Normandy Day 4- Mont Saint Michel & German Cemetery

Previous Normandy posts: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3

I had never heard of Mont Saint Michel, until a friend told me I had to visit it while in Normandy. In 708, Saint Micheal the Archangel appeared to the Bishop of Avranches and told him to build it. He ignored him several times, until the Angel left a hole in his forehead one night. In the link above, there are 4 pictures of the development of the Mont. We saw those while inside, and they were very neat to picture how it's grown over the years.

As we were getting close to the Mont, preparing to park (Which, by the way, says like €9 on their website, it was actually €12), I went to take a picture, and realized I left my camera card in my computer. I was so upset, ready to cry. Jon said they may sell them in a tourist shop inside. I was nervous, wondering if there'd be a difference between American cards and European cards. First store we walked in sold them, and it worked perfectly! I was praising the Lord and St. Therese and Saint Michael!

We followed Rick Steves guidebook, and he said if you want to avoid the crowds, walk up the steps on your right as soon as you come into the area. So we did. We climbed some stairs there, and up closer to the abbey itself, and it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. When we came down, through the crowds and small street lined with restaurants and stores, it was very steep and I knew we'd made the right decision.

taking a lunch break on the walk up

There is a fee to get in, but somehow, we did not pay it. I think there was a place we were suppose to, as one arrow pointed to "ticket booth" and the other pointed to "Abbey". There were two women passing out flyers, one going in the ticket booth area, and the other going in the Abbey area. The first was chatting with the people in front of us, and the second lady asked us what language. So we got a paper from her, and went in. She never told us to go back and buy a ticket or anything. We kept going in, thinking we must buy a ticket further in, and never had a place to buy one.

I was expecting a great big, beautiful church, but really, it was very simple. Very open, but simple. I think Benedictine monks use to run it, but a few years ago, the last few left and monks from Paris took over, if I remember correctly.

They are doing tons of construction right now, that is suppose to be done in 2015. Because there was a bridge built that blocked the water flow, the beach and areas surrouding the Mont have become pretty eroded and not getting enough water. They're building a new bridge that will allow the water to flow underneath. They've already built a damn to help the water reach it's fullest potential. There use to be parking on the island, but not anymore. Now, everyone parks at the visitor center, and then takes a shuttle bus that runs from the center to the base of the Mont. It was very easy and convenient, and the center had lovely, clean toilets. (Do you notice a pattern here??) It sounds like it will be even more wonderful and magnificent once this huge construction project is completed.

 View on our way up

Another view going up, almost there.

Almost inside 

The Abbey with Abby in front. They were all pretty confused lol 

Inside of the Abbey

St. Micheal on the Bishop's head. 

At one point, it became a prison, like Alcatraz, and many of the priests were prisoners. They'd be forced to get on this wheel and push it like hamsters, to get stuff up a railroad on the side of the mont. 

After this, we were tired, but again, I convinced Jon to stop at the German WWII cemetery that was 5 minutes away. We've been to the German WWII cemetery in Luxemburg, and was expecting the same thing. I thought i had blogged about it, but it appears I didn't. That one was very sad, 1 headstone to every 4 soldiers, many of which were unknown. One huge mass grave with thousands buried in it, because the Germans couldn't afford anything else. So we arrived, and were quite surprised. Instead, it was one huge, two story circular building... With an open courtyard in the middle, all with above ground crypts for the soldiers. It was actually a beautiful memorial to the German people who died during this horrible war. Afterwards, we headed back to the farmhouse for showers and dinner and bed, exhausted yet again.

Walking in to the cemetery.  

The rows of buried. 

Looking down in to the courtyard of the cemetery. 

One full row, with many, many flowers and wreaths. 

