Normandy Scholars '08

Photos!

Here are a few photographs from our trip so far!

Normandy

We will be posting more here:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/normandyscholars08

“Good morning, Normandy Scholars…”

As we begin another motorized assault on one of the many war museums in Normandy, it becomes harder to realize that we’re more than halfway through our journey. We have been what seems like everywhere on the peninsula, walking the beaches, climbing Mt. Saint-Michel, and poking fun at the fact that we already know most of what is written in these museums. It’s amazing to look back and realize how much we really learned througout the semester, both about the war, and about our group.

Needless to say, I’ve learned alot about myself over the semester and made some great friends. As a whole our group has an incredible dynamic and our personalities mix well, although we have bumps in the road every once in a while. Who said being stuck with the same people for 5 months straight would be easy, let alone living with them?!

Well I’d better wrap this bad boy up, and I guess I’ll do a short list of my favorite moments so far to finish:

- The Normandy American Cemetery
- Mt. Saint-Michel
- Dinner (we eat well, have no fear, mom(s))
- The Long Hop (An American bar in Paris)
- Sunsets (everywhere)
- Imperial War Museum (London)
- taking pictures (I know this surprises some of you)

And with that, I hope things are going well on the home front.

- Doc Connolly

Mont St. Michel

After visiting Hill 314 we stopped in the actual town of Mortain to grab food so we could picnic near the Mont St. Michel bay, our next destination. In order to fully appreciate the experience I am about to describe, you must do a few things (yes, participation is mandatory. welcome to the life of a Normandy Scholar!)

1. Google “Mont St. Michel” and take a look at the images that pop up. Pretty stunning, right?
2. Click on any of the images or start another google search to see a map of the bay of Mont St. Michel. This will get you acquainted with the size of the bay, which is important.
3. Close your eyes, imagine a sunny afternoon in northern France, a light breeze blowing, and all you can hear is the sound of rippling water and birds.

This is Mont St. Michel bay. We left our shoes and socks on the bus and walked barefoot across this massive bay towards the stunning abbey atop a huge rock in the middle of the bay. At low tide, it is possible to walk the entire way across the bay without going higher than your thighs in water. This is the way the pilgrims of old crossed the bay to the church to pray, and this is the way the Normandy Scholars crossed it. You need a guide to cross the area, which at low tide is some 15 km wide, because there is quicksand all over the place. While walking across, our guide would occasionally point out the quicksand or “water mattresses” and jump on it to make sure it wasn’t too dangerous. We then would all run like crazy screaming “water mattress!” and follow suit. We are nothing if not adventurous.

The crossing was absolutely incredible and by far one of my most favorite experiences of the trip. While Bloody Omaha beach was solemn, humbling and full of memory, the walk across the bay was an opportunity to play and goof off. The terrain varied: soft sand, packed sand, very very shallow rivulets, smooth mud, mud that you sank to your knees in, rivers with strong currents, quicksand, and everything in between. At one point we were essentially sliding (skating, if you will) across the mud, each of us hoping we wouldn’t be the first to fall and secretly waiting to laugh at someone who did. No major catastrophes in terms of falling, but Zane did manage to do an astounding 17 cartwheels in a row without falling *splat!* into the mud. We surprised our guide by taking an exceptionally long time to cross the bay. Our professors told us that they’ve crossed it in less time with larger groups and yet it took the 21 of us nearly 2 hours to get all the way to land. Clearly, we know how to have fun in a 15 km stretch of slimy mud.

For the record, since by now you’ve looked at all these stunning pictures of the church on the rock, it really is that beautiful and stunning. Also, for the first hour or so you’re walking across the bay the rock doesn’t seem to get any closer. It’s THAT big. Once we had made it most of the way across our guide gave us a quicksand lesson. We all started running in place on the mud and it started to bubble and inflate and we created quicksand! She then let herself sink in it up to her thighs and showed us how to get out. REALLY COOL. We finally made it to the rock after that and washed off our feet before hiking all the way up the mount to the church. The walk up is steep and exhausting but incredibly cool for anybody who is intrigued by the middle ages. Why? Because walking up the mount takes you through a preserved medieval town with very narrow, winding cobblestone streets.

