Normandy

Today is all about D Day and the invasion on the Normandy coast. Operation Overlord as it was known.

The Caen WW2 Museum was built on top of the former underground France headquarters for the German generals and is every inch a lesson in symbolism.

You enter the building through a small door in the middle of a huge flat façade representing the Allies’ breach of the seemingly impenetrable Nazi Atlantic wall.

The museum covers all the obvious topics:
· the start and globalization of the war,
· the various resistance movements,
· genocide and mass violence,
· liberation and the end of the war,
· the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy.

My favorite picture is of the dummy air troopers that they dropped over Le Havre to the north to fool the Germans about the number of air troops coming! There were lots of other decoys that day.

A short drive later and we are at the first of the five beaches that were the landings of the Allies. Arromanches-les-Bains was charming and was called Gold Beach for the landing. It played an invaluable part in the D-Day landings because the Allies built an artificial harbor to facilitate the unloading of vehicles, materials, and troops into Western Europe. Mulberry Harbor, as it’s formally known, had, by June 12, 1944, helped bring 300,000 men, 54,000 vehicles, and 104,000 tons of supplies. There are still remnants of the harbour showing off the beach.

Next stop was the most emotional site of the day.

The Normandy American Cemetery is a perfectly manicured US maintained cemetery and memorial to just under 10,000 soldiers. Each grave is immaculate, and each row precisely and symmetrically aligned.

Families were given a choice of the remains being brought home or they could have their loved ones buried here.

The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach, another famous landing zone. The French government gave this land to the United States free of charge and taxation to use forever and it is now considered American soil.

On to Pointe du Hoc where the U.S. Army captured German Battery Guns after scaling the cliffs—a feat many previously believed to be impossible. It is between Omaha and Utah landing zones.

They used grappling hooks and rope ladders that were fired from rocket launchers on their landing crafts. These guys scaled a cliff with just rope while being shot at with automatic weapons from all angles.

Today, Pointe do Hoc still has its German gun casements and bunkers, is completely surrounded by bomb craters. These bomb craters provide a visual you can’t get anywhere else. No other D-Day sites have bomb craters left intact. There are so many as far as the eye can see to give you an idea of the bombardment.

Our Normandy day has been long and challenging so now we turned our car back toward Honfleur. Unfortunately, we were met with a lashing storm which last several hours. The traffic was really congested but we got back safely.

Our Airbnb host has recommended a seafood restaurant we are going to try tonight.Read more