Bonhomme Richard LREC 2012 Pictures

During May 2012, four midshipmen who had taken the Historic Shipwrecks course in the spring of 2012 participated in an LREC to France and the United Kingdom.

The activities can be broken in several categories:

interactions with the French Navy, including visits to the French Naval Academy, an SSBN, and a mine hunter;
sites related to the search for the Bonhomme Richard, and naval life in the age of sail, including visits to naval museums in Paris, Rochefort, and Portsmouth, the recreation of the frigate Hermione which brought Lafayette to the colonies during the American Revolution, and Lord Nelson’s Victory
general French and UK culture, with highlights including Mont St Michel, the Louvre and the Chateau de Versailles.
military history, with the Normandy beaches and the Army Museum in Paris being the top highlights.

	French mine hunter, Brest. We could not take pictures on the SSBN base.
	Castle, Brest. This castle contains a naval museum, which was closed for renovations at the time we visited.
	Monument commemorating the alliance between France and the United States during World War II. Brest was a major naval port used by the Germans, and the city was almost completely destoyed.
	l'Hermione, Rochefort, France. This is a recreation of the frigate which brought Lafayette to North America during the Revolution. It is scheduled to cross the Atlantic in 2015.
	Mont Saint Michel
	Utah Beach, Normandy. This is a monument to the US Navy ships involved in the landings; clicking of picture for the full resolution version reveals USS Anne Arundel (AP-76) as the first ship in the listing.
	Lord Nelson's Victory, Portsmouth UK
	Palace of Versailles
	Army Museum, Paris
	Sainte Chapelle, Paris.

France/UK BHR LREC Itinerary

Day	Location	Major Events
5/11	Fly out late evening
5/12 Sat	Arrive Paris, stay at Roissy near CDG airport	Visited Notre Dame, walked all over the Rive Gauche
5/13 Sun	Second night Roissy	Visted Sainte Chapelle (some mids), Naval Museum, walked all over the Rive Droite
5/14	Arrive Brest	Long drive
5/15	Brest	Tour of French Naval Academy, and French SSBN. The Naval Museum in Brest was closed for renovation.
5/16	Brest, then travel to Rochefort	Visit Rear Admiral Demeocq (Prof Guth) and minesweeper ANDROMEDE; long drive to Rochefort
5/17	to Caen	Visit Saintes (medieval monastery, Roman amphitheater, Roman museum) Visit Rochefort (Royal rope making, Hermione recreation, and Naval Museum, and a tour of the Hermione 5 hour drive starting 1900
5/18	Normandy beaches	Mont St Michel, Ste. Mere Eglese, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach (Normandy Invasion sites)
5/19 Sat	To Portsmouth	Ferry to Portsmouth. Visit Victory, the Mary Rose Museum, the Victory gallery, and the Warrior. Mary Rose itself was closed as the new museum nears completion.
5/20 Sun	Back to Caen	Free morning in Portsmouth, then ferry to France.
5/21	to Paris	Visit Les Invalides and the Army Museum.
5/22	Paris	Visit Place de la Bastille, Sacre Coeur, St Germain des Pres, Galleries Lafayette
5/23	Paris	Visit the Louvre
5/24	Paris	Visit Versailles and its gardens
5/25 Fri	Fly back to US