen- American soldiers often witnessed French civilians covering the bodies of fallen soldiers, praying for them, and placing flowers on their bodies.

This museum, and certainly the beach, are well worth the visit for everyone- not just Americans. I think it's important for us to learn about the contributions of all the Allied countries that took part and not to limit ourselves to only our own country. We should learn the whole story.


German Military Cemetery at La Cambe

After visiting Utah Beach we then made our way to the German military cemetery and Peace Garden. Even though the soldiers lying here are the "enemy" they are, still, fellow human beings. Many of them were very young, did not ask to go to war, and were someone's father, husband, brother, or son.

In the centre of the cemetery is a large mound of earth that covers the common grave of 207 unknown and 89 identified German soldiers. At the very top is a large dark cross with a statue on either side made of basalt lava. This is then surrounded by 49 rectangular grave fields with up to 400 graves each, identified with flat grave markers. All total there are 21,139 fallen German soldiers laid to rest in this cemetery.

The sign in front of the cemetery reads as follows:

The German Cemetery at La Cambe: In the Same Soil of France


Until 1947, this was an American cemetery. The remains were exhumed and shipped to the United States. It has been German since 1948, and contains over 21,000 graves. With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.


The German War Graves Commission cares for their cemeteries as well as the Commonwealth War Graves Commissions do and this cemetery was a somber and peaceful place of rest.

After our visit we decided it was time to think about some lunch and make our way to the Maisy Battery. We opted for a quick picnic in the car and ended up eating outside the battery as it was closed when we arrived. Turned out that was OK as Pointe due Hoc was next on the itinerary and it had so much more to see than anticipated and ran well over the 15 minutes we had allotted for it on the Battle Plan.

In my next post we'll visit Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Military Cemertery to finish off our second day of the trip.

Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 1 {Part 3}

After strolling around Honfleur it was time to get back on the road and head to the first WWII site we had on our itinerary.

We made our way through the narrow and winding roads until we came upon the quiet seaside town of Villerville. According to the census in 2008 there were about 770 people living here and it looks to be about the same today. The site we had come specifically to see here were some pillboxes along the coast and it could not have been a more perfect day for it. It was bright, sunny, and just about the perfect temperature. All those warm clothes I packed were left in the suitcase and we set off down the beach in just our short sleeves. Besides when we got out of the car and looked down the beach the pillboxes were just there, on the other side of those rocks. It would just be a quick walk and then we'd be there so no need for sweaters. Oh how wrong we were. Not about not needing the sweaters but how far away the pillboxes actually were.

Looks close doesn't it? Don't let that fool you.

As it turns out pillboxes on a beach in Normandy are just like a mirage in the desert. You walk and walk and get over that pile of rocks that they are behind and find you're no closer to them now then when you got out of the car miles and miles ago. Well that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration but we were surprised at how far down the beach they actually were. Of course that might have also had to do with the fact that we took the most difficult route across the beach to get there that we possibly could. *Note to L- when your girlfriend says "We should walk on the rocks because it'll likely be harder to walk on the wet sand"...yeah just tell her she's a nutter and go walk on the sand. :-)  Because as it turns out the sand was basically like a paved sidewalk while the rocks were a sprained ankle just waiting to happen. But L held my hand over all the slippery mucky patches and big rocks that needed to be climbed over and in the end we made it. So how does a girl say thank you to the guy that kept her off her behind, out of the mud, and with no sprained ankles so she would be able to enjoy the rest of the trip ahead of her? This is how...

Thanks L...next time we'll walk on the sand. :-)

Awwww...yes sometimes you just have to write your initials in the sand like you're still in grade 8. :-)

But back to the task at hand- exploring pillboxes and the really great beach we were on because the tide was coming in and we didn't want to have to walk back through all the rocks again!

Port of Le Havre can be seen in background of photo on left

Pillboxes are basically concrete guard posts whose primary function was to protect the German troops from artillery bombardment. Some of them were solely for that purpose but others, like the ones we saw on this beach, had a opening, called a loophole, in which to fire guns through too. They were low and often covered in debris to make them harder to see. The smaller ones could hold about five men with some bigger pillboxes holding 10-20 or even 40 men. 

