Normandy

Our morning tour we originally planned on was changed to an afternoon tour. That gave us a good chunk of the morning to check out more of Bayeux. Here are Ian and Leah directly behind the Tourist Information building.

We had a nice small group (3 other people) for our tour, and the guide was knowledgeable and helped to keep the kids engaged. The photo below is from an old German battery able to fire on both Omaha beach and Gold beach. This particular gun was damaged to the point where it wasn't usable - you can see where some shrapnel made it through the steel plating "protecting" the gunners. Not a place I'd like to be with the US Navy firing back! Apparently these guns have a reach of 12 miles.

We made it to the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. It was a beautiful place, very quiet with only the hushed voices of nearby people and the sound of a gentle wind blowing audible. It overlooks Omaha beach, and I can't imagine making a daytime assault on the place. Those soldiers were incredibly brave.

There is a memorial directly on Omaha Beach commemorating the Allied Forces incredible assault on D-Day.

Second only to the American cemetery for me was Point du Hoc - the place where Rangers scaled the cliffs to take out a German gun emplacement, only to find out the Germans had moved the guns inland. The Rangers had to hold on for 2 days for reinforcements. Out of the 225 that started the assault, only 90 survived. The site was left as the Rangers left it - completely devastated with the German bunker system totally disrupted )though some bunkers were still partially intact. The site of the German ammunition bunker that was blown up was pretty awesome. HUGE chunks of steel-reinforced concrete were blown 10-20 yards away from the force of the explosion.

That's the end of our French vacation. I hope everyone has enjoyed seeing photos of the kids and where we've been. I'm headed back to the desert towards the end of next week. Thankfully it will be a short couple of months. I can't wait to get back for good!

I hope all is well out there,

Marc