Normandy Day 3-Bayeux and Arromanches

Previous Normandy posts: Day 1, Day 2

Today was a super busy day. We didn't get out of the house until 10:30, yikes! Not how I wanted to begin, but oh well. We arrived in Bayeux to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry that is almost 70 meters long, and depicts the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings, 1066. The kids loved that they got their own speaker set to listen to, as we walked through. The length of it was amazing, and it was pretty cool. I never would have known what was being depicted had it not been for the audio. I don't know how the people of the time did. Other than that, I was "Ehh" about it. Everyone swore we had to see it because it was amazing. It was ok, and not really worth what we paid in my opinion. But again, that's me. The kids were excited to buy a small princess for each girl and a dragon for Zach as we left. No pictures from there, as they weren't allowed.

Then my plan was to leave, but Jon said let's walk and see the Cathedral. I should say that we were so cold, because I had plans to visit the beach, and assumed we'd all want to walk in the water a bit, so we all wore shorts or capris. Thankfully I'd thrown sweaters in for everyone! The wind was bad all day. So we get to the Cathedral. It's as big as Paris' Notre Dame. It's massive, Gothic style, and just absolutely fabulous. We spent a while walking around, and lit candles in one chapel that had several flags, including the American, and encouraged us to pray for peace and freedom for all, so we did. The chapel really had me moved to tears, as there were poppy wreathes and an American flag inside, along with memorials from 1944.

Jon and kids in front of Cathedral. Sorry, problems turning it.

 Candle of the remembrance chapel

 The chapel inside

 The kids and I in front of the altar.

Afterwards, we went back to the car, grabbed our lunch to eat while driving, and drove to Arromanches. (Another great link.) This is where they built an artificial harbor to get all the supplies in for the war. There were actually two, code named Mulberry A and Mulberry B, but A was wiped out to sea almost immediately during a storm. This one survived until Nov. 1944, and really helped win the war. It was fascinating to see this beach, surrounded by the Atlantic Wall that Hitler built, between two villages. There are still some pieces there, including part of the Harbor wall way out in the water. They are 2 km away, and you could fit 1,000 football fields in the space of this harbor. They had dioramas demonstrating how it all worked. It was seriously fascinating.

The kids touching the English Channel.

 The Harbor wall, 2km away.

 Our family in front of a piece of the bridge still on the beach.

A funny piece of this part of our trip was we were out walking on the beach. We wanted to go one way, but we looked to be surrounded by shallow (like 1-2in) of water. I thought "Oh, we'll be fine." and started to walk in it. Thankfully I went first, because I sank! My feet were immediately covered in mud, and this was much different than beaches I normally go to. I walked to another area, and tried to rinse off, and it just stuck so bad. Even when I got home, I had mud cakes under my feet and in my flops. Jon and the kids could not stop laughing-and snapping photos. Thankfully I kept my humor and laughed as well.

Me in the mud... Can't turn it, sorry!

After this, the kids were done, but it was only 4pm. I bribed them with gummy bears and we set out for one more place, the Batterie de Longues Sur Mer. This place had 4 Batteries that belonged to the Germans, that were still there today. The first one was pretty destroyed, so you couldn't go in. The other three however all still had guns and you could walk in to them. I read that they took 7 men to load and shoot them. They could shoot up to 12 miles away with almost perfect accuracy. The last one you were able to climb on top of and you could see the hooks where they would hook camouflage tarps to hide them from the planes. They survived for a while (less than a day, few battles) but eventually the ships were able to take them out.

Afterwards, Jon wanted to walk down this road to get closer to the water. Down there, we saw another bunker that looked just like one we'd seen in Saving Private Ryan, where there's a thin area for the soldiers to shoot out of. It was pretty amazing, as we got to walk in the top and the bottom, and all around it. Next to us were these huge fields of yellow rapeseed flowers, with several red poppies along the edge of the field.

  Jon and kids with one of the 3 remaining guns

 This is like the one I mentioned from Saving Private Ryan.

