We began by visiting the WWII Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery is located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel.
It covers 70 hectares, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead from the European arena. The graves face westward, towards the United States. The names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the conflict but could not be located or identified are inscribed on the walls of a semicircular garden at the east side of the memorial. At the center is a bronze statue entitled "Spirit of American Youth".The view of the endless field of white crosses (and Stars of David) is very affecting.
One of two statues representing America and France:
From the circular chapel at the centre:
Although access was closed, I had to sneak down to Omaha beach to see where it all happened.
Next stop was the seaside resort of Arromanches-les-Bains. We visited the D-Day Museum, which was just how I remembered it from childhood. Unfortunately, I really don't think anything had changed, and the material was very dated and not particularly informative. We did, however, see a good video (from the 40s) about the manufacture and placement of the Mulberry Harbours.This here is a "Rupert", one of the hundreds of dummy paratroopers that were dropped the night before D-Day so the Germans would believe that the invasion was coming elsewhere...
And this fellow is a member of the 101st Airborne Division, now known as the "Band of Brothers"...
Remainder of the Mulberry Harbour:
In the afternoon we travelled south, stopping at the largest Commonwealth cemetery in France, on the outskirts of Bayeux. According to online sources, the cemetery comprises 3,935 British, 17 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 25 Poles, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 7 Russians, 466 Germans and 1 unknown. Oddly, however, when I checked the onsite memorial books, they listed no New Zealand graves.An inscription on the memorial reads “NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS” (“We, once conquered by William, have now set free the conqueror's native land”).
The cemetery is more poetic than at Omaha, in that each grave bears its own monumental inscription. These simple heartfelt messages from surviving family are easily able to move you to tears.
Afterwards we enjoyed the most rewarding part of our whole Normandy trip, the Bayeux Tapestry. Still on the theme of war, but moving back a millenium, this embroidered cloth tells the story of William the Conqueror's defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A linen "comic book", 231 feet long and 20 inches wide, depicting 58 scenes in eight colours. This exhibition is the best presented that we have come across yet. There's a lot of nice information that sets the scene beforehand, and a wonderfully narrative audioguide brings the tapestry alive (not to mention the fact that it gets everybody moving around the tapestry in time, instead of clogging up).Unfortunately, I have no photographs of the tapestry! However, we did have a little wander, and saw the Norman-Romanesque cathedral, consecrated in 1077, which was the original home of the tapestry.
Plus this odd display:Throughout the trip, we were staying in Caen; known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the Battle for Caen, heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the town.
Today we got back while there was still light, and set off to explore a little. We weren't able to visit the tombs of William the Conquerer or Queen Mathilda, but we climbed all over the castle he built in 1060, the Château de Caen, one of the largest medieval fortresses of Western Europe.
We also found a fun 'fountain square', some nice views of the city and Saint-Pierre Cathedral and - best of all - more good cider. Finished by having dinner with our bus driver!
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