Reunited

Saturday:

Being so close to the Memorial, we were able to take our time in the morning, have breakfast, and leave our hotel at 9:30. A short walk brought us to the Memorial where we booked our tour for 1pm and also got a pass and audio tour of the Memorial itself. The audio tour was very well done and really interesting to follow. The Memorial itself is about World War II and thoroughly explains the cause, the chronological events, the conclusion, and the consequences of the war. It was interesting to learn about the war from the point of view of the French. In school, we read about the war in general or from an American point of view, but the tour showed us France's participation and the effects it had on the French people. 
After the audio tour and a quick lunch, we met up for a tour of the Normandy beaches! A bus drove us to Point Du Hoc while our tour guide explained the background knowledge, gave a brief explanation at the site, then let us explore for about half an hour. We continued in this pattern for two more beaches. As we were headed to the fourth beach (of five), our bus decided to break down. Stephen and I simply pulled out our kindles and waited for another bus to pick us up. It took about an hour for the other bus to come and we were unable to finish our tour because it was getting late. There were several people on the tour who were going to miss their train if we didn't go straight there, so although it wasn't on the itinerary, we concluded our tour by dropping them off at the train station. In conclusion, we didn't get to see the British Normandy beaches and we arrived back at the Memorial an hour late, but they gave us half our money back which paid for another delicious dinner at the hotel. 

Sunday:
Taking advantage of our dark, quiet hotel room, Stephen and I slept in and had a leisurely morning. We packed all our things and took the bus back to the train station. We arrived a few hours early so we ate breakfast at a cafe where Stephen got an omlette and I had quiche. We sat a long time eating and talking but still had about an hour till the train came so we simple walked down to the next cafe, ordered coffee and a cappuccino, and read our kindles (we were both reading extremely interesting books at the time so we didn't mind all the down time). 
Even though the train station was literally just across the street we walked over early to find our platform and our last train ride of the trip went smoothly. A few hours later we arrived in Paris and easily found our hostel. After unloading our bags and checking emails, we ate dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant then set off to explore Paris just as the sun was beginning it's descent. 
Our first and final stop for the evening was the Eiffel Tower. They were actually letting people ride to the top (sometimes the winds are too strong and they close it down) so we got in line. The whole affair felt like a ride at magic mountain because we waited for hours in several lines to take a brief ride up the elevator. But just as the thrill of roller coasters makes the wait bearable, the view at the top was worth it. We circled the top admiring all the lights of Paris and could even spot large landmarks such as the Louvre and Notre Dame. At midnight we were on our way down the elevator and soon back at our hostel, thrilled about our recent adventure but more than ready for bed. 

Monday:

After packing, eating breakfast, and checking out, we set off to explore Paris one last time. The tram let us out at the Arc de Triumph lying in the center of the most dangerous roundabout in Europe (because it's so large and crowded). We weren't sure how to get to the Arc without the deathly trek through the roundabout (maybe that's why it's such a triumphal arc :) ), so we circled the roundabout and made almost a complete circle before spotting the underground path leading to the Arc. It's quite a grand structure that Stephen and I walked heroically through...well halfway through because a rope had blocked the rest of the path. 
The next hour consisted of walking down Avenue Des Champs Elysees which is filled with large shopping stores. I haven't bought any souvenirs except for my shirt from Harrods so I decided to buy something from Paris. I don't really like buying trinkets anymore because I discovered that there was really no use for them when I got home, except to collect dust. So I like to buy souvenirs that I will use such as jewelry, clothes, etc... Continuing in this conviction, I bought a necklace from a really cute store called Naf Naf. We continued our journey down the street where it was supposed to end at the Louvre Museum. I suppose the street hasn't moved at all, but there was a great amount of construction as they prepare for the Tour De France and parts of the street were blocked off completely. Stephen expertly navigated us around the construction but we had to take quite a big detour. Except for the fact that I was dressed too warm for the hot day, I actually enjoyed the detour because we also got to see a palace, fancy buildings, and walked through the Tuileries Gardens. Eventually we saw the famous glass pyramids signifying we had reached our destination. I was really looking forward to spending a few hours in an air conditioned building but to my dismay, the line to enter the museum was hours long. We have officially hit the heavy tourism season and since we had a flight to catch, it wouldn't have been worth our time or money to wait that long in line. Oh well. It'll give me a good reason to go back to Paris someday. :) 
We returned to the hostel to eat our usual grocery store lunch, then chose a cafe nearby to sip coffee while reading our kindles. When it was time to leave, we grabbed our backpacks and rode the tram one last time to arrive at a station which shuttles people to the airport. Our airport is 45 minutes from town but because our shuttle left around 6, we hit really bad traffic and didn't reach the airport until 7:45...and our flight was leaving at 8:50! Fortunately, everyone in the shuttle was on the same flight so I wasn't too worried. There was no need to worry anyway because we checked our bags and got through security pretty quickly but our plane didn't arrive to the airport until we were supposed to be taking off. Fifty minutes later we were finally taking off and would soon be reunited with the rest of our family. 
The flight was a little over an hour, we quickly found our bags, had our passports stamped, and made our way to the common area to find our folks. The first person I saw was Peter in his bright yellow sweatshirt, ready to welcome us with hugs and all the latest news in his life. Our parents joined the hugging and once again, we were one big happy family. 
They led us out to our very nice rental car and we watched as my dad focused on driving a stick on the wrong side of the road! I am pleased to note that so far he has done very well at staying on the left side of the road and not crashing in the roundabouts. :)
We arrived at our cottage in Dunfirmline and were shown to our very own rooms! Even though we'll  be staying less than a week, I enjoyed unpacking all my things and placing them in drawers! What a luxury not to have to dig through my backpack each morning :). And a laundry machine! I am so thankful for laundry machines. That night I went to bed and rested well knowing that I no longer had to be in charge or run after another train. Not on the rest of this trip anyway.