Day 14 Normandy

One night stay at Dinan in the Normandy area and we packed up the bags and headed to the beaches of Normandy, famous site of D-Day.  It was quite moving to stand in places on the beach where amphibious boats landed ashore to drop off troops or stand in bunkers or near bomb craters in fields were soldiers died. All along the drive through the Normandy area are fields and hills where just 70 years ago allied forces were moving on foot.  Today homes and shops proudly display French, American and the British flags in honor of the allied troops.

Our first stop was La Pointe du Hoc, the Ranger Monument.  Pointe du Hoc sits on a cliff 100 ft overlooking the English Channel.  The German army fortified the area with concrete bunkers. On D-Day the U.S. army rangers assulted and help capture Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs.  The ground is pitted with huge bomb craters and reminents of bunkers.

Next stop was Omaha Beach where stands a monument commemorating D-Day.  We walked the beach were the Americans stormed Normandy.  It is a beautiful beach but haunting to think of that day when the water was red with blood and dead and injured bodies everywhere.  Chilling...

After our quick stop we were off to the American Cemetery and Monument.  The cemetery is lined with rows and rows of marble Crosses and Star of David headstones for fallen soldiers.  The two Niland brothers (2 of 4 brothers) are buried here as told by the movie Saving Private Ryan.

We stopped in Arromanches for lunch, a small town on the water known for their seafood.  Stephanie and I and a few other families enjoyed seafood lunch at a local restaurant.  Trés bien!

Our last stop was the WWII museum in Caen.  Could have spent a few hours there but time was cut short due to our tight schedule.  The interesting part for me was the view point of the war from the French and the devistation to their country.  Unlike the history we have been learning about from Roman and Medieval times in other parts of France, this history is recent and tied closely to our U.S. history.

Tonight we are staying in Rouen for one night.  Cannot believe that our trip is almost over!

Another parent meeting...