by Jason Bowles | Jul 29, 2017 | France, Maile
My family and I stayed in a castle for one night. The castle was 800 years old! I was a little scared because it was dark, but the night went by fast. In the morning, we went to breakfast and made new friends. After breakfast, we packed our bags and brought them out to our rental car. After that, we got a tour of the castle from the owner. She showed us the secrets of the castle and told us the history. The owner of the castle’s daughter was taking care of a bird. They found him in the grass because he fell out of his nest when he was little. He didn’t know how to fly so they were trying to teach him. The bird’s name was Martin the Fisher. While we were there they even gave me my own castle! Alex wasn’t very happy that I got a castle and he didn’t get one. He even put my castle under siege! 🤣🤣🤣
Chateau Columbieres
Maile’s castle
Maile under siege
by Alex Bowles | Jul 28, 2017 | Alex, France
Longues-sur-Mer battery, between the landing beaches Omaha and Gold.
I have always wanted to go to Normandy for the WWII history, but when I arrived I was amazed by how much more there was to learn. We took a train from Paris to Caen, then we drove from Caen to Bayeux. When we arrived we took a tour from the company Overlord Tour (five-star service!). First, we went to one of the three British sectors to see the German battlements, each housing a huge cannon. Only one of the three is destroyed because after Normandy we put AA (anti-aircraft) shells and one night they exploded. After that, we went to Omaha Beach. There we saw the huge difference between high tide and low tide. There was a huge controversy about whether to land at high tide or low tide. The decision was finalized by the German defenses: they would have to land at low tide. If they didn’t, more of the first wave would have died because of the hidden traps laid by the Germans. After that, we went to the American graveyard and saw the over 9000 graves overlooking Omaha beach, all of the graves facing home. Finally, we went to Point du Hoc, the place where the Rangers, America’s elite soldiers, climbed a cliff and took a defensive point with strategic value. When they arrived at the top they found out the gun wasn’t there so they searched elsewhere and found the guns and destroyed them. After the tour, we went to a castle to stay the night. While there we learned that the Germans had tanks at our castle before D-Day but a commander ordered them to go to the beaches but they never arrived. If the Germans would have stayed at Chateau Columbieres, chances are that the castle would have been destroyed in the fighting.
by Jason Bowles | Jul 27, 2017 | France, Jason
Eiffel Tower at sunset.
Eiffel tower at night.
by Maile Bowles | Jul 26, 2017 | France, Maile
This is where Marie Antoinette wanted to pretend to be a peasant. Marie Antoinette’s servants would look at her dress and then sneak out and dye the sheep a color to match her dress and would put perfume on them to make them smell good. Part of Marie’s hamlet is now an animal rescue.
These are three of the goats at Marie’s hamlet.
by Alex Bowles | Jul 26, 2017 | Alex, France
Versailles original was a hunting cabin created by Louis XIII. When looking at a picture of Versailles the building with the gold leaf was the original cabin. After Louis XIII died his son, Louis XIV added on to Versailles, basically everything that doesn’t have gold leaf he added. Louis XIV had Greek statues and paintings put on and around the building. To impress guests he had the hall of mirrors built but no Frech mirror maker could make mirrors good enough for his satisfaction so he had Venetian mirror markers show the Franch how to make mirrors. As a welcome home gift for the Venetian mirror makers, their king sentenced them to death because mirror-making had been a Venetian secret. When Louis XIV died at the old age of 72 he passed the throne on to his great-grand child Louis XV (he outlived his son and grandson!). He did not add to Versailles. During his reign, he made it so everyone, instead of just royals, could bathe in the pond. After Louis XV passed away his son Louis XVI took the throne. His wife Marie Antoinette had a small peasant village built next to her small house so she could play peasant. At her small house, all of the servant passages were hidden so she could live a “normal life”. Because the couple didn’t produce an heir for a while an architect build a pavilion to make Louis want to have a child. Inside the pavilion is a statue of Cupid turning Hercules’ club into a bow and holding Hercules’ armor and shield.
Selfie in front of the original “hunting lodge”, Versailles
