We arrived at our cute B&B after 7 pm. The owners welcomed us kindly and showed us around. They were a couple from Britain who had lived in France for over fifteen years. They own this cute mansion and B&B business is what they live off out here in the countryside.
A cute “barn” that was converted into a “bar”.
We went to the nearest town as soon as we got settled and found a good dinner at one of the bistros. We had a long day ahead of us the following day—and rain ALL DAY was in the forecast.
That did not stop us! After all, it was just rain, not bitter cold (like Cornwall in April). We made sure to wear good coats and headed up to the beaches.
First stop: Utah Beach D-Day Museum. Our rating-5 stars!
The plan was to explore the museum first, hoping that the rain would not get worse. This is Katya walking towards the museum.
Actually, before I continue, I have to tell you something. It’s interesting that until about ten years ago, I had no idea what D-Day was. It’s almost strange that I don’t remember ever learning about this significant event in history during my school years—and I was a good student!
I remember our studies of WW2 were mainly focused on the Eastern front, movements of the Soviet military and their successes and set backs in the war. Another possibility of why I don’t remember this is that maybe this is the material that was studied during my senior year of the Ukrainian school, but since I was going to a US high school then, I could have missed the allied forces side of the story.
I remember our studies of WW2 were mainly focused on the Eastern front, movements of the Soviet military and their successes and set backs in the war. Another possibility of why I don’t remember this is that maybe this is the material that was studied during my senior year of the Ukrainian school, but since I was going to a US high school then, I could have missed the allied forces side of the story.
In any case, it was good for me to read about D-Day before we took a trip to Normandy. In short, here is why people flock to this area. Northern French beaches is the place where, on June 6th, 1944, over 156,000 troops from the Allied Forces (Britain, US, Canada) landed in the early hours to face Germans occupying this area. It was a massive operation, in fact, the largest of this kind in any war, that had been in planning for months. The timing had to be just right—it had to be low tide to avoid all those poky Rommel’s barriers that would prevent ships from coming close to shore. They also waited for the full moon to help light the way to those dropping from planes at Cherbourg and Caen. Unfortunately, a lot of parachutists did not land on target, but a lot of them did make it despite having to fight the German forces right as they landed.
Thousands were carried over from Britain in ships. The seas were rough, the crossing was brutal at dawn with many overcome with seasickness. Some ships did not land in the right spot either, so men had to make their way through the water, sand, marsh, all while under German fire. Writing about this seems so simple, but it’s quite unimaginable to me what these brave men were experiencing. There is a lot more that went into this operation, of course. Utah Beach was only one of the major sights where the troops landed.
By the end of 11 June (so in five days) a total of 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches. This point in WW2 was a turning one. Less than a year later, the Nazis were defeated.
We chose to take the children to this particular museum because, we heard, it gave the most comprehensive overview of the landing on one of the most famous beaches. We followed the story of how it all happened, looked at the actual vehicles used in the operation, read stories of people who stood out in this battle for their courage or achievements, and watched a 20 minute documentary film that explained in detail, with video footage and great maps, how it all happened. The older kids loved this last part. Even Mark was fascinated with all the bombings and ships and planes. He caught on pretty quickly who were the “bad guys” and enjoyed exploring with the rest of us.
Imagine crossing the chunnel in one of these.
Recreating the beach and the German trenches.
After about an hour and a half at the museum, we walked over to the the beach (the museum is actually right on the beach) to get the feel of where it all happened.
These calm waves and long sandy beaches were definitely not how it all looked seventy years ago.
Unfortunately, it started to rain a LOT. The kids wanted to stay and play at the beach (which is okay, and many do play and swim here), but we just didn’t want to get soaked in the beginning of our day.
We drove through the village near Utah Beach amazed at how many American, Canadian and British flags were displayed! They had more US flags than an average American village! It reminds us all that those who have sacrificed so much for freedom of these people are not forgotten.
Parachutist stuck on the roof is also another reminder of how unfortunate some were.
Second stop: German Cemetary in La Cambe. Our rating 5 stars.
This was an amazing place. A very different kind of place. This is the place where you think a lot about life and freedom and love for your country, whatever it maybe. This is also the place where you think about mothers who lost their children in the evil war.
This sight impressed K and A as well. It is heart-breaking to think that 22,000 fallen German soldiers are buried here.
It’s hard not to get teary-eyed walking around graves and reading how young all of these men were.
This sight is a must-see in our opinion. Very thought provoking.
Our third stop was: Pointe-du-Hoc (we are still not sure how to pronounce it properly, so we just fake it). We give this sight another 5 star rating!
On the way to Pointe-du-Hoc, we stopped at a random seaside village to grab some lunch, i.e. more pastries. Rain stopped for a little while, so we were able to hang out at the beach by the pier for a bit.
After lunch, the rain started pouring harder. As we were driving to Pointe-du-Hoc, we were not sure how we would be able to get out and see that place. What is cool about this sight is that is the highest point, set on a cliff, between Omaha and Utah beaches. It’s where Germans set up their fortifications (lots of them still there) and where they were bombed by the good guys for hours. Many craters still remain there, so, of course, we wanted to see that.
At the visitor’s center, we ran into…our friends from Misawa! What? Yeah! They are stationed in England (we knew that) and were travelling in Normandy as well. Running into them was a blessing in more ways than one!
Remember I mentioned the rain? Well, it was pouring harder and harder at this point. But we were prepared! We had our umbrellas, raincoats AND wellies. Yeah, who brings wellies to Normandy? The Watsons do!
The kids had a great time running around (in their waterproof boots) through the mud, underground—all over. And because they had friends to play with, the rain did not seem to be as bothersome.
We managed to snap this picture on top of the cliff—all wet and happy.
Our final stop of the day: American Cemetery near Omaha Beach. Another must-see sight worth 5 stars.
We were wet, but we had to visit this place. Almost 10,000 Americans are buried here. Families of those who died in this are were given a choice to take their loved ones home and bury them in the US, or leave them here.
It was around 5 pm when we were visiting this cemetery. The rain was coming down hard, but it did not stop many visitors. We were also able to hear the taps played at 5:30 pm as well as observe the ceremony of taking the US flag down.
A very moving place.
I hope these bits of travel make an impression on our children as this is such an important part of history that we all need to revere.
Wish we could have visited the Omaha Beach, but it was too wet.
We ended our rainy day in Saint Lo, a city that was pretty much leveled during WW2. It was on the way down to the place where we were staying, so we wanted to stop by there for dinner. It’s crazy, but weeks later we watched a new movie called “Monuments Men”, and one of the places that they were showing was this town of Saint Lo, looking like ruins.
Out of pure luck, we parked next to a great little restaurant called La Toucan. It served great savory and sweet crepes that kids devoured!
Katya celebrated her last day of being TEN. She was able to get her kids’ meal legally (it was for children ten and under-haha). And it was worth getting as it included a savory crepe, a soda (oooh—aaah, our kids’ dream came true) and a sweet crepe with ice cream at the end.
Everyone was fed, warm and happy. Our rainy day of exploring turned out to be very interesting and educational!
Good thing we had a warm cozy B&B to come back to (and not a tent…).
Good night,
Lyana.
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