Blue Stone Blue Ocean

80 years. June 6, 1944. Day D.

Join us next summer on Behind & Beyond, our moving and essential Family Learning Journey in Europe.

Ask us. Visit our website (link in bio).

Faces full of wonder and eyes aglow with delight, which famous monument do you think these young students are just discovering for the first time during our latest Family Learning Journey ‘Europe Through the Ages’ (Summer 2023) by BlueStoneBlueOcean with ?

California, Mexico, England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain…2023… What a year!

What about 2024?

❤️








And you? Are you hoping to travel too?

Travel with us. Live something.

Part 1: Do you know what these trees are and why they are « stripped » halfway down?
The clue is in the next photo!

ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN

Country Hopping Along the Sea.
Spain • France •Italy
June 2-15, 2024

Open for booking on
https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/along-the-mediterranean

Along the Mediterranean
a # journey by

ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN
Country Hopping Along the Sea
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a cultural immersion trip by BlueStoneBlueOcean
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June 2-15, 2024
Spain • France • Italy
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Early bird until Dec 7, 2023
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More on our website (link in bio).

With Ann, one of our Californian business partners visiting us in France.

Two new “Introduction to Art de Vivre” sessions to come in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties (CA)! Ask us.
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“Introduction to Arts de Vivre” series, a BlueStoneBlueOcean • EXPERIENCE.

Visit our website and discover our trips open for booking in 2024 (1st semester).

Our very first « Introduction to American Art de Vivre in France” ! Thanksgiving Special!

Ask us about our next “Introduction to French Art de Vivre in the US”!

“Introduction to Arts de Vivre” series, a BlueStoneBlueOcean • EXPERIENCE.

Visit our website and discover our trips open for booking in 2024 (1st semester).

BEHIND & BEYOND
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on our https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond
Early Bird price until December 5.

****please share****

BEHIND & BEYOND
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on our https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond
Early Bird price until December 5.

Behind and Beyond
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on our https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond
Early Bird price until December 5.

****please share****

Thank you so much for the share and support 🫶

World-class museums about WWI, WWII and the Cold War, walking in the footsteps of the hundreds of thousands who died in battle, reflecting at the monuments of those who died, this is the way to make history come alive. To look behind us at what has happened as we peer into the future and decide what is most important. Our trips teach, immerse and equip us for the future.

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Behind and Beyond
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond

Early Bird price until December 5.

****please share****

Gold-covered dome and cannons in a line, symbols of might and money. Join us on this multi-generational learning journey to understand the complexities of the wars behind us, the situations we face today and what we hope for in the beyond.

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Behind and Beyond
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond
Early Bird price until December 5.

****please share****

Searching for light in the darkness.

•
Behind and Beyond
(Lessons from Wars and Peace in Europe)
June 16-30, 2024
France • Germany

Discover our new Family Learning Journey. This is an essential trip, especially in today’s context. It’s serious but has a lighter side too. Open to all.

More on https://www.bluestoneblueocean.com/trips/behind-and-beyond
Early Bird price until Dec 5, 2023.

****please share****

The Arroyo Grande-made Italian limoncello is ready and we are looking forward to our Limoncello & Lemonade Shindig tonight! 🍋🥰🍋 trips . Photo thanks to

There are no good pictures of a concentration camp. Nothing to attract attention and make people want to go on our trip to learn about the world wars. Just as there is no good way to write about it. We visited days ago. I had grand plans to write and post often about this trip planning trip. But I got stuck at the concentration camp. It is a long, informative and moving visit, but truly painful. Before I started this voyage I had so many accusatory questions. And the more it goes, the more I learn, the more I feel, and the more I understand the incomprehensible and the more I know that we cannot cease in this conversation and this remembering. I know that we have to remain ever vigilant in the pursuit of peace and racial justice and measures that prevent dictatorship and extremism.

Steel business is big business in a time of war! Visiting this abandoned steel plant on the Western side of Germany was enlightening, both for the visually stunning tangle of twisting and now rusting metal, as well as the opportunity to learn about the role this factory played in both wars and it’s dark history of forced labor during World War II. I read all I could on my visit to try to understand what happened with the owners of this factory but in the end, the two confusing lines sharing that he was tried for war crimes and convicted in 1949 and then pardoned two years later just left me confused and wondering what happened. After more research, a complicated and ugly story emerged full of anti-Semitism, vehement support for Hi**er, serving in the N**i party, benefiting from forced labor and an opportunity to make a fortune. Who knows what political egg shells were walked on and/or fragile agreements reached in the creation of the exhibits at this UNESCO World Heritage Site, but one thing is for sure, when it comes to studying a complicated and still painful history, perspective matters and we have to do our homework.
Additionally fascinating at this site however is the inclusion of contemporary art exhibits that are commentary on this site and deeply critical and meaningful. It’s an incredible stop for helping to understand the economics and politics that played a role in the wars.

During WWI the fighting was so intense and nearly incessant in certain areas that several villages were literally obliterated. The ground churned and devoid of living material, stone walls lying in heaps, and charred skeletons of trees made it nearly impossible to recognize. After the war shrapnel and live but undetonated explosives filled the soil to a depth of 80 meters. France declared several villages uninhabitable and didn’t allow the villagers to rebuild. These are the villages that died for France. They were allowed to rebuild the chapel only and to this day, there is still a mayor (living elsewhere) but only markers remain to mark the location of the school, bakery, or someone’s house or farm.

The town of Reims was barraged with bombing and shelling during WWI when about 85% of the town was destroyed. However, an ancient network of Roman tunnels lie beneath the town, carved into the chalky calcareous soil and these tunnels, most famously occupied by millions of champagne bottles, offered refuge for the citizens, saving countless lives.

Part 1 of this story is in the last post. Part 2: The man told us about his property. They had a castle here but it was occupied by the Germans in WWI. The owner at the time, his wife’s relative, was a young French officer stationed elsewhere during the war. When the Americans arrived, he gave them the coordinates so they could bomb his occupied castle. The bombing leveled it and the village church next door. After liberating the town, the Americans (26th division) told the people they would rebuild the church. The man laughs and says, « as an apology for destroying the 1st. » Indeed, each soldier in the 26th regiment donated one days pay and the church was rebuilt. As for the house, they took from the rubble of the castle what they could and built a lovely house, although not quite a castle, across the street. Now he comes to spend weekends, mow the grass and share stories with the people who come to drink from the Devil Dog fountain, before returning to another world and another time in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

He lives in the 5th arrondissement in Paris (that’s a fancy neighborhood) but he comes frequently to his wife’s family home, which he now owns, to take care of the place and spend 3 days mowing the lawns. That’s what he was doing when he climbed off his riding mower to talk with us. We came to this tiny village because it was the site of a critical battle that began to turn the tide of WWI and it’s especially important for Americans as it was the first ever battle on foreign soil. It took many years for America to enter the war but when they did, this battle showed that the Marines could fight. The Germans called them the bulldogs. On the property of this man there is a devil dog fountain which is a pilgrimage site for Marines. If they come to drink from this fountain, they’ll be protected in battle. We came to look but didn’t dare to drink.
More on this man an his family legacy tomorrow!
journey

Follow along with us as we build an Educational Learning Journey focusing on WWI and WWII. We’ll post in stories! And we may have questions for you as we go along.

“We haven’t posted in a long time… But a lot has happened since then! Mexico, California, England, France and now Italy… So much to tell, so much share…

Cheers

Cédric and Cindy”

Recommendation 1: follow our daily Stories.
Recommendation 2: ask us for for setting our next trip together:))