Normandy Memories

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Geo: 49.2764, -0.705529

After an amazing week in Nord Pas De Calais, it was time to visit another region of France, A region with a lot of history and events and for some an important memorial site.
Normandy!
Known for the D-day invasion by American, British and Canadian troops on June 6th 1944, this area was once under German occupation. Another powerful sight that visualization and thought does not tip the scale of what happened here.
Before exploring Normandy we went to a kite festival on the sea side town of Berck Sur Mer.
Conditions were perfect; sunny and windy, and on a big beach meant for plenty of room and action.
Kites littered the sky in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. We sat and enjoyed performances from groups, individuals and world champions. There was a competition to cut the lines of opponents kites, but it was somewhat anti climatic and not to the scale we had seen in the movie "The Kite Runner". Along the top were stalls on either side selling all kinds of things and one fantastic photography display of amazing aerial shots which were taken from using a kite.
We stopped for a small snack of Chi Chi's and headed back to Wimereux.

We headed to Normandy later in the day and arrived just out of Bayeux to the Etap hotel via the numerous toll points and the Pont De Normandie, an iconic bridge where the river is the same one that flows through Pairs, and pretty cool for photos.
We stopped off at a small beach town called Trouville Sur Mer for a rest and a bite to eat. It was a nice little town, although quiet. It has a nice big random Casino, probably more for the Americans who visit the region.
It is a shame that the war completely destroyed these towns and surroundings, but it is amazing to see the pictures of the shear destruction of only rubble and collapsed buildings.
We started the next day meeting with Anna's sister Claire at the hotel she was working at. This hotel was very posh and only for the rich as we saw Ferraris and the like parked in the grounds.

The second stop was the famous American Cemetery located at Omaha Beach. Although this is not the only cemetery around the area. There also includes another American Cemetery (Total American Graves 13,000) as well as cemeteries for the German (58,000 graves), British, Canadian, French and Polish, all representing the thousands of people killed throughout the operation. The Memorial is spectacular and well maintained; The crosses marking one single individual plus a wall with thousands of other names whom were not found or accounted for.

We proceeded down to the road to Omaha Beach. Back in the day the beach would have been littered with people, dead or alive, machinery and ship fortifications. The sea would have been littered with boats to the horizon and the sky dotted with planes. Not to mention the noise of guns, explosions and sirens. Now today it is just a simple beach, nothing there but a small memorial and sculpture. Further along the coast we visited Pointe De Hoc where visible bomb holes and numerous bunkers are still there.
After a lunch in Port en Bessin we drove to the city of Caen and visited the amazing Caen Memorial with the complete history of the second world war. At one point there was a picture of Hitler at the Eiffel Tower and it felt weird to think that Anna and I had been standing at the same view point as Hitler had done after he had taken Paris.

Day two started in Bayeux town with a little Cider and Cheese shopping and visiting the local market which sold all sorts of food items from seafood to a local heart shaped cheese and vegies. It also sold rabbits and ducks, and even pigeons. We also visited the Bayeux church and the Bayeux Tapestry.
The Bayeux Tapestry (embroidery) is quite amazing as it is about 70 meters long and was commissioned In the 11th century and tells a story of the happenings before the Norman invasion and then the Battle of Hastings in 1066. You have an audio guide to go with it and in almost one continuous motion the line moves from start to finish.
We headed back to Wimereux afterwards with a stop along a few other sights of the D-day invasion. At Longues Sur Mer are several bunkers, some destroyed and some which still have the cannons inside and next was Arromanches where artificial ports were made by the allied forces upon their invasion. You can still see concrete slabs on the beach and out to sea.

As we headed back to Wimereux it was time to reflect and enjoy the last day in France as we boarded the ferry the next day knowing that it would be the last time I would be in France for some time.

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