Days 14-15

Day 14 - Last morning at our chateau lodging, boohoo.  After breakfast, we are off to Clos Luce, the last home of Leonardo da Vinci. It is a cool museum site now, with numerous of da Vinci's sketches for machines turned into reality. Despite it being the 1500's, he conceived (on paper) of cars, bicycles, flying machines, military tanks, ball bearings, bridges that opened, paddle boats, boat locks, and more stuff.  He was a botanist, architect, artist, and philosopher also. The rest of the day was a leisurely drive along the Loire to Bayeux in the north. After finding our hotel, we drove to Arromanches on the coast to see the WWII site where the Allies came ashore. The remnants of the floating harbor that they put in to launch their offense are still visible.

Day 15 - D-Day. Our visit to WWII history museums. It is sunny but cold, so being indoors didn't sound too bad. It's about 53 here. Supposed to be a little warmer the next few days, but not as warm as the first 11 days, unfortunately. The first museum is in Bayeux, describing the events of D-Day, June 6, 1944 when the Allies came ashore to drive the Germans out of France. It was a well done presentation. Lots of memorials and cemeteries in the area. The other museum we visited was in Caen, which went into much more detail on the reasons for WWII, and the history behind it. We got a much better understanding of the events leading up to the war. The destruction and loss of life is unfathomable. We were both pretty well drained by the end, but still felt it was something we needed to see. We just don't grasp our day to day freedoms and the luxury we live in. It is sobering to think that Chuck might not be here if his father hadn't survived the war, as so many men did not.