Us in front of it

The side facing the beach. Along the bottom is the small gap they'd shoot out of

 Abby on top of the Batterie

 me and Zach in front of one of the 3 remaining guns

Rapeseed with one poppy

While coming back, Abby got scared. The kids were able to make a reflection on the ceiling with the sun, and decided to say it was a spider. Abby believed them, and got scared. She put her hand on her head to protect herself, and for 30 min kept asking and begging us to get rid of it. We tried to convince her it was gone, and she wouldnt believe us, until Zachary finally distracted her some other way. To end the day, we came back to the farmhouse, where the kids played in the yard while Jon grilled. Zach declared at dinner that the thing we saw the most was trees haha!

Normandy Day 2- Lisieux

Day 1 of our trip, if you missed it and want to read.

We began our day, hoping to attend mass at the local village. We found one website saying it was at 9am, and one at 11am. Our proprietor told us as we were leaving that that village and the next share priests, so mass goes back and forth. Well, we got there, and there was definitely no one around for mass. I was a bit disappointed as I thought it'd be so neat to go to a small village parish. They also had a memorial on the property remembering the Americans from WWII. We knew that there was mass in Lisieux, so we went ahead and headed there.

As we're driving there, we realize we need gas. We stop at the gas station in the village. Card only, but not our card. French cards have some kind of chip in them and this gas station didn't recognize ours. Stopped at two more along the way, none took ours. And it's Sunday, so gas stations don't have an attendant to take cash. We'd avoided the autobahn today, to avoid tolls (adding a big 10 minutes to our drive). So we knew we had enough gas to get to Lisieux, but we'd need it on our way home, and so we'd take the autobahn, because surely there'd be a gas station with at least an attendant. We're almost there, when we see an Esso station. Esso stations are what we always use in Germany, and Jon saw an attendant. Wahoo, praise God, thank you St. Therese! Not only was there an attendant, we were able to pay with card, saving our cash for the rest of the trip. That felt like a huge blessing and answer to prayer to start out our pilgrimage trip for the day.

We made it to the Cathedral, where St. Therese attended mass while living in Lisieux, about 15 minutes before mass started. We went up and saw the small altar at the front for her, where her family would have been if they were at mass. Then we went back to find a seat, letting the kids lead the way. They picked the very front row. GREAT place to sit when you're visiting a church... in a language you don't know! ;-) But we accepted it because it was the only row with kneelers, and we did not want to stand during the consecration.

This was my first time attending a mass in another language (other than Latin). I was really surprised to see how well I did know the mass, and knew what was going on. I was also VERY grateful that our priest has insisted on our parish learning the Latin parts of the mass (Kyrie, Agnus Dei, and the Sanctus) and thankful that this church used them as well. They were slightly different, but even the kids were able to say "Hey! I know this part!" (Of course, their father, the choir director, walking around the house singing Sanctus a lot probably helps ;-))

After mass, this sweet old lady came up to us and tried to talk to us. We told her we didn't know French and she just said "Thank you for la familia". It touched our heart. We felt like she was telling us thank you for raising our children in the faith, for bringing them to church (95% of the people there were much older than us) and sitting on the front row, and well, to us, for teaching them to behave. We told the children about her compliment and that she was also probably complimenting their excellent behavior, because we want them to know that other people notice when they're good as well.

After mass, we asked the lady "Toilettes?" and I followed her hand motions. We were able to find a public handcap toilet. EWW! But, hey! It was a toilet, and not a hole in the ground, which is what they usually are, so we used it as a family. Seriously, how are you suppose to pee in that?? (Thank you Katie for telling us about handicap stalls!) We then went to the car, and snacked on some croissants our proprietor had brought by this morning-yummy! Then went back in to visit the church. As we were leaving, a newly baptized baby was coming out with the family, and the bells were ringing over and over joyously celebrating this new life. It was beautiful.

 Outside of the Cathedral where St. Therese attended mass.

An altar that now stands where her and her family would stand. I believe her and her sisters are down the middle of the cross, with her parents on the two sides.

