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Published: October 23rd 2007
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Lines of Our Soldiers
Photo From American Cemetery at Omaha Beach Chilling History and Amazing Landscapes
Normandy…the immediate picture most Americans get is of the opening scenes of
Saving Private Ryan when US soldiers storm Omaha Beach as part of the D-Day operations that lead to the eventual liberation of France from the Nazis. My father and I both share a love of WWII military history and Kel has long been a WWII culture buff. It seemed like a logical choice for us to start our French escapades with a drive to some of the important WWII sights just hours from Paris.
The thing that I found the most amazing about Normandy is its subtle beauty. Everywhere you go beauty pokes out its head in the most random of places. From small French towns, roadside wild flowers and glorious beach-scapes, to orchards of apple trees Normandy has a ton to offer anyone with a car and plenty of time to just drive. During our few days driving through the morning fog and afternoon sun of Normandy we continued to be amazed by France’s natural wonder.
How Did We Even Get Here? After leaving Morocco we hopped a short flight to Paris. We knew
A Beautiful Place to Die
Omaha Beach, Normandy, France that we planned on meeting my parents in Barcelona on the 16th of October which gave us more than enough time to drive from Paris to Spain. With plenty of time and a car we figured we could explore some of France and get a feel for the only western European country that we hadn’t really spent much time in since beginning this journey 11 months earlier.
The plan, as it stood when we left Marrakech, was to rest a bit in Paris for the one full day we had booked in the city, get a few guidebooks, pick up some needed supplies and then start our journey. We had real trouble getting a hotel room in Paris and the reasons became apparent as soon as we hit the ground in downtown. Fashion Week, the 2007 Rugby World Cup and a major horse race all coincided with our brief weekend stint in the “City of Lights.”
As we dodged the sports fans and incredibly dressed fashionistas we managed to get our errands accomplished and managed to eat some great French food (French food really is some of the best in the world). The only disappointment to our stay
Lines of Our Soldiers
Photo From American Cemetery at Omaha Beach in Paris was our inability to procure a Rick Steve’s guidebook for France. As our faithful reader will know, we are huge fans of Rick’s work and swear by his guidebooks in Europe for information, trip planning and itineraries. Unlike the Lonely Planet, which seems unable to say anything negative about anybody or any place, Rick will tell you straight up what’s worth your time and what’s not. I love a guide book that keeps you from wasting your time.
We eventually purchased a map, a book of Bed and Breakfasts and a Michelin Green Guide. The best purchase of them all was the French B&B guide. With its help we managed to snag ourselves some beautiful rooms in even more beautiful French chateaux. Our first night out of Paris was spent at the Manoir de Parcs near Lisieux. It was pretty nice but nothing compared to our second stop which was at the Manoir de Savigny, a 16th century manor house which had been extensively renovated. It was cheaper and had better rooms, all around a beautiful place to stay. Really there is nothing like staying in a French chateau to make your vacation seem like a fairytale!
Sight To Behold
Ouisterham, France A Trip Through WWII History Having read more than a few books about D-Day and the invasion I was particularly interested in a few sights around Normandy. Pegasus Bridge, the site of one of the more brilliant bridge seizures of the early morning hours of D-Day, and Omaha Beach were my highest priority. We managed to catch Pegasus Bridge during one of France’s notorious foggy mornings which gave the site of the British glider assault at Oistraham an eerie and slightly menacing feeling.
The real star attraction of Normandy’s WWII is Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery located overlooking the stretch of beach where the D-Day assault took place. On the way to the cemetery we stopped on a more remote stretch of the beach to get a feel for what Omaha Beach is really like. It is an amazingly beautiful and rugged cliff bottom beach which would be easy to defend and very, very difficult to assault. A view of the cliffs anywhere along Omaha Beach gives you an amazing sense of how close the Allies came to losing the D-Day battle and how much perseverance it took to succeed.
But, once you’ve
Cows Near Omaha Beach
Photo From Omaha Beach, France realized how much of an amazing feat the D-Day assaults were, it is good to remember the cost. The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach is just one of many such military burial grounds up and down the French coast. The cemetery, which is located on the same site as the first temporary Allied burial ground in mainland Europe, contains the graves of 9,387 soldiers who died on D-Day and the ensuing operations. In many cases there are graves as far as you can see which is incredibly shocking. Not until you stand amongst the markers of those who gave their lives can you truly comprehend the scope of WWII. It’s often easy for people of our generation to lose sight of WWII and its profound impact on the world as we know it. I think it’s important that we take time to remember what the Allies were fighting for and how the outcome of WWII changed the world for better.
A Stop in Bayeux It is important to note that Normandy has a ton more to offer than just WWII history. This area of France hosted the Normans (makes sense huh?) who once conquered England and
A Bridge Worth Fighting For
Pegasus Bridge, Ouisterham, France left behind a legacy that can still be seen today in the architecture and relics of the area.
We got a chance to take a brief stop in Bayeux for lunch one day and admire its huge Notre Dame church which has smaller, but just as cool, flying buttresses which can be seen on its big sister in Paris. We didn’t actually go to see the (quite famous) tapestry which depicts the history of the Normans preceding the English invasion in 1066. We both felt that a good French lunch and a brief walk about town was enough to give us a decent feel for Bayeux.
Well, hope everyone back home is having a good time. Thanks for reading, as usual. We miss you all and look forward to being home soon!
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garron
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La France
Of all the places I've been, I think France has the most sights/best tourism per sq km. For a country the size of Texas, it has Paris, beaches, mountains, food, cathedrals, countryside, Rivieria, etc etc etc. Fantastique