Normandy (part 1)

     Last week, we spent five days in Normandy with our cousins Erica and Larry, and Jessica's sister Erica. We had a great trip, and an opportunity to reflect on the profound waste and tragedy of war. We also began to better understand a kind of bipolar attitude that the French have toward Americans. On one hand, many of the French demonstrate an attitude ranging from borderline toleration to outright distain for American ways. On the other hand, there is hero worship to this day for the huge role the United States played and the sacrifice our soldiers made to liberate France in 1944. There is no better place to see all of this in play than Normandy.

We started our trip by taking the train from Paris to the city of Rouen in Upper Normandy, well east of our final destinations. During our walk around Rouen, it did not take long to discover remnants of WWII shellings.

City Hall (still in use)

Rouen may be best known for the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen. At 151 meters (495 feet), it was the tallest building in the world from 1876 to 1880, and remains the tallest church in France.

 Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rouen

The following morning, we walked to Europcar and rented two cars, a Fiat 500 for Jessica, Erica and Eric, and a Citroën for Erica and Larry.

Our Fiat in front with Larry and the Citroën in the background

The cars would be our companions for the next four days. Both cars had manual transmissions, as do most rental cars in Europe. Off we went toward the Normandy beaches; more about that on the next entry.