Caen, France and the Beaches of Normandy

We left Edinburgh, Scotland and flew to Amsterdam and caught our connecting flight to Paris on June 30th. We immediately transferred to a train traveling to LeMans, France where we waited in the sunshine for our next train for about an hour and a half. Then it was on to Caen, France for the night. July 1st we had a day long tour of the Beaches of Normandy where the D-Day landings took place. Cecile was our tour guide and she was wonderful.

On the train from Paris to Le Mans, France.

We have arrived in the Le Mans train station.

Leaving the train platform and heading to the station in Le Mans. Notice the yellow tassel on Grams' suitcase. We each had a decoration on our suitcase that was different so we could tell them apart. We all had exactly the same rolling suit case.

Heading down the ramp to go under the tracks to get to the station. And then of course we would have to go back up.

We waited outside in this plaza.

Hotels, places to eat surround the plaza. Alex's hand on her suitcase handle.

Other people are also waiting. A beautiful day. The station is to the far right.

The city tram goes by on the tracks right by the train station. One time when it went by the plaza there was a guy sitting on a bike and hanging on to the back of the tram. He was just being towed. I was happy he didn't get his tire stuck in a groove and crash. He didn't have to pedal to travel that way on his bike. A brief rest period!

The "Creperie" restaurant with a "Charm and Fun Sex Toys" shop right next door.  Apparently one could find almost anything in France near a train station.

They are big on bikes. A bike parking lot right behind where we were sitting in the sunshine.

Relaxing, finally. A beautiful day. This was a day of travel. We turned in our car in Edinburgh, Scotland in the morning. Caught a flight to Amsterdam, switched planes (after a quick layover) and flew to Paris. A rapid walk to the train station connected to the Paris airport for our train to Le Mans. Here we are resting before our next train to Caen, France near the beaches of Normandy.

Alex in her green shirt, Grams and Bryan are sitting down in front of her. Notice the clock. It is evening and we are waiting for the announcement that will tell us which platform our train will arrive on so we can sprint to it. I am on the hunt for water before we depart Le Mans.

Made it on the train, Grams is having a protein bar as a hold over snack until we get to Caen, France where we plan on eating dinner.

I think Grams may have bitten into the paper!

We arrived in Caen, checked into our hotel and then Alex and I scouted around to find an open restaurant. Sunday evening and most places were closed.

A pretty salad in a square bowl!

This is the Orne River right outside our hotel and along the walk to the restaurant.

The restaurant where we had dinner. The river is just across this street from the restaurant.

The morning of July 1st we are on our taxi ride to the World War II Museum. This very large cathedral was beautiful.

I believe this is Saint-Etienne Cathedral  in Caen. Willam the Conqueror is entombed here. This construction started in 1067. Just a tad bit old.

Part of the fortress in Caen.

It sure has thick walls.

The far corner.

The entrance to the "Memorial de Caen," the World War II Museum. The cleft in the center is to symbolize the divide during the war. Bryan and his mom head in. Alex, once again waits for me.

The flags out in front of the Memorial de Caen represent the countries in World War II.

No photos were allowed in the museum. About an hour before lunch and during our guided tour of the museum in the morning, our guide Cecile, asked us for our lunch choices. Beef, chicken or duck. Here is my duck. It was wonderful with apples.

Cecile at the head of the table leaning on her hands. She was a wealth of information. The couple sitting on her right and left were from Australia. There was two kinds of wine right on the lunch table when we sat down.  Bottled water and a bread basket, too. Conversation all during lunch. She answered so many questions!

Our lunch included tapioca and a pear torte for dessert with espresso. Delicious!

A monument while we are driven to see the Beaches of Normandy.

My first glimpse of red poppies in a field.

Our weather the day of our D-Day Normandy Beaches tour.

Our first bunker at Pointe du Hoc, France overlooking the English Channel. The D-Day landings took place along this coastline June 6th, 1944.