Inside the Cathedral, where we attended mass on Corpus Christi.

We then headed to the Basilica. This place was HUGE. It was built after St. Therese was canonized (1925). Inside is amazing. I've never been in a church so amazing. There are no pillars holding it up, so wherever you sit, you can see the altar. There are altars around the entire church, but very, very simple altars. Each one has a Station of the Cross. One altar near the front, which was holding the Blessed Sacrament, was from or for Catholics in the US, according to our attempt of the translation. It had images of St. Katherine Drexel and St. Francis Cabrini on it.

There was an altar, that I got confused about, because it was covered in candles. I thought St. Therese's remains were below this altar, but when we got to the car, discovered it was just her arm. However, while here, I knelt and prayed for every person who had asked me to pray for them, listing their needs, and a few others I could think of. It was an incredible time, lifting my heart and this trip for those I know. Hannah and I then bought a candle, and lit it for all the intentions I'd prayed for.

Jon and kids in front of Basillica

The huge Basilica  

The altar with candles around it, and the arm of 

St. Therese. I thought Jon got a better picture, but apparently not.

We then went outside, and downstairs, where there was a bookstore, clean WC's (water closets- with no toilet seats! What is with the French and no toilet seats?? I think the girls are starting to get the hang of it.) and a machine to buy a bottled water. Afterwards, we went in to the crypt where Blessed Louis and Blessed Zelie, her parents, are buried. We wrote down our prayer intentions and Jon, Zach, and Hannah went in to the silent chapel to pray. As we left, we looked at the huge bell tower, containing 54 (or 59?) bells. But unfortunately, we didn't get to hear a single one of them.

Where Blessed Louis and Blessed Zelie are buried.

Then we went to the Carmelite Convent. Here, we saw the famous wax statue of St. Therese. Hannah wanted to know why she didn't have shoes on. In the next room was a chapel where you could pray. When we walked in, I looked for the red candle to see if the Body of Christ was present. Then I realized that there was a monstrance with the exposed Eucharist. This was the first we'd seen this, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, so we knelt and spent as long as our children would allow praying. I did my best to pray for all the intentions again, asking for remembrance of the many I'd prayed for before. Next was a small museum, sharing artifacts and tidbits about St. Therese's time at the convent. It was very fascinating to me.

Z & H in front of the convent.

 The famous wax statue of the Saint. Her body is buried below.

 The original statue of Mary that smiled at Therese when she was very ill.

 Some of us in front of a statue of the Saint.

The girls in front of a statue of St. Therese 

Afterwards, we went to our final destination, Les Buissonnets. This is the house her family moved to after her mother died when she was 4. It looked smaller than I imagined from the pictures I'd seen, but when we went in, I was quite surprised by the amount of room. We saw the fireplace, that was in the kitchen where she had her conversion experience. We saw her room, where she was very, very ill and they thought they might lose her. As she was in bed, her sisters were praying by her bed and turned to look at the statue of Mary. She turned to Mary as well and asked for her help, who then smiled at her. She was then healed. The original statue is now in the convent, above her wax statue above her remains. The original statue of Mary is at the convent, about her remains and wax statue. We also saw her father's room, and the best part to the kids, several of her toys. In the back is a statue of her telling her father she wants to enter the convent. It's a beautiful statue, and you can just see the love between them. It is above the well where they were sitting when she told him.

I learned a lot about this Saint whom I knew nothing about this week, a lot in my research preparing for this trip, and a lot while here. I'm very excited to have gotten to know her better, to have shared some things about her with my children, and to have had this opportunity to visit such an incredible place. I find it amazing that St. Therese has done so much since her death, showering down help like roses, and that she is one of only 33 Doctors of the Church out of all the Catholic Saints that there are. St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

 Les Buissonnets

 Me in front of the replica of the statue that smiled at her.

Statue of her telling her father she wants to enter the convent.