Sur les berges de la Seine

The weather on Sunday afternoon was gorgeous, and despite recent pollution alerts we took a bike ride along the river banks (berges) of the Seine that have been converted to pedestrian use.

 

Normandy American Cemetery

Normandy American Cemetery sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.

A dense fog rolled in from the sea shortly after we arrived, lending an even more somber tone to our visit.

 

 

Pointe du Hoc

After visiting Utah Beach, an easy victory for the Americans, we traveled east along the coast to the Point du Hoc, a 100 ft cliff overlooking the English channel. During World War II it was the highest point between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east. The Germans fortified the area with concrete casements and gun pits. On D-Day (June 6, 1944) the U.S. Army Rangers scaled the cliffs and seized the German artillery pieces that could have fired on the American landing troops at Omaha and Utah beaches. At a high cost of life, they successfully defended against determined German counterattacks.

The ground still carries the scars of heavy shelling

Sainte-Mère-Eglise

2014 is the 70th anniversary of the landings on the Normandy beaches during WWII. We traveled to Sainte-Mère-Eglise about 3 hours northwest of Paris to visit the area where paratroopers landed during the night of June 5th. The town has developed an innovative way to visit the area using a GPS system loaded with video clips and other information to guide the visitor during a 50 km tour of the area.

Sainte-Mère-Eglise is the town where one of the paratroopers gets trapped on the steeple of the church, an event that was immortalised in the movie "The Longest Day."

The entire area is dotted with monuments thanking the Americans for their role in liberating France.

Henri Cartier Bresson

Centre Pompidou

A brand new retrospective of the works of the photographer Henri Cartier Bresson just opened at the Centre Pompidou. It features a collection of over 500 photographs and drawings arranged chronologically to illustrate the evolution of his work.

Expos such as this remind me of why I enjoy living in Paris:  a) I love riding the escalators to the top floor of the Centre Pompidou. The skyline of central Paris slowly reveals itself through the walls of the transparent exterior tunnel as you ascend to the top floor. And b) The Cartier Bresson exhibit is like taking a complete class in photo composition.

Salerne, Italy, 1933

Futuroscope

Futuroscope is a French theme park featuring several IMAX 3D and 4D cinemas along with other attractions and shows. Patrice and I bought a two-day ticket to the park which is located about three hours south of Paris. I was interested in photographing the futuristic architecture which we'd seen several times from the highway,

 

but we weren't sure if the rides - such as the Lapins Crétins (Raving Rabbids (sic)  and their time machine - might be somewhat childish.

But no. We had a great time! We laughed a lot as we were strapped into seats and then subjected to rapid twists, turns, puffs of air and water splashing in our faces as we hurtled through a 3D universe.

Dancing with robots

We also enjoyed the Aerobar where we drank a beer with our feet dangling 100 feet in the air.

What a great view from up above!

I loved the colors after dark, too.

Valentine's Day

Yesterday we went to the Louvre to celebrate Valentine's Day by taking part in a kissing flash mob at precisely 2:14pm. (2/14 at 14:14). Fortunately, the rain stopped just in time enjoy the event. Everybody was kissing - including us!

 

Free flowers :-)

Want to watch the official video from the event?