Paris & Normandy, France
Each year Michael’s squadron here in Ramstein, the 37th Air Lift Squadron, sends a team to Normandy, France to celebrate and remember the anniversary of D-Day. Their squadron is a legacy to the flyers who dropped paratroopers into Normandy on D-Day to fight and secure the downs along the coast. This year Michael was asked to be on the leadership team to plan the event as well as attend to fly- and it was exciting because this year was the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I immediately knew I wanted to join him in Normandy to explore the region, attend events and be part of the celebration. I invited my sister to go because she loves France and is also very interested in WWII history. We planned a 2 day stop in Paris on our way to Cherbourg, France where we would stay for 4 days. As the trip grew closer, we realized what a BIG deal this was. Our Airbnb canceled on us last minute and it was a MIRACLE we found another one -everything else was completely booked up in the entire area. We did some research and found a 30+ page PDF document highlighting all of the events that would be going on throughout May and June in the region. We were a bit paralyzed by all there would be to see and experience, not to mention the fly overs and ceremonies Michael and his squadron would be a part of. We ended up deciding to plan our 2 days in Paris well, but then go with the flow in Cherbourg and see where it led us. You know the saying- we make plans and God laughs? Yeah…
Emily made it in town and we had 2 days to relax in Germany and regroup before our big trip- my longest one with David yet. I was a little nervous about how helpful Emily would be simply because she doesn’t have a TON of experience with babies as young as David but WOW did she prove me wrong- she was fabulous with David and a rock star with helping out with him- which would because even more necessary with my impending trip to the ER…
Day 0
Our plans began to go awry when I noticed a clogged milk duct from nursing David the day before we left. These can be fairly common in a woman’s breast feeding journey and if they don’t clear themselves there are some simple home remedies that can help it clear easily. I did them. All of them. And then some. My girlfriends and midwife were texting me everything they could think of, and I did them with no luck.
Day 1
We woke up early on the 4th to catch our train to Paris and I not only had a sore breast now, but was starting to feel a fever come on. This is NOT what you want- it can lead to Mastitis – a full blown infection that basically affects your entire body, giving you flu-like symptoms. I took some ibuprofen, something I did not take lightly while nursing David, and soldiered on. We got to Paris, lugged our suitcases and stroller through the metro, grabbed breakfast at a great little place, Eggs & Co, and checked into our AirBnb. We paused to regroup and I ended up taking a nap while Emily entertained David who had a REALLY hard time napping in this particular Airbnb. When I woke up I had a 102.4 fever. Not exactly ideal. I knew at this point something was wrong and after talking with Michael we concluded I needed to go to a doctor. After over an hour on the phone with Tricare and running in circles, they told me to go be seen at a Paris ER- this was basically my only option.
45 minutes later (including a long metro ride and 15-minute HOT walk in a not-so-savory part of town) we were walking into St. Joseph’s hospital where the information desk lady spoke NO English. (I am usually not one to complain about people not speaking English in a foreign country, I am in YOUR country after all, I should learn YOUR language. But an INFORMATION DESK employee, in a LARGE hospital in a HUGE major European city doesn’t speak a WORD of English?! This just added to my annoyance and frustration of this entire situation.) We find the (sketchy) ER – one guy walked right past me in his hospital gown attached to an IV outside to meet his girlfriend for a smoke break?!? Wait… wait… wait, find more employees who don’t speak English, finally find someone who does, they realize my issue is with my breast and the tell me I have to go to ANOTHER ER!? Luckily it was still in the same hospital, a lot nicer, and come to find out specifically for gynecological issues. After getting checked in I spent another hour going back and forth with Tricare and the front desk about documents Tricare said I didn’t need but the hospital wanted produced to prove I had insurance. After 4 hours at the hospital, with a baby we were luckily able to keep entertained and fed and even snuck in a nap, I was seen and it was determined I in fact had the dreaded Mastitis.
