Amazing day!

Today has been such a meaningful day. We have been thoughtful and sensible the whole day long. 

The day started at La Cambe, the German cemetery. We saw flat, uneven, black and small blocks which were grave stones. We have talked about and explored the symbolism surrounding the black stones. 

The world peace statue, constructed in 2004 to honour the 60th anniversary of the landings in Normandy, was our next stop. 

A short drive along the coast and we arrived at Pointe du Hoc. A fabulous way of helping us to think about the way the soldiers scaled the cliffs, the scale of the bombs dropped, the impact of the craters and the "facilities" which existed for the soldiers, the batteries and the bunkers. The video that we watched was so thought provoking - it was veterans talking about their experiences and memories. 

Lunch was had on Omaha beach. 

The American cemetery in Colleville is huge. The sheer number of crosses makes you instantly think about how many lives were lost. It was so well kept and everything just looked so perfect. 

Them we went to Arromanches and visited the Landings Museum in the town. We had a talk about how the artificial harbour was built and saw some fab graphics about it. Then we saw a slide show about the build up and execution of Operation Overlord. 

This evening, we spent a good couple of hours on the beach - the girls won tonight's rounders match! 

☀️🇫🇷

Settled and on the beach

We are all checked in, have had our dinner and are now running off any energy that remains. The boys won this evening's rounders game!

We have had loads of experiences today. Ordering lunch in French, making croissants and baguettes, playing on the beach and (not) sleeping on the coach, to say nothing of getting onto the train in a coach and, for a fair few children, leaving the UK for the first time. What a day!!! 

Our new driver, Jim, is ace 😃

Visit 1 done 😃

So it begins! We've been to the bakery and made bread and croissants. The baker, as usual, made us cry with laughter and we are all now suitably nourished. Back on the road and heading to Rouen for our next stop. 

Queuing

We have had a driver changeover at Toddington and Jim, our driver for the week, is great. He is child-friendly and positive and, most importantly, a super driver. We are currently going nowhere in a queue waiting to board the eurotunnel. 

Wow. Not long to go - Normandy 2014

It's just over 3 hours now until we leave to go to Normandy!  Don't forget not to park right outside school :)

Photos

Here are just a few select photos from the day we had on Friday 

Day two - Allied museum, Alexanderplatz Fernsehturm, Italian Restaurant, Reichstag

Yesterday we visited the allied museum by the underground, and it was a engaging experience for all of us. We learnt about the history of Berlin and the different divisions of Germany. After spending the morning there we grabbed some lunch at the train station and headed back across Berlin to the TV tower, Chloe's worst nightmare! Everyone conquered their fears and got to the top to enjoy the incredible view of the city. We all had our expectations of the 'Kaffee und Kuchen', but nothing could prepare us for the enormous slice of cake that sat in front of us! Sat in the 360 degree revolving restaurant we were able to identify the places we had already visited and admire the city from a different perspective. We found a lovely Italian restaurant to eat dinner at meaning Chloe got her spag bol after all. We demolished the huge plates of pizza and pasta but then burnt them off in the run to the Reichstag. Despite the disappointment that miss Milne had lied about the travelators we used our audio tapes to learn about the history of the Reichstag. 

Signed India, Penny and Sian