A Whirlwind Tour: D-Day Beaches and Carcassonne

D-Day Beaches
We were still in Paris on Monday, March 16 for we headed to the train station bright and early, before any well-meaning Frenchmen would be up. But surprisingly it was pretty full, the Gare Lazare station. We watched the train times expectantly, impatiently waiting for ours to show up. Sure enough it showed up, just not on the board we were watching. It was headed to Caen, the town in between Paris and Bayeux. Bayeux is where I read was a good place to start when looking at the D-Day beaches. The train would take us straight to Bayeux, with one small change in Caen.
Once in Bayeux, the plan was to find a rental car, so Mom and I waited for the men to find one. Unfortunately the nearest rental place had completely rent out all of its cars. After finding that out, we thought about a tour. But the place we looked at a possible tour was leaving to late in the day. We grabbed a taxi instead (keeping with our original plan) which took us to yet another place to rent cars, unfortunately the didn't have one big enough for four people and all their luggage (we were headed back to Toulouse that evening). Thankfully the cab driver stayed with us and we headed to our third rental place. Luckily it had a car big enough for all of us! So if someone wants to see the beaches, I would definitely suggest renting a car before you get to Bayeux or if you're adventurous, take a tour.
The car worked quite well and we were able to use our map skills to find our way out of Bayeux and to our first stop, German gun batteries that had survived the attack. These were quite interesting to see, to see the living conditions and what the soldiers who were housed in them were expected to do. One gun had in fact remained in pieces after an Allied bomb or gun had blown it apart. It was crazy to think that the guns actually had a use in the war and that that war had involved the country I call home. We had grabbed lunch in Bayeux and decided we were going to eat at that particular beach, for the sun had decided to warm us as we explored the former German guns. We joyfully basked in the sun as we ate and spoke about how amazing the views and the history was. After we were done, we headed to Omaha beach were the Americans took the most casualties. We found the beach next to the American Cemetery, as we entered it we could hear soft chimes filling the peaceful sun soaked air with soft music. We walked a little ways down to the beach and contemplated what the American soldiers had to go through, with bombs going off and rapid fire coming from the guns located on the beach. It also shook our world to see what a steep-like incline the soldiers had to mount if they were to get anywhere on the beach. It was a crazy and dangerous time, I'm sure that is also why so many Stars of David and crosses dot the American Cemetery today. We spent some time viewing the Cemetery itself, its large beautiful monument displaying the tactics of the Americans and other allies attacking the beach as well as taking in all the headstones that dotted the green grass. We soon headed into the building on the property that housed an exhibit showing the stories of men who lived and died on Omaha beach. Their stories took your breath away and humbled you on the spot. It was a remarkable place to see and I know it has touched my life to see the bravery of young people who stood for a cause that they believed in.
We soon were done with our tour of the beaches and caught the next train to Paris, to hopefully reach our plane in time to head back to Toulouse. Luck must have been with us, because we reached Paris to find another excellent taxi driver who took the right route to the airport. We reached our plane in the nick of time. It ended a successful, slightly hectic day.

Carcassonne
We went back in time a few centuries on Wednesday, March 18 as we went to the famous medieval city of Carcassonne. It is a walled city, sitting strategically on a hill. But I suppose it is not like every walled city because it had two walls. One wall protects the very outskirts of the city and it is yards from the inner wall. You could just imagine this first walled area to be swarming with peasants and merchants, all trying to get the best deal on bread and wine. The inner wall holds a castle, cathedral and the city itself. It all dates back to the 13th century. It used to house the Cathars, a religious group that the Francs did not appreciate. In fact they did not like them so much the Francs forced them to vacate the city, just the walled city mind you. They could place themselves outside of the wall and they did just that. Today there is a rather large city where the Cathars decided to live after the Francs made them vacate it.
When you explore the inner city you can see the castle. It seemed like a rather small castle, with a grand courtyard and a small great room. There also were several places one could defend the castle, shooting arrows out of the slits in the walls or tossing rocks onto people's heads as they mounted the hill that Carcassonne is located on. It was a great little visit, learning the tactics of people wanting the city and how some of their attempts failed. Another interesting factor when visiting the castle, you can see a film showing you how an architect tried to figure out the origins of Carcassonne. It was interesting to see his thoughts of how Carcassonne could have been built and why there were so many different layers of stone that were built on the to create the walls. (One can tell where one wall stopped and another one on top of it began) It is also evident of what was covered up. Some windows and doors were covered when building the walls. Thus the mystery of Carcassonne continues. But as a city Carcassonne feels like a small town. You could continually walk around and around the inner part of the city and feel you have hardly walked very far. It was a great place to go and I certainly hope it wasn't the last time for me to see it.