They prescribed antibiotics and off we went in the POURING RAIN to a French pharmacy to fill the prescription. I couldn’t believe the total – for antibiotics and two other medications for pain and fever my total was only 22 Euro! Made me wonder why American medicine prices are so inflated or maybe the French government subsidizes theirs? Either way I was so happy to have medicine and a way to heal quickly. We had dinner reservations that we were eager to get to having missed lunch. Unfortunately, we would end up looking for a bus that would never come due to construction along the entire street covering 10 or so of the stops, only to board the tram in the wrong direction before heading in the correct direction and having to haul David into a Metro to get to dinner. We finally made it to Restaurant Le Christine, enjoyed a glass of wine and a delicious dinner and some respite from the insane day. The skies finally cleared for our walk back to the Airbnb and we soaked up a few peaceful moments along the Seine as the sun went down on one of the craziest days of travel I have ever had. No Luxembourg Gardens or St. Chappelle or lovely lunch on a patio as we had hoped for. But I received quality care and was on the mend. David was happy and healthy and we had much to be thankful for.
Day 2
The next morning, I woke up feeling pretty rough but my medicine kicked in by the time we arrived at the Louvre. Emily was an absolute champ and carried David in the baby carrier since my breast was still too tender to endure that close contact and the stroller would have been a hassle with so many stairs. That said, on the way in we enjoyed some VIP treatment with the stroller as they escorted us to the front of the check in line (always buy tickets in advance to save yourself that extra wait!) and then out of nowhere an open air elevator rose up to meet us and lower us to the main level to begin our visit. We said hello to Mona Lisa before exploring the apartments of Napoleon III and of course many paintings and antiquities along the way. It was a nice morning escaping the rain, but back into the rain we must go. Lunch at Pizzaria Iovine’s was delightful until David had a tired meltdown and we took the rest to go. Back at the Airbnb I took yet another nap ending in a spiked fever, luckily that would be the end of the fever and I really felt much better the rest of the trip.
For dinner we journeyed back to a restaurant we visited on Emily and my visit to Paris back in 2016, Firmin le Barbier. It is cozy, the staff is so friendly and the food is just so completely French - to us adventurous and exotic! I enjoyed escargot, duck confit, and a dark chocolate torte that was David’s first bite of dessert! After dinner we spent the evening toughing out the rain for a view of the Iron Lady- waiting patiently for her to sparkle on the hour, a most magical moment to be sure.
Day 3
On June 6th- the 75th anniversary of D-Day we would begin making our way via train to Cherbourg. Paris continued to not be on our side! We left with AMPLE time to get to the train station but our metro tickets were soaking wet from our walk in the rain the night before, so they didn’t work - but instead of offering us new ones the metro attendant kept telling us to try them again and again and they continued to jam her machines! Finally, I got so annoyed (and scared we would jam her machines beyond repair and have to find another metro stop- that is how unyielding she as being) I just bought us 2 new tickets so we could catch our train for Pete’s sake! We get down to the platform - Bean, Bags and all - and the train comes, opens only the front doors (we were standing near the middle), closes them and leaves without us despite our every attempt to open the doors! (What is happening?!) so we move to the front of the platform determined not to miss the next one. We make the train, get to the train station, find our train to Cherbourg and take a deep breath- we made it with only a few minutes to spare! We didn’t have time to grab breakfast because of all the hiccups, so I ventured to find the meal car. Guess what? Yep. There wasn’t one. So I dug into David’s diaper bag and came up with one incredibly overripe and bruised banana. And that is what Emily and I shared for breakfast on our 3-hour train ride. I literally couldn’t make this up if I tried.
Earlier in the trip amidst fevers and ER’s we received an email that our reservation for an automatic vehicle was changed to manual as they had run out of automatic vehicles. (?!?!?!) I quickly responded that that would NOT work as I did not know HOW to drive a manual and they would need to do whatever was necessary to secure us an AUTOMATIC vehicle which I have already prepaid for on my credit card. Enterprise came through, finding one at Europcar and paying the difference for the upgraded vehicle! We had a small SUV with English navigation and everything! (Finally a WIN for this trip!) We were off to meet Michael at the Cherbourg airport for lunch. His squadron had set up operations there since there is no military base nearby. We arrived at the airport (which was basically a shoe box), cleaned up a poop explosion, and met Michael SO excited for some sunshine (which we did get) and LUNCH (which we did not.) The only restaurant at the TINY airport was “fully booked” that day so they were having a “BBQ” outside to help feed people. I walked outside and my heart sunk when all that was there as a man, a charcoal grill, and about 10 lonely sausages being cooked. I was starving but that simply would not do. I almost burst into tears. Michael felt horrible. We loaded back up with a recommendation for a burger place back in Cherbourg and made the 20-minute journey, fumbled around for parking, got unloaded and finally, finally, sat down to lunch. Then something really cool happened- they turned on the TV to the huge ceremony going on at the American Cemetery where Michael’s squadron conducted a fly over alongside historic C-47’s right over Presidents Trump and French President, Macron. Leading the formation was our friend and neighbor, CJ. What a COOL thing to see Michael’s squadron here be part of such an important and visible event to honor those who sacrificed everything 75 years ago. Even though it felt silly to be watching it on TV when it was happening a few miles away (we were unable to get tickets) it was exciting to be able to watch it, getting our hearts and minds ready for the few days ahead.