The ones we visited looked like they had slipped down the side of the cliff along the beach and unfortunately they were also covered in graffiti and had lots of trash inside them. L braved climbing inside them but I stayed firmly outside on two feet and then just stood there saying "What do you see?" , "What does it look like in there?", "Be careful of the puddle that guy just stepped in and got his foot all wet" etc. until I'm sure he must have been thinking I should have just gone in there myself. So for those of us that haven't ever climbed inside a pillbox here is what they look like inside...at least what they look like now.

Photos by L

I can't imagine even back all those years ago they were a nice place to be. With all that concrete and metal it must have been so loud, and frightening, when bombs hit nearby or even directly. These pillboxes were part of the Atlantic Wall that Hitler ordered built in order to defend against the Allied invasion he was anticipating.

View of the Port of Le Havre from inside the pillbox- photo by L

Photo by L

With the tide coming in on us we decided it was time to head back to the car and on to our next site. It was a much quicker walk back and along the way we met up with other folks out for a walk along the beach and some guys fishing from the beach.

Back at the car I couldn't resist taking a photo of these two old guys enjoying their drink, chatting about the good old days, and looking out to sea.

The next stop on the Battle Plan was the battery at Mont Canisy that sits atop a hill overlooking the Seine and the harbour of Le Havre. It was an important part of the Atlantic Wall but was barely used in the battle in Normandy so it is still very well preserved.

Photo by L

Because of its elevation it has been used as a defensive site since the Middle Ages and then in 1935-1940 the French army built a battery to protect Le Havre, however the Germans overtook it and realized the importance of its location to build their own coastal defence here.They placed four 155mm guns here, initially open with a 360° traverse, but then, like other sites, they built casements to protect those guns, leaving them open to fire towards the coast only.





The Allies knew about this battery, calling it the Batterie de Bénerville, but despite their repeated bombings the guns were not damaged. After D-Day the guns became a meaningless target for the Allies because they could no longer fire inland (due to the earlier built casements) so they just bypassed this battery from that point.

Photos by L

Today this site is open to the public and you can wander the above ground emplacements as you wish. Over the years the trees have grown up and the site is quite heavily wooded but there are still a few places that offer some beautiful views out across Normandy. There are also hundreds of metres of tunnels connecting the casements but we didn't get to go down inside them. Even without being able to do that it was still very worthy of a visit and the climb up the hill.

With it getting on in the afternoon and still another hour to drive to get to our hotel we decided we best get back on the road again. It is really a beautiful drive through that area and we got to our hotel, la Ferme de la Rançonnière, in Crépon about 6:00 that evening. Our hotel was every bit as charming as the photos we'd seen on TripAdvisor before our trip suggested it would be and we settled into our very comfortable and quiet room. As part of the package we reserved with this hotel we were also treated to the most delicious four course dinner with a selection of local dishes. At the end of this series of posts I'll do one devoted solely to this lovely hotel and our meals as we would recommend it highly to anyone visiting this area.

Up next in this series of posts will be Day 2 of the Battle Plan with our visit to some other batteries, Utah and Omaha beaches, Pointe du Hoc, and American and German military cemeteries. 

 

Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 1 {Part 2}

Last Friday when we left off we had made it to France and were now about to get back on the road after our picnic lunch... {if you missed that post you can read it here} 
 
Our first planned stop on the Battle Plan was to visit the charming little town of Honfleur and I was really looking forward to getting there to show L around because I was so taken with the town from a visit a few years earlier. 

Along the way we went over the Pont de Normandie which held the record for being the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world until 2004. It is also now is the bridge with the sixth longest distance between piers for any cable-stayed bridge in the world {piers are 250 m or 820 ft apart!}. It opened in 1995 and crosses the river Seine between Le Havre and Honfleur. In addition to the motorway it also has a footpath and cycle lane although I'm not sure how safe I'd feel up there crossing on a really windy day!

