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Published: August 7th 2008
This leg of the trip is rather symbolic because Lynne and I began this adventure on the 6th of June—the anniversary of the Normandy Invasion in 1944 (D-Day). D-Day was the deadliest day in US military history where over 6,000 brave men paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate France and pave the way to end the war in Europe. The Longest Day is a remarkable movie about the Normandy Invasion. The movie starred John Wayne and an all star cast of actors from the era. This epic war movie was released in 1962 and never gets old. It is one of those movies worth seeing multiple times. Although the more recent movie “Saving Private Ryan” may have been more graphic, “The Longest Day” is still, IMHO, the best movie about this significant day in history.
Ok, so let’s get on with this long overdue update.
We departed Frank and Janet’s house on the morning of 14 July, Bastille Day in France. We knew that many businesses would be closed, but this was our window of opportunity to hit the road. Frank and Janet were wonderful enough to offer us a ride to the Normandy area of France. We were
delighted to have two wonderful tour guides to accompany us on this leg of the trip.
Our route took us though some incredible countryside. I will reiterate that the French countryside is an exceptional place to be. We headed north towards Normandy and stopped to check out Le Mont St. Michel. Although we didn’t go all the way to this incredible structure, we did stop right across the causeway to have a great picnic lunch. Stopping at Le Mont St. Michel would have required a full day in itself and we just didn’t have time scheduled to do so.
After lunch, we pressed forward into Normandy. Our first stop was St. Mere Eglise. This town was made famous in the Normandy invasion because this is where the 82nd Airborne infiltrated the city. The 82nd suffered heavy casualties because they missed their target landing zone (LZ) and landed right in the middle of town. There is a scene in the movie that shows Red Buttons playing Private John Steele landing right on the steeple of the chapel. Presently, there is a replica mannequin of Private Steele complete with a parachute hanging from the chapel. The 82nd has a memorial
museum in the town and many of the gift shops have the 82nd or Airborne in their names. The chapel even has several stained glass panels honoring the 82nd.
After a brief ice cream stop, we headed down the road to Utah Beach. Utah Beach is one of the primary landing beaches during the invasion. The coast line is still dotted with the remnants of the German coastal defenses. There is still a vast amount of concrete structures that once served as pill boxes, anti aircraft batteries, and command centers. Besides the museum, these are the only evidence of the invasion. The museum has a few war relics, but I was a little disappointed because I expected to see additional evidence of this historical location. Although our presence there was a powerful experience, there was something missing. I will add that one of the public toilets was a converted bunker from the German defenses. Lynne got a kick out of this modern day use of this historical site.
From Utah Beach, we headed down the road to Caen (pronounced “cone”) which would be our home base for the next 3 days. Although Caen was not liberated by American forces,
St Mere Eglise Church
Check out the replica of Private John Steeleit is the home to the Normandy Memorial Museum. Read on to learn about our museum experience.
Upon arrival in Caen, we proceeded directly to our hotel. This was an economy hotel (Fast Hotel) located on the outskirts of town. We checked in then went to the city center for our last dinner together with Frank and Janet. They would be heading home in the morning.
Upon entering the city center, I was amazed with the multitude of historical buildings. Although Caen suffered heavy damage during the Canadian invasion, many of the structures survived and were showing their glory.
In the city center, people were dancing in the streets celebrating Bastille Day and having a grand time. All of the restaurants were and some required a significant wait time. Outdoor dining was out of the question. Janet scoped out a nice restaurant and we were able to get right in.
When we went to pay the bill, we encountered a little difficulty. Up until this point we have been able to use our travel cash cards or our primary banking card, but not tonight. You see, most of Europe has now gone with the cards that have
Stained Glass
St Mere Eglise Chapel the smart chip imbedded in the card and most of their card readers are set up to read these. Up until now, every business we have dealt with still had the swipe card and PIN set up to allow these transactions. Future travelers should understand that Europe is going to the smart chip identification method on banking cards and should adjust accordingly. Fortunately, Janet’s card worked and we later hit an ATM to secure an adequate amount of cash.