Now for a brief overview of what we were able to see and do in our few days in Normandy. In retrospect a few more days there would have been really nice; that, and a well laid out plan. But at this point we were exhausted by the trip, excited to see and spend time with Michael, and wanting to take it slow, so that is exactly what we did.
That afternoon was spent doing laundry, touring Cherbourg, and having a delicious Lebonese dinner with Michael.
Day 4
The next morning we drove to Utah beach, stopping in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont for a picnic lunch. They had old vehicles set up, people in period clothing, and food and drink stalls. A small display and celebration that was unique to visit for a bit.
Utah Beach was somber and humbling. Not the bloodiest beach on D-Day to be sure, but still sacred ground where battles were fought. The Utah Beach Landing Museum was incredibly interesting and well done. We thought it was small going in so we really took our time reading everything. Then it kept going and going and we were so surprised by how much was there. Some Veterans were also visiting but we didn’t have the chance to speak to any of them. Just crazy to think they were there on that important day so long ago- and so young then! You have to think any of the Veterans still living had to have been somewhere between 16-25ish years old to still be alive today. Pretty soon we will not have any surviving veterans from this war- so I am very appreciative of their time to come and share their story while they still can.
After the museum we raced to the site of a fly over Michael was supposed to perform, but it got canceled due to weather. That evening was another late dinner out with Michael, but David was incredibly fussy and I did not feel well so we kicked it back to Michael’s hotel room while he and Emily had enjoyed an “in-law” date.
Day 5
Our last full day in Normandy we headed to Pointe du Hoc- the most memorable site on our trip. It is the most preserved site there and it is eerie to see all of the craters created by US bombs raiding German bunkers. On D-Day, Army Rangers arrived by boat to climb the 100-foot cliff to disable the German troops posted there, which would help protect those landing on Utah and Omaha beach that day. Despite the insane wind and pelting rain we experienced that morning, we were able to catch some of the breathtaking views, walk through a German bunker, and learn about the history of the assault that happened there.
Our next stop was Omaha beach- which was less somber than Utah despite how bloody its landing was on D-Day. It was too close to restaurants, hotels and the road to be tucked away and preserved. That afternoon we stopped in Sainte-Mère-Église (where a (surprise) giant parade was going on!) to see the parachutist monument hanging from the church steeple. Then we were off to seek out 2 different fly overs Michael was flying in. We made the first one and it was so cool to hear the guy on the ground chatting on the radio to Michael and the other plane telling them to speed up, circle around, slow down etc to time their fly over exactly right with the ceremony on the ground. The next one we got to a few minutes early, but just in time to see the planes fly over- they had to move up the time table since they were running out of fuel from circling in the air for so long. We enjoyed the sunshine and played with David in the grass while listening to the ceremony. It seems every town, every outpost or historic spot held a ceremony over the weeks leading up to and during the D-Day anniversary. It was very special to be able to see a few in person and catch Michael’s plane soar through the air. That night we kept it simple, ordering pizzas, watching Netflix and packing up for our journey home the next day.
We left this trip feeling mixed emotions- heartbreak for the loses and sacrifices that were made 75 years ago to change the tide of the war. But we also left with a sense of pride and celebration, because while bloody, the mission was successful. And it truly was an honor to see Michael and his squadron play a part in the celebrations on the very land (and air) in which it all played out. Our journey home was (thankfully) uneventful. Our train to Paris went smoothly and David even snoozed a bit. We had plenty of time in Paris to change train stations so we patiently waited for a bus to pick us up (thank you Brittany for that tip! The Metro is SO hard with a stroller but if you can figure out the busses you are golden!) and on our short walk from bus stop to train station we found a delicious café to stop and eat lunch at before boarding our train to Kaiserslautern. It was a whirlwind of a trip, memorable to be sure. Em and I have already agreed that we need a re-do with Paris next summer to redeem ourselves. Until then…
…doing laundry in style: with french pastries in hand and a pocketful of Euro coins!
