Arrondissement du Havre

Well...I woke up this morning and figured out why I have been so exhausted. I must have been fighting a bug. This morning it officially won.

Our excursion is not until 10:15 AM so we had a slow morning, ate breakfast (since I am taking tons of medicine - I needed something in my stomach).

Our excursion for today is Normandy and D-Day. We both know that this will be a very emotional day.

We got in the same bus with Henry, Krystal, Jim, Lynn, Donna, and Art.

We had about a two hour drive during which our guide gave us the history of Operation Overlord. Our guide had a very heavy French accent and she spoke very fast. It was really hard for me to understand her which was beyond frustrating. I have limited knowledge of WWII and would have loved to have gotten the background information.

We stopped at Arromanches for lunch and a tour of the museum. When we got to the museum, we were given headsets and told that they would work automatically as we moved through the museum.

The first stop in the museum was a film about the building of Mulberry Harbor. This is such an amazing feat of engineering and military subterfuge.

As we made our way to the next exhibits, our device would not play anything for exhibits 2-10. After wasting a bunch of time trying to get the device to work, I asked a guide who was clueless. I then made my way back to the entrance and spoke with the front desk. They informed me that since we were with a group and had only a short time allotted at the museum, our devices were programmed to only play the films and a few of the exhibits. I was beyond frustrated! This excursion was to learn about WWII and D-Day not to waste time eating and shopping!

Needless to say, with all the time I spent trying to figure out the device, I was one of the last people in our group out of the museum.

I walked along the beach viewing the remnants of Mulberry Harbor and then found Bob browsing in the city. We decided to walk some of the quaint streets. We came upon another museum whose exhibits had all been donated by WWII veterans or their families. This was a wonderful and much more personal museum and we wish we would have had more time to spend here.

We made our way back to the square outside of the first museum. Our guide was frantically looking for us. We were exactly on time but were last ones to the bus.

Our next stop was the Normandy American Cemetery. This cementery contains graves of nearly 9,400 and a Wall of the Missing with 1,600 names.

Just as we reached the area by the Wall of the Missing, the Star Spangle Banner. I barely held it together.

As we began walking to the chapel, Taps began playing....I totally lost it. It is hard to grasp the magnitude of loss that these graves represent. Young men who answered the call to defend not only our nation but the World from evil.

Looking at the current state of the world, it pains me to conclude that we have either not learned the lessons of the past or we have forgotten.

After the emotional visit to the American cemetery, we drive to Omaha Beach for a short time.

We then drove back to the ship via the town of Honfleur. Honfleur is a beautiful town. I would have loved to spend some time here.

I will once again add pictures taken with my phone and will edit pictures and add more later.Read more