Normandy, France

I'm not a history buff, but I have always thought it would be interesting to go to the Normandy Beaches.  Matt and Lisa Taylor tipped us off to a guided tour that was well worth the effort and expense.  We spent a very full day exploring the beaches and learning about the horrors and miraculous accomplishments of D-Day.

 

We started our tour at St. Mere Eglise, the first town to be liberated in France.  This is also where one of the US paratrooper divisions landed.  They were way off their mark!  The story of the man hanging from the church steeple is an interesting one.  He has been decorated and remembered by many.  In fact, his effigy here is hanging from the wrong side of the church.  During the actual invasion, there was a huge house fire on this side of the church, so he would have been highlighted by that fire.  Instead, he was hanging on the opposite side of the church in the shadows.




Stained glass in the church
at Ste Mere Eglise



Our Tour Guide

There is a good museum in Ste Mere Eglise where you can see this glider among other pieces of history.  The gliders were meant to be released from planes and land with no power at all.  Who thought that was a good idea?


 

Omaha Beach

The US troops were to land at Utah and Omaha beaches.  The British and the Canadians each had beaches of their own to the east to concur.  Since our trip, we have watched the movie "The Longest Day" and it is an excellent depiction of the day's events.  Although the amphibious landing in "Saving Private Ryan" was realistic, our guide says the rest of that movie is ridiculous. 


More things went wrong than right on D-Day.  The weather was bad and pushed the troops off course.  Thanks to a comprehensive deception plan attributed to the British (and you thought that James Bond was pure fiction), the Germans were expecting the landing to be further north where the English Channel is much more narrow.

                     

Still, they had one particular leader who had a sixth sense and anticipated the Normandy landing.  He installed all sorts of contraptions to ensnare the allied troops and was pretty effective.  The sheer number  and the determination of the troops is mind boggling to me.  The people of this region are still very thankful to the allies and rightly so.






The German Cemetery is much more stoic

  The American Cemetery is really stunning.  Those who fought in WWII are long in the tooth by this point, but still they come to this site on a yearly basis to remember that day!  Please watch the movie since I cannot do this justice on a simple blog.  This day is definitely in my Top Ten List, so if you can go, you should!

Our lovely chateau.  Again, the French know how to do these things....