I think I mentioned that objectives of the trip were kind of
two fold: to visit sites associated with “D Day”, and also to absorb as much of
the local culture and cuisine as we could. Our first stop (after the beauty of
Giverny) was one of the military sites.. it is that objective I’ll sort of deal
with today…
After a breakfast (petit déjeuner) of ham, cheese, juices,
granola, and breads (alas, no croissants) we boarded the bus and our first stop was
Utah Beach. I’m sure you know that it
was one of the landing points of allies on June 6th of 1944. It is another of those places that you can
read about all you want, but there is just a different feeling when you are
right there. Sort of the same situation
when you visit civil war battlefields around here. It just comes home to you. There was a very nice museum there with lots
of displays of vehicles used in the invasion
as well as over the invasion
(the B-26 "widow maker")
The museum contained a very thorough and informative display of
not only maps, machines, and materials used, but there were many photos and
some videos of the actual operation. And
in those images you saw faces of actual people.
Not just numbers and statistics with red and green arrows showing troop
movements, but human beings with faces, and eyes.
It is unimaginable to me the courage it took to board those LST’s and
head toward a beach that had been fortified for years, bristling with guns, barricaded
by barbed wire and entrenched troops ready to mow down the invaders. But invade they did, and die they did. Awful. A monument to their bravery stands on the sands
Almost everywhere we went in Normandy, if there was a French
Flag, the Stars and Stripes were right alongside. Even on small farmhouses in the country, two
flags often flew. No sign of anti-American
sentiment here..
After lunch we visited St. Mere Eglise, with a Church were John
Steele of the 82nd Airborne paratroopers had the misfortune become
entangled on a the church spire. They
have “re-created” the scene
Complete with the poor soul still hanging there
As I recall, he hung there for a while pretending to be dead
(apparently the other paratroopers were picked off easily), the Germans
eventually got him down, and he became a prisoner of war, but eventually escaped. They also have a nice museum with many
dioramas depicting operations
Almost every day, we visited some site devoted to memories
of their heroism, and at this point it seems somewhat incongruous to emote
about lunch. We stopped at other
landing sites such as Point Du Hoc… imagine storming ashore here!
Other sites we visited on other days were also reminders of
bravery. Like the American Cemetery near
St. Laurent
Each monument marks the resting place of somebody who gave all for their country.
We also stopped at the German Cemetery
Again, memorials to those that ended their life in
struggle. Do the math to figure out how
old one of these soldiers was:
No matter what uniform they wore, they were somebody’s sons
and daughters. What an awful thought
that they fought and died in the battles created by people who never saw actual
combat. There is still evidence of the strife all over the
countryside
I didn’t mean to launch off into all of this, but it just
seemed inappropriate to go back and forth from these reminders of the horrors
of war to Foie Gras for lunch. Visiting these places meant a great deal to
some of our travelers, I’m glad we could see them.
We will continue forward with more foodie subjects and
places… Be nice to each other… we don’t
need wars..
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