We headed back to the room for the evening after an action packed day.
On Tuesday, 15 July, we awoke and had breakfast in the hotel with Frank and Janet. They offered to drive us into town, but we opted to get on the city bus around the corner and begin our exploring of the city. We said our farewells and watched Frank, Janet and Jett head on down the road.
Lynne and I decided that we would spend this day exploring the sights and sounds of the city and save the Memorial Museum for Wednesday. We jumped on the local bus and headed right for the heart of the city. One of our first stops was to
visit the train station so we could book our tickets to take us back to Paris. We transferred busses and arrived in front of the train station. They were doing some serious renovation so finding the ticket office was a little challenge. The young lady at the ticket counter was extremely helpful and explained everything in great detail. We appreciated her extra assistance to prevent another overbooking type situation. Business taken care of, it was time for a quick lunch, we headed across the street to one of the pita shops (that’s PITA Katrina, not PETA). We had a fantastic sandwich and pomme frits (French fries) and the price could not be beat.
After taking care of business, we headed off to the Chalet (castle) for a leisurely tour of this historical site overlooking the city. Right across the street from the Chalet is Saint Pierre’s Chuch which is a truly remarkable historical landmark in the city. Construction on this church began in the 13th century and lasted into the 16th century.We spent some time in the chapel and headed over to the chalet.
After touring the chalet, we found the regional bus office to look into busses
that traveled to the other invasion beaches. After studying the schedules, we determined that we would not visit any of the other beaches, but focus our attention on the Memorial Museum.
While walking back to the city center, I witnessed a rather bizarre sight on the street ahead. I saw a young lady carry some items, to include a floor lamp, and place them on the curb. She then returned to the ground floor apartment and climbed through the open window. As we passed the apartment, I noticed another pile of stuff inside the apartment to include a full drum set. I looked across the street and saw a whole pile of personal belongings on the curb and assumed that these people were being evicted from their apartment. We headed into the city center looking for a nice dinner, but the restaurants did not open for another 30 minutes. We went to a corner café and had coffee and tea and enjoyed watching the people pass by. As we were sitting there enjoying our coffee and tea, we noticed the same young lady who climbed through the window walk by with a young man. They both were laughing and giggling
There will be dancing in the streets
Bastille Day celebrations in Caen, Fance and we found that to be odd if they were being evicted. Moments later, she walked by again with another young man. Something began to seem just a little bit strange about this whole situation. A short while later we saw a guy carrying one of the floor lamps and a few other items from the curbside. After a short period, we witnessed a dozen people walk by with many of the possessions to include the drum set. We then made the determination that the young lady was most likely jilted by her lover and she was seeking revenge by putting his stuff on the streets. I could only imagine the owner’s surprise when he returned to an empty apartment. Once the restaurant opened, we had dinner outside and enjoyed the people watching.
After a nice street side dinner, we returned to the room for a little rest.
On Wednesday, 16 July, we would venture out to visit the Normandy Memorial Museum in Caen. We entered the museum and purchased our tickets. Our first stop was a 35 minute video of the Normandy Invasion. This was a spectacular presentation and had video presented on two and three split
screens throughout the presentation. Another highlight of the museum was the 9/11 exhibition. It’s a little odd that we had to travel to France to see our first 9/11 museum exhibit. This was a touching and professionally displayed temporary exhibit. Naturally the museum focused on WWII, but it also feature exhibits from the post-war era and the Cold War. Lynne and I spent over 5 hours in this museum and were fascinated with all of the exhibits in this massive facility.
After this action packed day, we stopped by the grocery store and picked up some stuff for a quiet dinner in the room.
On Thursday, 17 July, we awoke to yet another travel day. Our destination--back to Paris. Watch for Paris—Part Deux.
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jackie
non-member comment
Hey guys it's great to hear you are doing well. hope you are enjoying your time with Dan. Look forward to hearing more love you lots. I just finished my last 2 classes for the summer and got an "a" in both classes. I registered for the fall classes that begin August 25th I am going to try to go full time so I am done by next summer.