Here are some shots from our Normandy adventure...
This is our B&B in the area near Epernay, the Champagne region of France. This was a convenient stopping point as it was close to half way to Normandy, but far enough from Paris that prices were not out of hand.
Another selling point of stopping in this area - champagne. This is one of the many chateaus; this is a "local" house in that their champagne is not widely distributed. Small timers.
Champagne anyone? Shelly snapped this shot while on a tour of the Mercier facilities. Mercier is the most widely consumed champagne in France. Yeah, we bought a case for ourselves.
Our B&B in Normandy didn't offer dinner so we went into Bayeux to look around and find something to eat. It turns out that the French are not on Madison's schedule so no restaurants were open until after 7:00 PM. Madison doesn't do waiting when she is hungry so we ducked into a deli for supplies and had a picnic on the grounds of the cathedral.
On our first full day in Normandy we made our way directly to Colville su mer for the American cemetery and to tour the sites of the D-Day invasion.
It is relatively pointless to try to describe the grounds at the cemetery (there are others, but Colville su mer is the most famous) so I will let the pictures due the talking. One thing that everyone notices is how immaculate the grounds are kept.
Omaha beach, directly below the cemetery. The two perspectives - defensive forces (German) on the left, attacking (American) on the right.
This is pretty much the entirety of Omaha beach, looking to the north/west in the direction of Point du Hoc and Utah beach. The photo is taken from the ruins of a German artillery emplacement.
Shelly and Madison taking a load off before we made our way further up the coast.
From Omaha beach we worked our way up the coast to Point du Hoc. The cliffs in the picture on the left were attacked by a Ranger battalion. The Rangers had to scale the cliffs in order to knock out German gun emplacements the allies believed to be located here. As it turns out the guns had been moved and the Rangers found them several days later. The encampment was heavily bombed; I am standing in one of the smaller craters left by the extensive bombing.
We made our way south and east to Arromanches where we stopped to have lunch. In almost every eatery we dined they had these high chairs where you lift up the tray, put the little one in, and then bring the tray back up over your kid. Every chair indicated that the tray locked in place, but none of them actually did. This made eating very entertaining - for Madison.
Arromanches was one of two sites for the Mulberry Harbours - huge concrete casements manufactured and towed over from Britain. German forces where known to have set explosives on all the usable harbours along the French coast so the likelihood of capturing an intact port was unlikely. The need for a port was necessary, however, so the Americans and British built the two pre-fabricated harbours. The second, at Omaha beach, was destroyed two weeks after D-day by a storm, but the first is still somewhat in tact in Arromanches.
Madison playing on the beach during low tide - the Normandy beaches have some of the largest tidal variations in the world.
Here you can see a portion of what remains of the artificial harbour. The scale of the port, 4.5 miles from one end to the other, drives home the industrial might brought into play during the war.
Enough said.
The following day we took a break from WWII history and paid a visit to Mont Saint-Michel. From our perspective, Saint-Michel is more likable from the outside than inside. Once the island comes into view as you approach, it is really quite stunning. Inside however, the place is crawling with tourists and shops selling trinkets. The abbey is nice, and you can wander around freely, but it isn't anything special. Of course we have seen about a hundred cathedrals at this point.
The person that works at McDonald's that decided to put the play areas at their restaurants is a genius and should be giving huge sums of money from the company. Talk about establishing brand loyalty at a young age; Madison was hooked by 16 months. This all started because my sister and I meet at a McDonald's when the Ballards have watched Madison for us in the past. Then on this trip to Normandy, Shelly and I stopped once or twice a day at a McDonald's just to give Madison a chance to run around a bit. Now we can't pass the golden arches without Madison pointing them out to us. When we do stop, Madison is very pleased.
Back on the WWII history trail we stopped at Longes Sur Mer, one of the only place where the German artillery pieces are still in their casements. A bit of trivia - several scenes from The Longest Day where shot here.
Shelly and Madison at the German forward observation post; it really is quite a view from this spot.
On our return to Germany we again stayed at the same B&B in Epernay. On our way in we stopped at yet another American cemetery and war memorial; this time a WWI memorial dedicated to the Marines that fought in the battle of Belleau Wood.
In the woods behind the cemetery, where the battle took place, there are trenches and cannons still in place. I have pictures and I posted them, but they have vanished. I will see if I can get them off our laptop.
More McDonald's fun for Madison.
We had a great 3 years touring Europe and we hope you enjoyed keeping tabs on our adventure. I will keep the updates coming as we get settled here in Florida.
Well, that is all from Europe (as I complete this post in Clearwater, Florida - yes, the weather is AWESOME!). -- Ed
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