Week with Don and Karen

Ilia's parents just spent a week with us in France. Arriving Saturday, we spent the next day site-seeing in Paris with the help of a river bus and saw the Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Ile de San Louis, and Jardin des plantes.
On Monday we went up the Effiel Tower and then drove north to Amiens. There we were supposed to see the night illumination of the church facade, but it turned out that we were a few days too early (it starts on June 15th). We still had a nice evening in the town's canal district.
On Tuesday we drove into Normandy, stopping first to refresh our history knowledge at a WW2 museum in Caen. Afterwards we arrived at our hotel located just behind Omaha Beach. We spent the afternoon walking up the beach and checking out remains of old German bunkers.
Wednesday morning began with the American cemetery, which is moving and immaculate. In the afternoon, we visited an impressive collection of war leftovers at a private museum near Omaha Beach. It had just about everything except the soldiers themselves. I was blown away by the landing craft on display outside - images of these crafts are what come to mind when I think of D-Day.
On Thursday we drove to Mont Saint Michel, stopping on the way to see the German cemetery (much more modest than the American), the Bayeux tapestry and the chuch where a paratrooper got hung up on the night before D-Day (he survived). The church now has some paratroopers in its stained glass honoring the troops that liberated the city. There is also a dummy still hanging on the roof.
Mont Saint Michel is an amazing city built on a steep little hill in a shallow bay; originally it was just the abbey on top. The tide comes in fast here, and the mud turns into bay in less than 45 minutes. We had to see it to believe it. Buses pull out of the lower parking lot with water practically on the tires!
On Friday we drove back to Paris and had a nice dinner at Chez Paul, a lively place near the bastille.
It was a great trip, we saw a lot and had fun doing it. We spoke a lot about the war during meals, and I think we are all itching to see/read more on the subject.

Here are the pictures!