Written by Carlee Strathmann and Casey Mahan, recounting Monday, March 2, 2015:

Today we woke up, ate croissants for le petit dejeuner, and left for Le Memorial de Caen (a World War II museum). It was really neat to learn about the war from different perspectives and languages! Then we drove to the Bayeux Tapestry museum, which is over 70 meters long and tells the story of William the Conqueror in the year 1067. We headed back to the bus, but to our surprise it started hailing!!! After it stopped, we got a little time to explore the city on our own taking pictures of the beautiful Notre-Dame de Bayeux, and some of us even got to go inside. Next, we drove to the American Cemetery, and our tour guide explained the stories behind the breathtaking marble gravestones arranged so that no matter what grave you are looking at, you can see a straight line. Not to mention, they are arranged on a plot of land overlooking the blue waters of the Normandy beach. Although it was cold, stepping foot on Omaha Beach instilled in us a greater appreciation for our freedom and respect for the lives that were sacrificed to earn it. At Point-de-Hoc we saw enormous bomb craters like nothing we had ever seen before. Taking a few pictures by the top of the point, we felt a few raindrops followed by hurricane force winds and pelting rain. We immediately took cover in a pill box, meant to contain German turrets, to continue learning about the soldiers’ obstacles (there were a lot- including scaling a rock while German forces were shooting down at them and cutting their ropes) on D-Day. But after the storm, there were two rainbows! No worries, we took plenty of pictures. Hungry and a bit tired, we arrived back at the hostel, bonded a little with the group, and enjoyed soup, chicken, baguettes (rationed because of our extensive consumption last night), and an amazing lemon tart for le diner! We shared roses and thorns in our group meeting. Then, the staff prepared a series of group activities for us…