http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/408 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/408-Normandy-Falaise A group of 9 of us decided to go to Normandy for a vacation so Bryan and I researched and found a great place through the net in Falaise called La Hamberie. http://www.hamberie.com/ Fantastic people, great location with a beautiful setting. There was a barn full of toys for the kids to play with, a pool, two swing sets, a soccer pitch and a lawn for bocce. Sebastian managed to have a bocce ball to the head on our first night there. It was a complete accident (Madeline was playing her first game and hit him by mistake) but it started our string of head injuries for him throughout our trip. http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/409 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/409-Mont-St.-Michel Gorgeous place a few hours drive from Falaise. Didn't quite make it into the abbey at the top because Sebastian was having a melt down in the line-up to enter the abbey. Definitely worth the drive and Julie was right, you can purchase the best butter cookies just outside of the little town at a great price and they are worth stopping for - very yummy! http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/410 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/410-Juno-Beach-at-Courseulles-sur-Mer This is where the Canadians landed at D-Day. Great information centre here. Beautiful beach and a very quiet little resort area. Very hard to believe what happened here so many years ago... http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/411 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/411-Arromanches-%26-Omaha We drove onto Arromanches and the American Military Cemetary at Omaha. Quite the overwhelming site. We arrived at the AMC just before closing time and witnessed the lowering of the flags with the buggles playing - sent chills over the bunch of us. http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/412 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/412-Paris Beautiful as always. I would live here if I could...I'll have to keep dreaming :) Spent lots of time at Place des Voges since the kids had a such a great time playing at the park. First time I've seen Notre Dame without scaffolding so I HAD to take a photo. No such thing as a poor photo of Sacre Coeur, somehow they all turn out with gorgeous sky in the background. We stayed at a great little hotel called Jeanne d'Arc on Rue Jarente. It was a good locale for a decent price. http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/413 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/413-Vimy-Ridge-%26-Brugge Drove out of Paris and onto visit Vimy Ridge. It is a very powerful place as well. We really didn't have the opportunity to explore here since the kids weren't being that co-operative and it was really, really hot. The memorial was under renovation so we weren't able to see it at all. I'd like to return here one day to truly get a better appreciation of the site. Brugge was gorgeous. We stayed at a little hotel called Hotel Van Eyck and it was great. Would definitely recommend staying there. The service was fantastic, very intimate, not a big place at all. Madeline was very excited because they served nutella for breakfast so she felt right at home :) http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/414 http://www.tripdiary.com/allison/europe06/414-Amsterdam- Arrived in Amsterdam in a flurry. Pulled over by the cops upon arrival in the centre of the city whilst trying to locate the car rental drop off. Stayed at a terrible hotel called Hotel Aspen - DEFINITELY do not recommend staying here. Really did not enjoy it at all.