Normandy: Some gave all...

What a moving and magical Memorial weekend we have just had!   I am going to do two separate blogs this week.  We traveled to Normandy, France and spent a couple of days around the D-Day beaches of Normandy, the Peace museum in Caen, and attending the memorial service at the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach.  Then we drove further west to the fairy tale destination of Mont Saint Michel.  I will do a separate blog on that as soon as I finish this one.

We had a 3 day weekend, so we decided it was a perfect time to take a trip with the McGraths over to France and see the sites.  We left on Friday as soon as the boys got out of school and drove to a town just north of Paris and stayed at a "budget hotel".  It looked nice enough from the outside, but we were all a bit surprised at how budget it actually was.  No carpet, a small full bed and a bunk bed right next to each other. and a very small bathroom.  The next morning, Missy ran to a bakery and got some stuff for breakfast.  We all sat down at the table outside of the hotel to eat and within minutes a lady came out saying "Non, non...No is posseeeble!  No is posseeeeeble!   She didn't want us eating outside food at their restaurant table!!   Okey dokey...we packed up and left.  No big deal, it was only for one night and then we were back on the road for a few more hours.  

Our destination was Caen, France.  There is a museum here officially called the Caen Memorial: History to Understand the World.  It is usually referred to as the Peace Museum.  It is pretty pricey at 16.50 Euro per person, but veterans are free, so Mike and Mike got free entrance.
We spent a couple of hours here looking at the chronological history of how we got to World War II and eventually D-Day.  


After that we looked for a place for lunch and ended up in downtown Caen.  It was a bustling city with a marina, a beautiful church and a fortress. We forgot that everything closes between 12 and 3...so there was not much in the way of choices for a good lunch.  McGraths found a McDonalds and we went for a Doners (like greek gyros) and pommes (fries) stand.


We drove out to the beaches and came to Gold Beach first near Arromanches.  There is still visible several pieces of a pre fab harbor that was built out of old ships from England, that were sunk on purpose, and big football sized cement blocks that had been towed across the channel and sunk and the they added 7 pierheads and four miles of concrete road on top of that. It was an essential part of the D-Day plan to get troops, vehicles, and goods onto the beach.

Looking over the cliff the rangers had to scale.

We continued up the coast to the cliffs of Point Du Hoc.  The visitor center was closed when we got there, but we walked out the trail to the cliffs. 
 This is the point where 300 U.S. Army rangers scaled the cliffs on these tiny rope ladders borrowed from the London fire department.  The germans were well fortified on the cliffs above with big rotating guns. As the rangers climbed the ropes, the germans were shooting at them, cutting the ropes and doing whatever they could to stop the rangers.  Beforehand, the allied forces had bombed the heck out of the german bunkers and the bomb craters are all still there.  They are huge and some are really deep.  The bunkers are considered gravesites, which was hard to explain to two 15 year olds who kept picturing them as a great place to set up a BMX track. 

As you can see from the pictures it was really, really windy that evening, but it didn't stop us for a minute from soaking up the experience of walking where those brave soldiers and rangers fought so valiantly.


That night we found a creperie and had mushroom crepes and chocolate crepes for dinner then headed back to our hotel in Caen.  This was budget hotel number 2.  The Crocus Hotel. If we thought night number one was budget....we were even more surprised at this one!!  Our room had three single beds lined up in row with not even walking room between them and when you walked in to the room you could take one step to the right and be in the beds or one step straight ahead and be in the "smaller than a stateroom on a cruise ship" bathroom.  Those were your two choices.  I have now figured out what is meant by a budget european hotel.

On Sunday we went to the American Military Cemetery in Coleville Sur Mer. It is located on a bluff above Omaha Beach.  I saw this old man in concentration camp clothes.  They looked very old.  I really wish I knew his story.


  Because we were there early enough and Mike and Mike were military, we were able to get a seat for the memorial service.

  It was very moving to sit among those white crosses and at the base of the American flag and the French flag both at half staff. They played the national anthem of both countries. That really made me misty eyed, it was a very emotional moment for me. The national anthem always gets to to me, but the surroundings made it ten times more meaningful.

 There was a fly by of 2 F-15's from Lakenheath AFB in England and then several prayers and talks in both English and French. Then  they had the wreath laying and played taps, raised the flags and had a twenty one gun salute.  What a way to spend a Sunday morning!

Then we walked among the 9,387 headstones and then followed the path down to Omaha Beach.  It has been called "that embattled shore-portal of freedom".  

There were a few people down there but most were quiet and respectful.  You really get a sense of what took place there as you look out to sea and imagine the ships off loading all those brave soldiers and then picture them wading up to shore. 

Then I turned and faced the stretch of sand dunes and then the  bluff that is covered with dense trees and bushes.  What a gauntlet they faced!
We walked back up to the visitors center and spent about an hour there.  It is so beautifully done.  


I am so grateful to have been able to see these things in person and to give my thanks, pay respect and honor the troops from the Battle of Normandy.   


After that we had a late lunch at a little restaurant right by the cemetery.  I had a really good chicken salad that was as pretty as it was tasty.  The owner was very friendly, which we came to appreciate. 

 We found the French to be a bit aloof and much less willing to try to help us out with our struggling attempts to talk to them in French and/or English than the other countries we have been in.   It was such treat when we found someone who would interact with us.  

Then we drove through the french countryside past so many charming Maisons and Chateaus.   It really is like driving through a painting!!   


That's it for this one.....next stop....Mont Saint Michel.   Another fairy tale moment :)


love and miss you all,
-corri