Taking our homeschooling on the road to Normandy and Paris.

Over Columbus Day weekend, we took a three hour flight to Paris. Then we rented a car and drove about two hours to Normandy. Tom found a cute, little hotel on the beaches of Normandy (near Gold Beach). That's where we stayed for our first two nights.

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For the past month, we've been studying D-Day. We watched about a half dozen documentaries, memorized facts from our Normandy iPad app, and took a trip to the library to check out a D-Day book. DJ, who is just about to turn ten, knows more about D-Day than most college students. I'm amazed. This is one of the things I love about homeschooling. It's fun to watch our kids get excited about learning.

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We walked through the American Cemetery.

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We shook their hands and thanked them.

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Good view of what is left of Mulberry harbor which was critical to the success of the Allied victory in WWII.

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Omaha Beach

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Bomb craters left from the bombing of Pointe Du Hoc.

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Army Rangers scaled these cliffs.

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German cemetery where over 20,000 Germans were buried. This was first an American Cemetery until it became a German one. Stark contrast between this cemetery and the American one.

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So much history. Time to leave Normandy and drive back to Paris. We stayed a night in Paris and even had a view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room! We were able to watch it light up and sparkle at night.

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A little side trip to Toys R Us. Look what they had built in the Lego section!

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We spent two full days in Paris. It reminded me a lot of NYC. This picture is in front of the Louvre where we saw the Mona Lisa. We learned that Mona Lisa was Italian!

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Time to go back to Sicily. Au revoir Paris!