And thats exactly what happened. Meredith asked to take a day trip and not knowing what she was getting herself into, I booked a car for the day and invited a friend along for entertainment and we ditched town for a few hours. I chose to go to the beaches at Normandy because I'd been a few years before and was really interested in going again. It is a very sobering experience and I highly recommend it for all who are American visiting Paris or the northern region of France, have any interest in WWII or like the movie Saving Private Ryan, where part of the movie was filmed and what is based off of. It is very beautiful now but if you knew what all happened June 6 specifically but before and after, its frightening. Frightening to think about the brave men that gave their lives for people they didn't know to fight in a war for the world. There is a very moving American museum next to the American cemetery and its a must for everyone, again. It is all free and its paid for by the American government and its very informative about our past and our nation and the hearts of the soldiers that fought during that time. Now I know more than just Americans gave up their lives during that time but this museum is specifically for American knowledge as its next to the American cemetery. We were able to see bomb craters that are now covered in grass, German bunks and the beach where the men fought to make their way to shore. It's pretty incredible.
On a different note, if anyone is in the market for a CUTE but small car, I highly recommend the FIAT 500. I don't know if you can get this car in the USA but if you can and you are going against the norm for car size then pick one up at your local FIAT dealer. haha. This is the car that we rented and it was fabulous! It was small but normal for me now. It was just so cute and definitely made the trip that much more fun as I definitely felt stylish in my brand new (rented) car. I was a bit nervous after I chose to rent this car because it was a manual and while I know how to drive a manual I am always afraid before I actually do that I will have forgotten. You cannot forget how to drive an automatic, it takes no effort whatsoever, but a manual, you can stall out, and many other things. But I have come to realize that one you know how to drive you don't forget, its like riding a bike...you may not ride a bike for a few years but once you get on one its like you never missed that time.
And the end of the trip was delightful as well as I was able to partially check another thing off my imaginary "bucket list". I requested that we drive around the Arc de Triumph before returning the car. And we did. We didn't drive around 7 times like my friend Christina and I did the year before, but I successfully drove around this crazy circle with crazy drivers and in a manual and 2 precious cargo's next to me and we safely arrived at our destination of choice.
What an incredible day! Thanks to Meredith for giving me an excuse to rent a car and get out of the city for a bit! It was fun and I'm glad we could do this together!!
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