Normandy D-Day beaches

Normandy and the D-Day beaches have been a destination goal of ours since we arrived in France. Last weekend, we rented a car and drove the two hours north of Paris to arrive in Bayeux in time for our afternoon tour. Our young French guide picked us up in her van and we climbed into the front seat, joining six other Americans ready to remember that somber day. The weather was appropriate.....cloudy, cool, and a few raindrops. It fit.

Our first stop was the Point du Hoc, nestled between Omaha and Utah beaches. We walked among the craters created by the bombs, and saw the remnants of that day.... June 6, 1944, when around 156,000 Allied troops came ashore to liberate France from the German occupation. Bunkers were still visible and it all became more real to understand how over 2,500 Allied soldiers died that day. Visions of "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Longest Day" went through our minds, as well as World War II documentaries....

Our next stop was Omaha Beach where the biggest battle took place with the most casualties. We could see bunkers still in the cliffs surrounding the beach. Our guide also told us that the French civilians were casualties too....nearly 20,000 died as a result of the bombings. As we drove through the small villages, she pointed out where buildings had been rebuilt.

We stopped at a museum, watched a short movie there, and visited both the German and American cemeteries. The numbers were hard to comprehend. By the end of the Normandy battles that lasted through the summer, there were over 425,000 casualties, either killed, wounded or missing. To see the rows and rows of crosses and Star of Davids gave us a glimpse of the numbers......The American cemetery has nearly 10,000 markers, all of them facing towards the United States. Yet, it is in a beautiful setting and it is operated by the American government on land overlooking the sea, given to them by France.

The afternoon ended in beautiful sunshine and we looked forward to turning our minds to something more pleasant.... staying in a 17th century mill in the Normandy countryside. Do we ever stay somewhere "normal"? More on that in the next post.....