Postcard from...Fredericksburg, USA

Hands down my favourite building along Main Street in Fredericksburg was the Pioneer Memorial Library. I'm a sucker for a library on any day but when it is an old stone building surrounded by big oak trees I'm really drawn to it. Unfortunately it was already closed for the evening when we found it or I would have gone in and wandered through the stacks that are located on the first floor. The second floor functions as a community hall.

The Pioneer Memorial Library is also known as the Fredericksburg Memorial Library or the Old Courthouse and is hard to miss right in the center of town on Main Street. It was designed by Alfred Giles and was built out of limestone in a Romanesque Revival style in 1882 to replace the original 1855 courthouse. In 1967 it was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and in 1971 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

When the new courthouse was built in Fredericksburg in 1939 this building served other uses until it fell into a state of disrepair and was condemned in 1963. Thankfully Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott {the founders of Texas Instruments} saw to it that it was restored in 1967 as a home for the town's library.


Photo taken May 25, 2014

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.

Travel Tuesday: Love, Long For, and Live In...My Three Places

Today I'm participating in the Travel Tuesday link-up by A Compass Rose for the first time. I've seen links to it for a few weeks now but the theme is what finally made me join in the fun today.

The theme for today is Three Places and the prompt is to share three places...the place you have been that you loved the most, the place you cannot wait to visit and something about the place you live in.  

The Place I have Loved the Most

This one is getting tougher and tougher with each visit to England but I'm going to have to say the place I have loved the most is still Paris. Maybe it's because it was the first place I visited outside of North America so it will always have the honour of showing me Europe first. Or maybe it was the challenge of traveling in another language and being reasonably successful at it. Or maybe it is just that there isn't anything to not love about Paris. At least nothing that I have found yet. I know the stereotype is that people are rude in Paris but that's not something I've experienced. In fact quite the opposite which has made for interesting chats with shopkeepers, fellow travelers on the métro, and even policemen. And then of course there are the beautiful buildings, all the history and culture, the scrumptious food, the great memories of the time spent with my Mom and my friends there, and oh the ceilings! I could wander around looking at the ceilings all day.

The Place I have Loved the Most...Paris

The Place I Cannot Wait to Visit

You would think with all the lists of places I want to visit this one would be the hardest to answer but surprisingly it's not. I do read about and daydream about so many places but there is one that I find myself mentioning over and over to anyone that will listen to me because it just looks so amazing to me....the glass igloos at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finland. From the first moment I saw this picture I have wanted to go there, and I don't even really enjoy trudging around in the snow that much. There is just something that is so ultimately cozy (and yes romantic too, as the kiddo just pointed out to me) about the igloos that I just want to cuddle up, gaze at the stars with L, and if we're really lucky, watch the Northern Lights dance across the sky.

The Place I Cannot Wait to Visit...Finland (photo source)

Something About the Place I Live In

I have lived in Houston for about 15 years now but really it's only been in the past few years that I started to enjoy it a little more as the kiddo and I have started exploring the city. Besides getting to do some fun and interesting things with him I figure I better see and do all that Houston has to offer while I'm still here. We've visited museums, attended sporting events (oh how we miss you Houston Aeros!), gone to concerts, tried foods from different countries, all kinds of things. One of our favourite things to do in the spring is to go to Discovery Green for one of their movie nights. They blow up a big screen, everyone brings their blankets and chairs, and we settle in for a movie with the highrises of downtown Houston as the backdrop.

Something About the Place I Live...Houston

Where are your places in the world? Come join the fun with Bonnie, Tina, and Melanie!!

Postcard from... San Antonio, USA

Mission San José y San Miquel de Aquayo (or the San José Mission for short) is one of the five missions on the Mission Trail in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in February of 1720 when another neighboring mission became overcrowded. These Spanish missions were not churches, but really communities with the church at the heart of them. Mission San José served the Coahuiltecan Indians and began with buildings made of brush, straw, and mud. These were quickly replaced with large stone structures and a heavy outer wall was built around the main part.

As part of this mission a church was built in 1768 and it is still standing, although most of the mission was restored in the 1930's. Then in 2011 it again underwent a historically accurate renovation whereby the interior domes and walls were repainted to match the original colours and the alter backdrop was also restored.

L and I had the opportunity to visit all five of the missions on the Mission Trail this past January, and while the Alamo is certainly the most famous of them all I'd say this one was my favourite. In addition to a Visitor's Center with some exhibits and a short film about mission life that we watched, we really just strolled around enjoying the architecture and reading about some of the history.

My Most Memorable Travel Moments

What makes a particular moment from your travels memorable? Makes it worthy of being deemed one of your "favourites" even? Or gives it a spot on a Top 10 list?

I've been thinking about this a lot over the past few days as I've got this blog up and running. I've been thinking of sharing some of my favourite moments from traveling, perhaps even putting them into one of those Top 10 lists as I do so love a list especially a good "Top 10..." list. But you know what? This is one list I'm actually not going to put a number on. In fact I hope it is the one list that instead of checking things off as done, I'm going to add to it until ...well until my life is done.

For me my most memorable travel moments are the moments that gave me goosebumps. The moments that gave me that feeling of absolute joy as they were happening. The moments that made me breathe a sigh of pure contentment. Or the moments that made me think that there was no place in the world that I would rather be at that moment. Today I'd like to share a few of those kinds of moments.

The first time I saw the Eiffel Tower...

This was a goosebumps moment. In 2005 I took my first trip overseas and was beyond excited to be there. The very first spot to visit was the Eiffel Tower so my friend and I made our way from our hotel in the suburbs of Paris on the metro. Since were were underground we didn't get to see Paris until we climbed the steps at our stop. And there, at the top of the steps, I looked up and saw it. Absolute goosebumps. I had finally, truly arrived in Paris.

The Map Division of the New York Public Library...

The Rose Main Reading Room and the McGraw Rotunda in the Schwarzman Building at 5th and 42nd are pretty spectacular but it was the Map Division room that won me over. I remember the snow falling slowly outside and all I wanted to do was sit all afternoon in this cozy room surrounded by maps and globes and under the stunning ceiling. But the rest of New York was waiting to be seen and I only had the one day. Another time on another visit I'll return to this room.

Discovering by accident this beautiful old church just as the sun was setting...

Many evenings during my month long stay in Le Havre, France found me wandering the streets looking for unique buildings or other things that caught my eye to photograph. This church that I stumbled upon from behind at just the right time was my favourite discovery. As I came around the front I noticed the way the sun shone on the steeple through the trees and I still love the picture it made. I just stood there on the quiet street and watched as the sun set and the colours changed and finally faded away.








And finally for tonight, but certainly not the least favourite on this list, was...

Picnic in the park with L...

Our first of several picnics so far with many more to come. We were looking for something to have for lunch and spotted a "Picnic in the Park" sign at a pub. Perfect! We ordered some lunch and drinks and walked the short distance to St. James Park outside Buckingham Palace. We found a little spot on the grass, had our lunch and just talked and I thought to myself...I'm so falling for this guy.
It makes me so happy that he likes these little picnics too and I'm looking forward to every one of them we'll have together around the world.