Thoughts on Normandy

This Memorial Day I am thinking about our trip last June to Normandy. I am jumping ahead a little bit in my journal-ing of our vacation to bring you some photos of this spectacular place.

Never have I been so moved and humbled by a location before. The sites we visited were truly awe inspiring. To see first hand those beaches in which our brave soldiers fought so gallantly was amazing and eerie. To think how horrible those landings were and to see how far and long the beaches were at low tide and then the cliffs they had to climb once they reached the shore was unbelievable. World War II movies come close to capturing the horror, but it is all too much to take in when standing there thinking of what it must have been like. Rows and rows of brave dead men and you can't help but be moved and feel patriotic. I found this section of France particularly to be very welcoming to Americans. The French get a bad rep in the eyes of many Americans, but those in this region remember well, first hand or through stories, what the Americans did for them. There are just as many American flags flying in this region as French. I highly recommend any American tourist to travel to this location and spend a few days, if not a week or so, seeing all the sights. A special place to remember this Memorial Day weekend.

Iron Mike - a memorial just outside of St. Mere-Eglise

This is just one of the many bridges that our troops fought to keep control of. Amazing how small it is and yet how important. The paratroopers (from the story Band of Brothers) were the ones to land here.

The church in St. Mere-Eglise. If you look closely you can see the fake para-trooper hanging from the troop. This is a memorial to a solider for whom this actually happened to. He hung up there while fighting commenced all around him. After 2 hours he was cut down by the Germans and taken prisoner. He was later released to the Americans. You can read the story HERE.

Stained glass windows in the church with para-troopers surrounding the Virgin Mary.

The girls at the Airborne Museum in St. Mere-Elgise

The writing on the wall at the American cemetery in Normandy. Such powerful words.

This place was sad, beautiful, moving, haunting, and all around amazing. This was the American cemetery in Normandy. Just out past the graves you see the beaches of Omaha Beach. Go HERE to read more about this awe-inspiring place.

The memorial at Omaha Beach.

We went to go walk the beach and were greeted by hundreds of these little jellies. IF the war wasn't bad enough, to be greeted by a beach full of these babies would have just added to the struggle of the day.

Point du Hoc
This location lends itself to another story of valor and bravery. Read about it HERE.

Entrance to one of the artillery bunkers

Us next to one of the bomb craters.

Utah Beach in the morning low tide. Look how far it is to the water.

Utah Beach at sunset. Look how much farther still to the water... So scary to think about all those brave men so exposed for so long when getting off those boats. How brave they must have been.

I have many more pictures from this area. This was just the tip of the iceberg. I was never a big World War II buff and certainly didn't know (and still don't know) all the stories, but there is so much to learn here about some many brave men. You can just be driving down the side of the road and see a monument to a hero that died doing something that helped his battalion or group get to where they needed to be. We hear so many times about specific main battles and main heroes, that we forget all the ones that go un-mentioned. This place memorializes them all. Well all they know about. Truly a patriotic place and one we as Americans can be very proud of.

We are Back!

Wow...it seems like ages ago that we left for our trip. We are now back and so glad to be back. We had a great trip. Ireland was gorgeous and the food De-Lish! France was a whirlwind with all we had to see and Paris was, well, Paris. Wonderful. It was a long 3 1/2 weeks with 2 kids. Especially a 2 1/2 year-old. We made it, though, and they are wonderfully happy to be home with their toys and TV and FOOD. I can't wait to start blogging about all of our adventures. I hope you all will be interested. I will blog about cities, sights, restaurants, and other travel topics. I am not sure about my plan of attack just yet, but bear with me. The posting will commence soon.

Right now I have to get through editing 2100 photos. No...not exaggerating. I bought a Canon 7D right before we left, and let's say I got a little carried away!! My pictures are great, although no-where near what they could have been had I really known how to use my camera. I also need to learn photo shop!

Well, I will be posting soon....great to be back!