Pont de Normandie

Just before crossing the bridge we drove by the road that turned off to go into Le Havre and we were quite tempted to take a quick run into town to pop in on our colleagues at that branch of our company. Imagine their surprise if their colleagues from other countries just happened to stop by! Quelle surprise!  In the end we decided it was best to keep going as we had lots to see... besides with a good 30 minutes to do a round of bisous, bisous {kiss, kiss} in the office it wouldn't have been a quick visit!

Vieux-Bassin of Honfleur - photo by L (photo can be enlarged if clicked on)

There is a ton of history and beauty in Honfleur and I would recommend to anyone who visits this part of France to make it a stop along the way. You can get a nice taste of it in about an hour {though I'd like to return for a night or two to just enjoy sitting in a café and watching the sun set}. This is a town that has been painted many times by artists such as Eugène Boudin and Claude Monet and you will still see artists with their easels set up today along the Vieux-Bassin {old dock}. Is it any wonder really? Besides the picture perfect view of the whole harbour there are historic half-timbered buildings, the wooden Sainte-Catherine church with its separate bell tower, and the Lieutenance, just to name a few things. This town is one you can just wonder around and take lots and lots of photos. Which is precisely what we did on our visit.

La Lieutenance

Porte de Caen - photo by L

As we came into the town we were at the end of the Vieux-Bassin where la Lieuntance is situated.  Back in the 17th century this stone building was once the residence of the King's Lieutenant. On one side of the building is the Porte de Caen which was a gate into the city and part of its fortifications. 

Honfleur also has a historical link to my home country of Canada as it was from here in 1608 that an expedition organized by Samuel de Champlain left and went on to found the city of Québec.

Sainte Catherine's church - photo by L

We then wandered up through the narrow cobblestone streets to Sainte Catherine's church which is the largest wooden church with a separate bell-tower in France. It was built in the late 15th century by the people of le Faubourg Sainte Catherine which was a district outside the fortification primarily inhabited by sailors. They used their ship-building skills and designed a church that inside resembles the upside-down hull of a ship.

Inside Sainte Catherine's church - photos by L

Sainte Catherine's church - photo by L

As you see all of the pictures of the church were taken by L- he did a MUCH better job than I did so I'm glad he said I could share them on here. I had a new camera on this trip and it took me a little bit to get used to it, to get photos in focus properly, and to stop taking pictures of all manner of things that I didn't intend to- my feet, L's feet, my jacket, L's jacket, a blurry fire extinguisher, the rear view mirror in the car, up my nose {I wish I was kidding}, my lap and the pen in my lap, L's derrière {OK so maybe some of those weren't exactly taken by accident...sorry Mom!}, the tire and side of the car, big blurry blobs of nothing, and one that is pretty much just white. I may have to do a post at the end of this series of posts solely made up of these photos. A blooper reel if you will. I've sure got enough of them!

After puttering around in the church for a little bit we decided to just make a loop around the town and head back to the car to get on the road again. The rest of the photos in this post were just the things that caught our eye as we strolled along. All told I have about 100 photos just from our short wander around Honfleur. I guess everything caught my eye!

Strolling through the streets

The Vieux-Bassin from the opposite end

Winding through the narrow streets by the Grèniers à sel {salt granaries} and through the old Rue de la Prison

In the next post I'll finish up our first day in Normandy and show you around the WWII sites we visited- some pillboxes in Villerville and Mont Canisy in Benerville-sur-Mer.

Exploring Normandy and Ypres: Battle Plan Day 1

Actual Event Date: March 10, 2014

Good morning England!

Wait... England? I thought this post was going to be about Normandy and Ypres? Oh it is, have patience, we have to get there first. This adventure starts with me finally back in England (after a flight that "couldn't cross the Atlantic" and returned to Houston thus putting me almost a day delayed getting here. But that's a story for another day.) and it was a very good morning indeed waking up with a great week planned ahead of us...even if it was really stinkin' early. Like 6:00 am early. *yawn, big stretch, yawn* After several weeks of planning and anticipating this trip, Day 1 of our Battle Plan was about to kick off!

