I realize it has been a while since my last update, but here it is nonetheless. This past week has been one of the wildest weeks I have ever been a part of. Two other guys and I started our week (Friday the 23) driving a rental car 6 hours from Regensburg to Epernay, France, where we decided to sleep at a truck stop to save a little money. Then on Saturday we stopped near Chateau-Thierry to see the Belleau Wood memorial and the Chateau-Thierry memorial from WW1. With the help of one of the tourist agent, we were able to book a hotel in Chelles, France, right outside of Paris, so that we could go in and out of the city at an affordable rate. Then it got a little crazy; we decided to see all of Paris in a day (Sunday). We somehow saw and went in the Arc D'Triomph, The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, The Notre Dame, Three Basilicas I forgot the names of, the modern art museum, Nicolas Flamel's house, and a bunch of the city. We went from 6 AM until 9PM...totally worth it. The next morning (Monday) we visited the vast Palace of Versailles and walked through the immense gardens, before making our way our toward the coast. That afternoon we arrived at Mont St. Michel, which was probably one of two favorite places on the trip. The fortress city in the water was just so cool to go through and we were even trapped on it when the tide came in (just for a few minutes). On Tuesday, we toured the Normandy beaches of Omaha and Utah and were completely blown away by the memorials at each. These were my other favorite visits. While on the coast we did a combination of camping and sleeping in the car. However, we ended the day with a little fun, running through some of the remaining bunkers and on the beaches before making some headway toward Belgium. On Wednesday we rested up at a McDonalds with some Wi-Fi to do a little homework before picking up our fourth member of the team in Charleroi, Belgium. That evening we went into Brussels and did a quick tour before sampling tons of chocolate and eating a luxurious Belgian waffle. We then raced to Amsterdam that night and got there around midnight and the city was just as lively as Brussels when we left it. Definitely a little sketchy in some parts, but the place had amazing canals, everybody rode a bike (I mean everybody), and I was able to get a delicious smoked herring and see a windmill. We spent the night in the car along one of the canals and woke up just in time to tour the city before heading for Cologne. On Thursday, our time in Cologne was very short, but we saw the great Cathedral, which was our aim. We then camped near Luxembourg that evening. The next morning (Friday) we had a relaxed time walking through the old city section of Luxembourg, which is a very impressive, beautiful, and clean city. Later that day, we went out toward Remich, a premier vineyard/wine area of Luxembourg and toured around and took pictures. That evening we made our way toward Strasbourg. On Saturday, we took our time walking around Strasbourg and doing some homework in preparation for the next school week. We got a nice campsite that night (a.k.a we paid for this one) to take showers before heading back. On Sunday, before heading back toward Regensburg, we made one of our most fun stops at Rothenberg, a medieval walled city with awesome shops and buildings throughout. I believe I can account for us all when I say we are glad to be back. Not to take anything away from the trip, but we are all flat out exhausted. God was definitely with us throughout our trip. Many times we were helped out by awesome people along the way, and were provided for throughout in ways we didn't even see at the time. Pray for us as we are now back and into the flow of things that we would not lose sight of what's important.
God Bless,
Hayden
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