Well Rested

We finally had a good night sleep last night. It was Sunday night so nothing was open, we were done with dinner by 830 and didn't have to get up until 8 this morning. Yes!!! I went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 730. What a nice rest. Today we will leave Caen and go to Rouen for short visit and walking tour before lunch. We will then drive on to Paris, check in to our hotel, go to dinner at the Latin Quarter and then some will do the night cruise on the River Seine if they want to . Mostly a travel day to get us to Paris. Kids are in good spirits this morning after a good night sleep. Should be a great day.

A good day

We arrived at Caen and got off the boat to meet our bus. We went directly to the caen memorial and it was very cool. we then went to point du hoc which was a military station for the Germans. Some very interesting history about that place. Then we went right down to Omaha beach and walked around. Very strange to walk on that ground. We then did our memorial ceremonies at the Normandy cemetery and I thought those came off very well. Stopped by another German post and them to a place where they still have some of the mulberry harbor pieces. Checked into hotel and now ready to go to dinner. Going to bed early tonight for sure. We are all very tired right now. See you tomorrow.

Short Night

Well, that was certainly a short night!! Finally got to sleep about 2am and had to get up at 6am. Wow. Kids are getting tired but they bounce back once the day starts. Going to Caen, France WWII museum this morning, then lunch, then off to the Normandy Cemetery for a tour and some wreath laying ceremonies. Should be pretty cool. Then back to Caen to check into our hotel and have dinner at 730 tonight, then to BED!!! This will be the first night we get a full night sleep. Weather is supposed to be 52 and 80% chance of rain. So far it has been much colder than expected and the students are running out of warm clothes. They brought SOME along but didn't expect to have to wear them everyday. Sure hope the weather warms up at some point. Gotta run and get Caleb out of bed. Will try to write more tonight if we have wifi at the hotel Bon Journee Fuchs

On the boat

Well, as discussed this morning, we were to have a busy day today in London and busy it was. A wonderful guided tour of the various sites in London, a lunch, a trip up in the London Eye (incredible), a trip to a LLadro store for Joyce (of course), and then aa two hour bus ride to Portsmouth to board the night ferry to Caen, France. Pretty cool ferry. Had dinner and will go to bed in our VERY little cabin. Up at 630 for breakfast and we disembark at 730 for our day at Caen and Normandy. London was wonderful, although very intense and fast paced. The kids are being wonderful and we are having a great time. See you tomorrow.

Quick update

I only have about 10 minutes to write as we are about to leave the hotel. I will write about our trials of travel later, but suffice it to say that United Airlines is not on our top list right now. We lost 26 hours of tour time due to various problems and then they lost one of our bags!! We finally made it safely with everyone in tow and that is the most important thing. Very frantic day yesterday trying to catch up on the lost time, but we did it. Wow, did we walk alot yesterday!!! Saw the Churchill bunker and war room, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Gardens, Picadilly Circus, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. Some of the students did the Jack the Ripper tour after all that. Not this old guy. After a good night sleep in an actual bed, we are now ready to head out for a half day guided tour and then 6 hours of free time before we head out to Portsmouth tonight to catch the night ferry across the English Channel to Caen, France. Our time in London has been short, but we will have seen all the major sites before we leave today. Ciao

Departure!

Tomorrow is the big day!! We spent last night getting as much packed as we could. Wow, it is really hard to pack for four people for 16 days. Trying not to take too much, but it is just hard. Everyone is very excited to say the least. We will leave Pittsburg around 730am and head to KC to pick up Gaga. I want to be at my mom's house by 1015 or so. They will take us to KCI where we will check in first before the students get there. They are all to be there no later than noon, but I have a feeling they will get their earlier because of their excitement. Our flight leaves KCI at 145 and we fly to Chicago. It is a very quick turnaround, less than an hour, before our international flight leaves so that will be intense trying to move 47 people quickly through the airport. We then leave around 415 for London. It is an 8 hour flight so we will get in around midnight, but that will be 600am their time. This is always the challenge of flying oversees. The time change can kill you if you don't sleep on the plane. We will then go to our hotel, leave our bags, and then take the Tube downtown for a walking tour of some of the sights. We have an early dinner and then back to the hotel to check in and GO TO BED. Everyone will be exhausted from the long day I am sure. I hope the check in on the blog at that point. We are assuming each hotel has internet service, but you never know. That should get us to the next blog point. Take care and I will be back in touch soon Craig

Europe here we come!!

On May 15, I will be departing on a journey to Western Europe to trace the steps of the Allied Forces in WWII from London to Berlin. It is going to be a life changing experience for those involved. I will blog when I can at this site. Talk soon!!!