The Battle Plan was what L dubbed the itinerary he so painstakingly {and awesomely!} put together for us to get the most out of our time on our trip. It started with a list of about 50 things that we wanted to see and do that we put together from things we'd heard about and always wanted to see, things I had seen on a prior trip to Normandy and wanted to show L, things L had seen on a prior trip to Belgium and wanted to show me, and lots and lots of researching reviews on TripAdvisor.  He then plotted everything on a Google Map, we discussed our plan of attack, and he put everything into a spreadsheet to make our five day itinerary. He even thought to account for drive time between sites and recorded all the addresses so we'd have them to put into the Sat Nav easily. His timing of our days was pretty much spot on. I'm not going to lie, his Battle Plan spreadsheet makes me positively giddy just thinking about it. It. Is .Awesome. If you ever want a five day itinerary to WWII sites in Normandy and WWI sites in Belgium we have got you covered. Just ask.

Yum! Getting the day off to a great start.

Bright and {so} early Monday morning we were up for our 7:00 am departure from London. We had already packed a picnic lunch and some snacks the night before so while I was getting dressed and ready to go L made us a hearty breakfast to get us on the road with full bellies. We got the car all loaded up and we were off! {*Note to self- "boots" of cars in England are not as big as "trunks" of cars in the US. Invest in a smaller suitcase and learn to pack lighter. Even when you think you've put half the clothes back you thought you should take originally...yeah, put half of what's left back in the closet too.}

It was a little over an hour's drive to Folkestone, Kent to the Eurotunnel Shuttle that would take us under the English Channel to Calais, France. I'd taken the Eurostar passenger train through the Channel Tunnel before but was still trying to wrap my head around how we were going to drive the car into a train and then what it would look like once inside. Well let me tell you it was pretty darn neat. First of all we did not drive into the end of the train {unlike what I had envisioned} because there is an engine at each end. Instead we drove in at an angle into the last car of the train and then drove through the train as far as we could go until we reached the car in front of us at the end of a single file line of cars. In our case we were the last car on that morning. Well we were the last car on the bottom floor as there are two floors to the train! So cool. Then we pretty much unbuckled and sat back to enjoy the quick, 35 minute ride to France. Easy peasy.

Ahhh...so that's how they do it.

Inside the train ...and then heading out at the end of the crossing.

Once in France don't forget to drive on the right side {as in right-left not right-wrong because driving on the left side is really right...right?}. Don't worry, in case you forget they'll remind you.

Once on the road in France I got my first job of the trip and guess what... I mucked it up! Since L's car is made for driving on the left I was now the designated toll payer since all the toll booths were on my side of the car. And then many miles down the road the conversation went something like this...

Me: "No problem. I've got this. Look at what a great team we make, you driving, me taking care of the tolls."

*Couple of tolls done. We're cruising along enjoying the scenery and the beautiful sunny day.*

L: "Ah Stacey...where's the credit card to pay the next toll?"
Me: "Um...I put it on the console right here. I'm sure I did." {But there is NO card sitting in the console}
L: "You didn't maybe leave it in a toll booth did you?"
Me: "No I'm sure I didn't. I'm 90% sure I didn't. Well I am pretty sure I didn't." And the thought running through my head  'Ah crap...what if I left it in a toll booth? That will just stink.'


Hoping that it had fallen under a seat we decided it was as good a time as any to pull over for lunch and we'd just get out and look. Except it wasn't under the seat. Or on the floor. Or in pockets or bags or anywhere {thought in my head now..."ah double crap this really stinks"}. And then we noticed the little credit card sized slit in the console that was just perfect for a pesky credit card to slide into and get stuck in the console of the car! Good grief. Well at least I hadn't left it in a toll booth. Because I was 73% sure I hadn't.

So in Saint-Martin-aux-Arbres-Nord {say that 10 times fast!} we decided we'd worked up quite an appetite from our delightful game of hide-and-seek with the credit card and broke out our picnic lunch to enjoy in the sunshine before getting back on the road.

To be Continued...

Phew! Who knew I had so much to say about one morning's drive? If you stick with me I promise there are some pretty neat photos on the way. :-)