A Trip to Normandy

Every semester, AUP sends hundreds of members of its community on trips around France and the rest of the world as part of its Cultural Program, established in the first years of the University. Participants plunge themselves into the history, art and culture of a place in the process of continuing their evolution as global explorers. It is a cultural shift in learning, perspective and what it means to take an active part in an education that truly extends beyond the walls of the classroom.

In June students, faculty and AUP staff members met at the St. Lazare train station in Paris early one Saturday morning for a day-trip to Normandy. Over coffee and croissants on the two-hour train ride they discussed the rich history of the region and what they were most excited to see. As the city gave way to a rolling countryside, lush forests and cows out to pasture beneath a cloudless blue sky, conversation turned to the first event on the program – a visit to the Bayeux Museum to see the famed Bayeux Tapestry. Dating from 1070s, this tapestry, nearly 1,000 years old, tells the story of William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who became the king of England. The train arrived and the group quickly made their way to the modern museum charged with the preservation of this important historic artifact.

Barbara Nance ’86, a visiting professor from USC, had participated in the Cultural Programs while she was a student at the then American College in Paris (ACP) and was delighted to be participating again, this time as visiting faculty. As the group filed out of the museum, she took a moment to reflect on her experience as a student at our University. “One of the things I loved about being a student here were these cultural trips. Generally, you go with a class, but other students are able to go as well. This way you meet different people in different majors from across the university. We had these experiences that were in-depth and brought us closer together as a community.”

After the museum visit, the group walked through the medieval village of Bayeux, the oldest city in Normandy, meandering over cobblestone roads, past stone buildings and the towering Cathedral of Our Lady of Bayeux, blending Norman-Romanesque and Gothic elements, as well as the smallest house in France that overlooks the Aure River winding through the city. They paused for lunch to enjoy the cuisine of the region – including cider, Camembert cheese and tarte normande aux pommes (apple tarts).

The afternoon was a decidedly more somber affair. The group embarked on a tour through the landing of Allied Forces on the Norman beaches on D-Day, June 6th,1944. They left Bayeux by van, shuttling through the villages of Normandy. As they traversed the countryside, they noted the 12th-century manor houses, rubble walls and an otherwise quaint countryside that was still littered with guns, tanks, anti-aircraft gunshots and visible bomb craters left over from the destruction this part of France during the liberation from Nazi forces in WWII. Throughout the streets, flags from France, Canada, Great Britain, the US and other allied forces were hung with pride, an homage to the sacrifice made by people from around the world to free Europe from Hitler’s grip.

As they toured Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach, the group learned about the intricate workings of D-Day and Operation Overlord: how it was originally planned for June 5th but postponed due to a storm, how the German commander of the region was, by chance, in Germany during the invasion and how Hitler was convinced that an attack from Allied forces would come further north, near Calais. They also learned about the rangers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, the difficulty of their mission and the many who died, as well as the landing on Omaha Beach and the complications involved in that historic mission. Throughout the lecture, the group was asked to imagine this extraordinary historical moment in 1944, nearly 70 years ago, as they walked over pieces of cement and steel, along the barbed wire and the charred remains of German bunkers – all visceral reminders of the events of D-Day.

The afternoon ended with a tour of the American Cemetery where the group learned stories of the men who stormed the beach of Omaha, such as the Niland Brothers, who inspired the film Saving Private Ryan, and Radioman 2nd Class, Julius Pieper, who, 74 years after his death, was buried next to his twin brother, Radioman 2nd Class Ludwig Pieper.

Stories, like those of the Niland and Pieper brothers, had an effect on the group with many of them visibly moved hearing these stories and seeing pictures of the people who were resting among the thousands buried in the cemetery. Luis Padula, an American with Venezuelan roots attending the University’s three-week summer program from the University of Texas, was one of those affected by what he saw. He came to Paris for AUP’s French Immersion program but took the opportunity to join the Cultural Program trip to Normandy. “It’s incredible to put yourself in the spot of these men who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “You can learn about this in history class, but to be here, to touch the rusted metal doors of these bunkers, feel the rusted barbed wire and look out over these immense cliffs, it gives a richer understanding to what these men had to overcome.”

Alexis Dang, the Cultural Programs Coordinator, attended this trip, as she does many others, to ensure the logistics of the trip. She reflected on the experience of the participants: “Summer students are often different from students that participate in the Cultural Programs during other semesters. Many of them are in France specifically to learn French and many of them are non-traditional students. While some students are looking to fill a few university credits, others are older, maybe on vacation or maybe even already retired from their careers. They often don’t know a lot about France and are eager to discover everything they can in the few short weeks they are here.”

One such non-traditional student present for this trip was Mary McLean Evans, AUP’s Vice President for Presidential Initiatives. She had been attending the French Immersion class over the summer and decided to take advantage of the Cultural Program as part of her studies. “The great thing about it is that there is an educational context and you’re learning things, but at the same time you’re forming new friendships that are forged in this intense experience. When you do these trips in the summer, you’re with these people from all these other institutions, all these other students from around the world. It really brings the concept of the global explorer, the global citizen, to life.”      

Students, like Luis and Mary, as well as alumni like Barbara and staff members like Alexis, are all part of our community of global explorers. Through the Cultural Programs, they are able to delve even deeper into an experience, such as what awaits eager travelers to Normandy. They come away from these experiences transformed and, perhaps, with a new friend.

The Cultural Programs series are organized by the University and are funded in part by generous donors who give to the Coup de Pouce fund that provides scholarships allowing many students to take part in these perspective-altering programs.