London

July 30, 2018: We've spent the past 6 days exploring London. Here is a brief summary of what we've been up to: Tuesday- got into our flat to drop bags, found our parking spot and went walking. Kensington and Hyde Park walk. Met up with James's parents at London Bridge and walked all along south shore of the Thames. Great burger for dinner and kids got to ride the swings near the London Eye (wait was several hours for the eye). Ice cream from a double decker bus and home late.

Wednesday- got to Buckingham Palace before 10 for a space on the gate to see the changing of the guard. Very pushy and obnoxious people around. Kids enjoyed seeing it all. Our kids have been battling some little bug with fevers and upset stomachs. Casey and James went to British Museum and I brought Julia and Molly home for some down time. It is very hot in London and walking the city while not feeling well is sapping their energy. We rejoined the group by St.Pauls a few hours later and went and sat for Even Song mass at 5:00pm. Afterwards we wandered into a nearby square showing Dirty Dancing on a big screen. We sat and had ice cream and beers and watched. We said goodbye to Donna and Lou who were flying home early the next morning.

Thursday- James took the girls into St.Pauls first thing to go up the dome and int the crypt. I went to wait in line at the theater for day of tickets. We got $20 tickets to see School of Rock that night. I met up with the fam after for lunch and we explored in Soho, Chinatown, Picadilly, Covent Garden, etc. The girls love watching the street performers. James met up with one of his old teammates from Romford. I took the girls up to Kings Cross to see the Harry Potter platform and store. We also went into the nearby fountains to cool off as it was 96 degrees in London today. We came home for a bite to eat, shower and off to the play. We all loved the show, but man was it HOT in there. I felt so badly for the main actor who is a heavy-set guy dancings and singing all over stage.

Friday- Had a slow morning after out late night at the play last night. We wandered over to watch the changing of the horse guard, then just ambled around Westminster, Big Ben, etc. Unfortunately a lot of Parliment and Big Ben are covered up by scaffolding. We went over to Tower bridge, cooled off in more fountains on the south bank, had lunch at a food truck festival by the Saint Katharine's Dock Marina, then made our way out to Greenwich to see the prime meridian. The heat has sapped every last drop of our energy so we came home to chill out for now.

Saturday- Today we took the kids out to Romford to see our old digs but mostly to go to the dog track. We didn't tell them where we were headed, they had to figure it out once we arrived. James and I used to go to the track quite often. It is very close to our flat, free to get in, and you can decide to bet or not. Today we stayed for about 2 hours and watched about 7=8 races. A race is only a minute long, then they bring the dogs in, get the new dogs ready, set the odds, etc. After they got a feel for it we let the kids each take a turn betting on the winner. On the last race before we left we all bet on our favorite dog. Molly and I finally won and we reclaimed almost all of our money. She was so excited! We made our way back to the train station with James stopping at a fish shop for fish and chips (he cannot leave a country without trying it's most iconic foods). When we got back into London I took the girls to Covent Garden to watch more street performers and do some souveneir shopping (their requests). James headed to the Army Museum. We came back to the flat and made dinner then went for a walk around Sloane Square.

Sunday- today we went to the world cup of field hockey which is being held in London. One of our old friends from when we lived here got us tickets. Unfortunately it was a cold and rainy day, but the kids were good sports and despite getting rained on a bit during the walk out to the stadium the weather held off for the most part. We saw Korea vs China who tied 1-1, then we went to the fan zone where the kids did some challenges to complete a booklet. They met a former Argentinian olympian (forget her name, but she's in the photo). We grabbed some burgers and dogs from the concessions and went back in for the second game, Italy vs Netherlands. This time we went right into the front row on the 50 yard line. We were sitting in the Italy family section. Holland absolutely demolished them 12-1. It was great to see high level hockey. We're back at the flat now and packing up.

Normandy to England

July 24, 2018: Today we left France and headed to England. We spent the last few days exploring the Normandy region as we drove from the farm near Nantes up to Calais to take the car ferry over. When we left Jallais, where the farm was, we drove to Mont St Michele as a pit stop. We never intended to go out to the island, just to get out and stretch out legs. We loved the beautiful back roads leading out to it weaving through farms and even caught a glimpse of a real old windmill. The parking area was a mob scene near the island so we drove out of town a little bit and parked on the road and hiked out to the water. It was a nice walk through tidal grasses, herds of sheep and even some old bunkers. It was very low tide when we got there and Julia and Molly decided to go down into the mud/clay to play around. They got filthy and there was no way to get clean until we dumped our drinking water on them back at the car. It was a good break and we had a quick road side lunch before finishing the drive back up to Carenten.

We checked into our hotel and drove to Utah beach, which was just 15 minutes from our hotel. We went into the museum at Utah beach to see the film as well as all of the artifacts. It is a fantastic way to introduce the kids to some of what they will see at the landing beaches. I felt very emotional at the beaches. It seems the older I get I have much greater appreciation and depth of understanding of the sacrifices that were made. After the museum and a quick stroll on the beach we drove down the road to wander in and out of the bunkers that remain there. James and I were here on the anniversary of the landing in 2004, so it was funny to take pictures in some of the same places with our kids. After Utah we drove into St. Mere-Eglise. The kids found the chapel interesting with the paratrooper hanging from the steeple. The ast thing we did before calling it a night was to find Brecourt Manor, the site of a important attack by the US paratroopers who overtook 4 huge German guns. This was made famous in Band of Brothers.

Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Pont du Hoc. On the way we stopped in Grand Camp Maisy at the market and bought fresh fruit and bread. Once we got to the bluff James taught the kids about the location and they found it interesting how the land is still so cratered because of the vicious bombing. We spent a few hours there exploring all of the bunkers. Julia and Molly did some hill work to get ready for hockey season running in and out of all the craters. After we went to the American Cemetery. We started in the visitors center, again, in the hopes of giving the kids some insight with the visuals it provides. I watched the 8 minute movie and again found myself with tears streaming down my face. Even though I have been here before, it is still so stunning to see all of those white crosses. The fact that this is only 1/3rd of the troops boggles the mind. We wandered around and looked at many names and spent some time on the walkway that overlooks Omaha beach. Around 1pm we loaded up on more supplies and went to Omaha beach. We changed into suits and had lunch on the sand and went swimming. It was low tide and the beach was packed. James and I both struggled with the fact that this is now just a regular holiday beach, like a beach on Cape Cod. For us, we cannot separate what happened here 74 years ago so easily. It almost feels wrong to be having a fun time in a place where so many young American men died. On our drive to Bayeux we stopped and explored a last set of German guns/bunkers.

Monday morning James and Casey went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. Molly, Julia and I packed up the room and walked into town to get breakfast. We ate in the cutest little alleyway looking over a canal with a waterwheel. I try my best to soak in all of these amazing European moments, because they are so unique and beautiful. Today we had nothing planned but to drive north. We stopped in the town of Honfleur to break up the drive. Honfleur is a port city at the mouth of the Seine. Monet spent time here and painted several known paintings here. We wandered into the parks, the chapel made entirely of wood by shipbuilders, around the timbered homes and along the port to see the locks and where the Seine meets the ocean. After a few hours in Honfleur we drove up to Boulogne-sure-Mer and walked around the ramparts of the castle. We went to bed early because we had a ferry to catch to England the next morning and we didn't know what to expect in terms of wait times. We got there very early for customs, security and check in and there was no one around and we got on a ferry 90 minutes earlier than the one we had reserved. The ferry was big and the ride took 90 minutes. When we arrived in Dover we went straight to White Cliffs and hiked along the cliffs. It was a good break before driving into London.