We started out our first full day in France with delicious French pastries enjoyed with A&D at a cafe. After breakfast and packing up the car with us and our picnic we headed off for the Normandy beaches to get a taste of U.S. and allied history on French soil. We arrived around 10AM at Omaha Beach in Colleville-Sur-Mer, home to one of the historic June 6, 1944 D-day landings and the U.S. Memorial Cemetery.
Entering the beach area we took a quick look at the planned memorial entrance and then climbed down to the actual beach below. The beach is awe-inspiring. To stand in this vast openness where the allied forces landed, you can't help but realize how so many lives were lost. There was (and is) no cover. There was nowhere to run but forward, toward the German army in the sloping hills that line the beach. It's startling to realize that nothing but pure force of will could have propelled the allied armies over the bunkers and allowed them to take the beach head. Standing on the beach in France I got the same patriotic jolt I get from a visit to the FDR Memorial, a jolt meant to remind me of those who sacrificed for what was right and righteous and to whom I owe many of the freedoms I enjoy today.
(Alyce on the Beach)
(The quote that marks the entrance to the beach and Memorial Cemetary)After seeing the beach we climbed the 50 or so steps back up to the Memorial Cemetery. We walked through one area, looking at the names of those soldiers who fell fighting for the allied forces. We also stumbled across a number of unknown soldiers. Finally, we trekked down to the memorial chapel and back to the statuary area. It was a sobering visit that I would make again.
(A view of the Cemetery)
(Grave of an unknown soldier)After the Memorial Cemetery, we stopped for a short and delicious picnic by the water. Again, A&D spoiled us with market goodies including some of the best goat cheese I've ever had!! After we'd eaten our fill we continued to Pointe du Hoc, where there are still giant craters in the ground from the shelling that took place there as well as a number of still standing German bunkers. It's crazy to think that bunkers that were meant to be temporary were constructed so well that they are still standing 65 years later.
(Alyce climbing into one of the bunkers)
(Dave at Pointe du Hoc)At Pointe du Hoc the wind was picking up but we weren't to be deterred. After we'd seen our fill of bunkers and shell holes we made our way up the road to Utah Beach, the second landing site for U.S. troops on D-day. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived the winds were so high we were being pelted with sand. So our stay at Utah was much shorter than Omaha. We snapped a few shots, saw a Sherman tank and then jumped back in the car en route to St. Mere Eglise, the landing site of a parachuter gone astray on D-day. When we arrived we saw that the steeple of church on which the soldier's chute caught has memorialized his landing, as you can see in the picture below.
(The kind of creepy mannequin parachuter)By the time we had seen the parachuter we were chilled to the bones and needed something to pick us up so into a local cafe for a tea. When we were done we piled back into the car and headed for our residence for the night, a hotel in Avranches. We enjoyed a lovely dinner there and even had a chance to walk through the gardens and see Le Mont St. Michel in the distance.
No comments:
Post a Comment