Did you follow all the instructions I gave you? Because if so, by this point you should be extremely jealous about our incredible day. Words can’t really describe the afternoon except to say that it was totally awesome. It’s the kind of experience that I probably never would have had if it weren’t for Normandy Scholars, and it’s the kind of experience I will never forget. Tomorrow we go to Utah Beach! Bon soir mes amis,

Elena

Hill 314

Today was one of those days that I will remember for the rest of my life. Starting out at the hill of Mortain in Western France, we visited the site of the battle where the Allies stopped the German counteroffensive in August 1944 after the battle of Normandy. The tranquility of the hill was a stark contrast to my memories of learning about the war in class. My favorite part was the panoramic view of the valley at the top of the hill. The view was amazing and beautiful, and as we looked at the misty valley we realized the tactical importance of the hill in defeating the Wehrmacht. The high ground offered not only protection from the enemy but also the view to see the movements of the opposing armies.

Normandy!

We’re having an amazing time in Normandy!  The Moulin Mourin is a charming bed-and-breakfast style place in Bayeaux, France.  Last Saturday some of us rented bikes for the day and went down to one of the invasion beaches.  We found old bunkers in the hills above the beach.  It’s amazing how this area still has traces of the war.  We even drove by a monument with a statue of Ike today.

You’ll hear more from us later when we arrive in Berlin and our own computers have internet.  We’ll be posting photographs here once the internet is fast enough: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/normandyscholars08

first day in London

Well, this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and actually write something since I’ve been to London. We actually haven’t had too many structured activities yet, but I still feel like this is the first time I’ve been off my feet except to sleep since I’ve been here.

I left Austin at 3:50 to fly to Dallas on Friday afternoon. That part of my trip was pretty nerve-wracking and lonely; I wasn’t sure yet if there would be any other Normandy Scholars on my international flight, and it was starting to kick in that I wouldn’t be back in Austin for TWO WHOLE MONTHS. Reading it now, it doesn’t seem like that long of a time, but when I was boarding the airplane and getting my last glimpse of my home city for a while, it seemed like forever.

I touched down in Dallas and headed for the gate that would take me to London. I didn’t see anybody I recognized, but I figured there were still two hours till take off time. I had talked to Alyssa the night before and we had the same flight number, but different take-off times scheduled (which didn‘t make any sense at all - still doesn‘t), so I was fairly sure she would be there eventually but not positive.

I sat down to read the book I had bought in the Austin airport, which ended up being really absorbing. It was based off of a true story, about these Chinese women who in the mid-1650s were inspired by the opera The Peony Pavilion to starve themselves to death for love - sounds pretty morbid, but it was actually really upifting - one of those stories abour expressing yourself and getting what you want even when the odds are against you. Eventually Alyssa and Jacob showed up and we boarded the plane.

The flight wasn’t too eventful, I just took an Ambien and conked myself out.
We made it to Holland House eventually, even though our cab driver couldn’t figure out where it was, and then headed out to meet Dr. Wynn for our walking tour through London. I had zero bearings even after the tour, and had no idea where I was. We stopped at an Indian food place for dinner where we way overpaid, but there were playing a pretty amazing Bollywood movie on a TV behind our table.

After dinner Anush and Zane and I went and got lost. That was the idea I suppose, but we were also trying to find our way to the downtown London hostel, where they were giving out free internet cards. Holland House was charging 5 pounds for an hour’s access on your own laptop - that’s ten dollars! For an hour! Anyway, free sounded much better. So we finagled a couple of cards out of the lady at the front desk until she caught onto us, at which point we left pretty quickly. We also had our first cups of British tea while we were there and met two guys from Kansas State who knew one of Anush’s friends. Small world.

Somehow ended up sitting around the hostel and playing Uno for the rest of the night; yeah, most exciting Normany Scholars class ever. I was proud of myself for being the last Normandy Scholar to go to bed that hadn’t already had a couple of days to get over jet lag; unfortunately it didn’t help me wake up any later. I started the next day at 5:30 in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. Then I was ready to start my second day in London!

YHA Central London

I flew in to London at 7am this morning and spent the next two hours squinting at train schedules.  Fortunately, I ran into Zane, Andrew, and Chris Corbitt at the train station near our hostel.  Being insane, they were getting an early start.  I think they packed half as much as I did.

The Passport Control lady was extremely suspicious of my travel plans.  I told her I was in Britain to study WWII.  She asked me where.  I said, London.  She asked, where in London?  I had no answer for this because my entire plan is to latch on to the competent ones among us (e.g. Cheryl). Passport Control lady was suspicious and asked, do you have any documentation showing that this program even exists?  I had no such documentation, or was unable to think of any on zero sleep.  She appeared furious, but ultimately decided that my failings as a person were no threat to Britain’s national security.

It begins tomorrow!