Tag Archives | Normandy Scholar program

Normandy France countryside

The Normandy countryside from a bus

on October 27, 2012 in Adventure travel, Daily Travel Photo, Europe

In 1993, I had the good fortune get a scholarship to study World War II in Normandy, France. I spent a month their in Caen learning more about the war, French culture, and especially the Normandy Campaign.  I fell in love with the Normandy countryside with quint little towns, small farms, and country lanes. This [...]

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Arromanches Normandy France

Arromanches: A harbor that helped win a war in Normandy, France

on September 21, 2012 in Adventure travel, Daily Travel Photo, Europe, historical travel

During World War II, Allied planners prepared to invade France and breach Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. The German high command were certain they would strike at the Pas-de-Calais, which was the narrowest stretch of land across the English Channel between England and France. They did not think they would land in Normandy.  One of the reasons, [...]

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Omaha Beach Cemetery Normandy

Omaha Beach cemetery in Normandy at Colleville-sur-Mer

on June 9, 2012 in Adventure travel, Daily Travel Photo, Europe, historical travel

A couple of days ago it was the 68th anniversary of the D-Day invasions in France. 19 years ago, I was fortunate enough to study this great historical even in Normandy as part of the Normandy Scholar Program. I was on hand for the 49th anniversary of the landings that began the liberation of fortress [...]

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Normandy France

Photos of the week: Ardenne Abbey in Normandy, France

on June 14, 2011 in Adventure travel, Europe, historical travel, Photograph of the week

While watching a documentary on the D-Day Normandy landings the show suddenly started talking about the Ardenne Abbey or l’Abbaye d’Ardenne.  It is always neat to be watching a show that highlights an obscure place that you have visited. The Ardenne Abbey was built in 1211 near Caen, France.  It lived a humble quiet existence [...]

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German bunker at Normandy, France

D-Day and the reverse Normandy at Omaha Beach

on June 8, 2011 in Adventure travel, Europe, Featured, historical travel

Monday marked the 67th anniversary of D-Day and the storming of the Normandy beaches by the Allied Forces. Over 160,000 Allied soldiers (30,000 paratroopers included) took part in the landings on Sword, Juno, Gold, Utah, and Omaha beaches on the first wave in the assault of Hitler and Germany’s Atlantic Wall on June 6, 1944. [...]

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Normandy France bunker

University of Tennessee 1993 Normandy Scholar Program perked the adventure travel itch

on February 18, 2011 in Adventure travel, Europe

While a senior at the University of Tennessee I was fortunate enough to qualify as a Normandy Scholar. The program consisted of a nine-hour seminar on French culture and World War II and the Holocaust during the spring semester way back in 1993. The seminar was taught by Dr. Charles Johnson, a Military Historian, Dr. [...]

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