Off to the Emerald Isle

Well we are just a few days out from jetting off to the Emerald Isle for a couple of weeks and then heading on to France for about another week and a half. This trip has been almost a year in the making and I can't believe it is upon us. I am excited to see the sights, but what I am most looking forward to is spending some quality time with my family (immediate and extended). We won't have all the interruptions of daily schedules, TV, FB, etc...We will be spending time talking and doing things together. I can't wait for my girls to experience another culture. I know it is not like we are visiting ancient tribes in Africa or anything, but the European way of life is different from ours. We need a break from Easy Mac, Nick Jr., trips to Target, etc.....all of which we will be dying for come the end of June I am sure! We need a little time to walk and enjoy the sights, we need to broaden our horizons and try new foods and not try to eat in five minutes, and we need for the girls (especially Sarah) to see that there is more to the world than what is within 10 miles of our house. I know there will be challenges with food for the girls, no naps for Lauren some days, TV and toy withdrawals, but with 15 people in our group...I think the kids will do just fine. When our nanny, Linda, joins us 1/2 way in that will be a blessing for sure! Charlie and I are most excited to have her take the kids the night in Paris we have dinner reservations at the Jules Verne. It will be a most wonderful dinner to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary!


We pray for safe travels, no sick kids, no lost luggage, and perfect weather! I may or may not be blogging while over there. This is my first overseas trip to take since I began this blog, so I am not sure if we will have great computer connections, if I will have time, or even if I will want to! You can bet if it is crickets chirping around her for a few weeks, there will be lots of posting going on when we get back!

Don't you just love these graphics. You can find them HERE...they have all sorts of cute items to buy with graphics from many countries and states, as well!

Toulouse Dallas

This weekend I was treated to an evening away from the kids and dinner in Dallas. My husband and I thought and thought about where we might like to go being that we don't get to do date nights very often. We settled on Toulouse. One of our favorite Dallas restaurants.


We almost went with a steak/seafood place. Dallas is full of good ones. Some we have tried and some we haven't, but our favorite is Del Frisco's and we were not in that part of town. We figured we would save a good steak night for a night we could go there. We also thought, well we are in Dallas..let's go somewhere fancy schmancy..... Somewhere that is up and coming with a hot new chef or something, but in our minds...those places are usually over-priced and the menus a bit strange for our taste. So we decided on Toulouse because it is one of our favorites and (there are about 10 things on the menu that we just LOVE!)

So this is what we had and highly recommend.

Starters:
Mussels Provencale
French Onion Soup Gratinee
(yes, it has lots of cheese on it!)

Main Course:
Filet Au Poivre with Frites

Dessert:
Beignets & coffee

Other items we have either tried and recommend from the past, or want to try are:
The Mussels Mariniere
The Lobster Bisque
Macaroni & Cheese
Lobster and Rock Shrimp Risotto
Sweet Potato Gnocchi

If you ever find yourself in the Knox/Henderson part of Dallas for lunch or dinner, I highly recommend this place. It has a lovely atmosphere and even has a little covered patio. Makes you feel sort of like you are at a Paris cafe. We had such a nice evening to sit outside and it was perfect. We felt like we had made the perfect choice!

First thing First

I am heading into one of my busiest weeks of the year. This weekend is the Iota Lambda chapter of Alpha Chi Omega's 20th reunion. It was 20 years ago this month that our chapter was invited on the campus at TCU.

Check out their website here: Alpha Chi Omega, TCU

Since moving back to Texas I have become involved with that chapter as an advisor and have served as the Ft. Worth Alumnae Club president for the past 3 years. So in the summer of 2008 while at the AXO National Convention it was brought to my attention that our 20th reunion would be coming up in 2010, so we all began brainstorming what we wanted that weekend to be like. I cannot believe it is already here, and I am so glad. We have put together a great team who has really pulled this weekend off. Although my main duties were to keep the group on track and make sure nothing was forgotten, I still am the MC for the Saturday night event at Colonial Country Club and I am running the ceremony that takes place on Sunday for our new graduating seniors.

I am so excited to see old friends and have fun re-living those college years. I am, however, so in vacation mode, it is not even funny. In a little over a month, we will be jetting off to Europe for a little over 3 weeks. We will be spending 2 of those weeks in Ireland. We are pretty much doing a grand tour of the country and it's famous landmarks, as well as, doing a little family history research. We have located some locations of interest in our families past, and we plan to stop for visits. We will end our trip in Northern France and spend the last 4 days in Paris. I cannot wait for Paris. I cannot wait to take my oldest daughter there. She is excited beyond words. Charlie and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary with a dinner at the Jules Verne on the Eiffel Tower. Although I am not a big fan of heights, I cannot think of a more romantic location. So...my mind is in Paris....


but I have a lot of work to do for this reunion this weekend, so first thing is first.

Not to mention I still have a May Day party to throw, soccer games, dance recital, Wicked to go see, just to name a few things here between now and then. So I have to stay focused and take it one week at a time. June will be here before I know it.

Now if only that volcano would simmer down......