Hello England (day 1)

Well, we arrived in England in the mid afternoon and got to our hotel and checked in, which was right across from Hyde Park, and we could see Kensington Palace from our floor of the Hotel!

After the rest of the family made it over on the Chanel Tunnel, we set off for the London Eye which was amazing, you could see so much from up there, and really got quite the panoramic view of a good chunk of London :) Zach of course loved it!

Big Ben as seen right as we came up from the tube :)

I didn't quite realize just how big the London Eye was, it was awesome!! Zach LOVED the London Eye, he thought it was so cool that he could climb up and see outside from all angles of the pod. My little daredevil in training

Westminster Abbey right behind us

Zach taking in the sights with Aunt Emily

The Group after The London Eye, minus Grandpa and Zach who headed back to the Hotel while we headed off to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London (which is amazing!)

The Tower Bridge at night, truly beautiful!

Normandy Part 1

First to start out day of the Normandy beaches we started at Sword beach, and there were still quite a few remnants out in the waters. It was a beautiful peaceful place to see, and a wonderful way to start off the day.

Zach and Aunt Katie
Next stop was Omaha Beach and the American Cemetary, which was just such a reverant place to be, I'm so greatful to have had a chance to go there.

Normandy Part 2

The next stop on our D-Day trip was to Point du Hoc. It was so amazing to see how straight up those cliffs are in person. And amazing how it seems time has stood still there, the bunkers, the craters in the ground from the explosions, it is fascinating.


Point du Hoc

Inside one of the old German defences, was this nasty old room, I wasn't even quite sure what was inside the doorway since it was pitch black but just stuck the camera in, and this was what was in there. Thankfully Dan came down and was prepared with a flashlight so we were able to look around (even though it was quite stinky, lol)

Ben & Emily went through one of the tunnels, and popped up here like a cute little set of gophers :)

A kind of overview of the land from the top of one of the old German defences

Zach checking out "Sarge" and the motorcycle attached to it

Utah Beach

Down on Utah beach.... family members, see the seashells I am holding... those were your souvenirs, shells I had picked up for each of you from Utah beach.... and then I forgot them in the rental car (oops)... sorry about that, but at least you know I thought about you ;)

As we were leaving we noticed this sand sculpture, beautiful.

Zach rockin' out on the iPod on the way back to the Hotel! :)

Bayeux, France

So after our first day in Paris we rented a couple cars, and drove down to Bayeux. On the drive down I was in the back seat with Zach and after he passed out Edward Cullen & Twilight kept me company until I fell asleep, lol. Thank heavens for the iPod! ;)

After we got settled into our rooms, we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry, which was so neat to see in person! (no pics are allowed, so to see if check out the website http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/)

After the Museum we wandered around near the hotel and explored.


While we were out exploring we grabbed a crepe, and Zach LOVED his first real French Crepe! (as you can tell, he was too busy watching Cars to smile for the camera!)


That night we headed out in search of a restauraunt that was big enough for our large group of 10. It was so beautiful walking around down there, like its own littlw world, it was beautiful!

What a fun first day in Bayeux

Paris!! (round 1)

Next we are off to Paris!! Zach really enjoyed the flight by this point he had become an expert flyer! He especially loved opening & shutting the windows :)

After we got to the Hotel and got settled in we headed out to grab some lunch and then went over to see Notre Dame. It was so beautiful, I'm so glad we were able to go there. Once we got inside it was just so peaceful, we sat in the benches for about 15 minutes just enjoying the relaxing atmosphere taking in the beautiful architecture! SO amazing.

The beautiful Gargoyles

Some of the beautiful sights we came across in our exploring :)

After Zach got in a nap we headed out to the Arc de Triomphe which was so awesome up close. There was some sort of military looking ceremony type of thing, so we weren't able to get closer, darnit!

After the Arc we walked up the Champs-Elysees to meet up with Grandma & Grandpa Magleby, Uncle Dan and Aunt Katie for dinner at the best steak place! Steak and Pom Frites, that's all they have on the menu, and it was so good! Zach really enjoyed his first real french fries there!

Next we went up to the Trocadero to get some good shots in of the Eifel Tower, it was the best view to take it all in, and the beautifulness of the city behind it.