Christmas Eve

---

After watching the Longest Day last night, we got up early this morning and headed toward Bayeaux. We were the first ones at the Bayeaux Tapestry, which is an 11th century historical account of William the Conqueror’s defeat of King Harold of England. Surprisingly, the tour kept the kids’ interest as well, except Will was not happy to learn that William was originally called William the Bastard until he conquered England! We walked around a short bit in Bayeaux which was bustling with activity on Christmas Eve. We also saw the huge cathedral which was impressive. Diana saw Santa pulling a bunch of kids in a horse drawn sleigh and commented that she thought Santa used reindeer??

Next, it was off to Utah Beach. We arrived to find it almost deserted being Christmas Eve. We were surprised to see how wide the beach was here. You can see pictures of Mike jumping off a landing craft, the kids manning an AA gun, and Diana on the beach.

The U.S. landing troops were actually supposed to land further north by over a mile. Luckily they didn’t, because the German preparations there were stronger. At this area, we took pictures of the kids looking out a German blockhouse, standing on top of the blockhouse, William with a Free French tank, and Dad and Steven in a Tobruk (German machine gun fortification).

We then went inland and saw the batteries at Azeville and Crisbeque. We continued on to Ste Mere Eglise to see the town made famous in the Longest Day. They keep a dummy parachuter hanging from the church steeple where the American hung for 10 hours on D-Day (picture). We finished the day by seeing the Iron Mike Monument nearby and then headed back to the cottage. Now, we’re preparing for Pere Noel!

Thanks for all your comments and messages, we’re getting them fine!

Will Field Report: We went to utah beach and saw a lot of blown up bunkers. There were all kind of trench systems next to the beach. We saw a museum but it was closed. We went to a town named saint mer eglise. There was a dummy paratrooper on the roof.

---

Photos

Planes coming!
Mike and Will man the flak.

Everybody out!
Mike exits the landing craft.

Diana at Utah
Utah beach was very wide and quiet.

Blockhouse
The kids look out across the beach north of Utah.

Hams
Real tough guys.

Another Sherman
Will's tank of the day.

Tobruk
Dad and Steven bond in a Tobruk.

St Mere Eglise
The dummy replica of Pvt John Steele hangs from the church steeple.

Comments

[The Pacific NW Griswolds]

Merry Christmas!
Santa was good to us here in Duvall, we hope Pere Noel found an appropriate ladder and the window unlocked in Normandy! We are enjoying reading about your exploits - keep the updates and photos coming! Joyeaux Noel!