One of the many craters left by the United States as we shelled the area above the cliffs during the landing on D-Day. 

Cecile in black being followed by Bryan, Alex and Grams to the next place she will tell us all about.

The right side facing the English Channel where the German guns would be pointing out. A tremendous amount of damage was done to this bunker during the war.

The entrance to an underground bunker that is out of use.

The front. The gun has been removed from this one. Again, much damage especially to the left side where there is rebar poking out.

Alex near the opening to an underground bunker.

Stairs heading down on the side away from the English Channel. This would be the entrance for the soldiers who were living here at the time.

Old time barbed wire helped keep people from sneaking to the opening.

Nasty barbed wire.

Remains after shelling from the U.S. ships off the coastline.

Another crater.

Craters with walkways. The semi-circular cement was for rolling equipment/artillery/guns? in the 1940s. Quite a crack.

This is the only bunker with a tourist platform on top. Bryan, Alex on top, Grams heading up. You can see the English Channel coastline from up there.

Looking right, many of the actual craters that have been left as a reminder of the shelling that occurred on D-Day.

Looking out to the English Channel to The Ranger Sword Monument over looking the cliffs.

Inside a bunker where the men lived. Waiting and watching.

Looking out through the crevasse to the channel. Weapons could be fired from inside the protective walls.

Sleeping quarters. Three bunks hooked to each wall. Some of the hooks still remain that indicate the spacing of the bunks.

Alex and Bryan in a different "room" of the same bunker.

Look out and protective shooting opening.

Looking into the upper opening of one of the bunkers. Many entrances to the various rooms.

Looking over the cliffs to the English Channel.

During Operation Overlord, the first U.S. troops were Rangers. They had to scale the cliffs.

These are the actual cliffs they had to scale, while being fired upon from above. Ships off shore were shelling to provide protection. Not all of the Rangers made it. 244 started out, 90 were able to continue on after they reached the top.

On the edge of the cliff, this is the Ranger Sword Monument with English verbiage on the left, French on the right. President Ronald Reagan made a speech here in 1984 on the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasions.  

The English version of the engraving on the monument.

An edge of the French side of the engraving on the monument. You can also see the shadows of the water below. I think it shows the depth of the water.

The cliffs were higher than expected and the ladders the Rangers had brought with them weren't tall enough. They shot grapnels and ropes up the cliffs so they could climb.

This area was transferred to the U.S. in 1979 to maintain. The U.S. opted to leave as much as possible just like it was. The bomb craters were left and a minimum of walkways were installed, many of which were just gravel.

Another view of the meandering paths and craters.

Bryan walks down the stairs into one of the bunkers. Another tourist climbs out of the opening on the top.

There was barbed wire in many places.

As we headed out to our tour group van, this rose was blooming in the hedgerow.

By the parking lot, a field of what appears to be leeks. 

Traveling to Omaha Beach, a rock wall with a stone building in the back. These buildings could tell stories. Some have dings and dents from mortar fire.

Arriving at Omaha Beach.

Driving down towards the English Channel in the distance, on the left is part of the floating roadway that allowed offloading of supplies onto the beach inside Mulberry Harbor. Mulberry Harbor was built in pieces in Britain and towed 100 miles across the English Channel by tugs while being protected by the English Navy. More on this later.

Another section. 

A hillside bunker near the road on the drive down to the beach. Notice the angles of the openings.

Houses have been built right under the bunker.

A monument near Omaha Beach.

Another monument on the edge of the parking lot. I wonder if that is a grave marker in the bottom right of this photo.

Our tour van drove along the beach.

This appears to be an everyday kind of beach. It is Omaha Beach.

Here it looks pretty "normal" too.

The tall brown building at the left is the only one that wasn't destroyed prior to the D-Day invasions. The Germans didn't want anywhere for invaders to hide out.

There is a bunker still remaining in this hillside, right behind the houses and this picket fence.

This is the gate to the house that wasn't destroyed. Cecile said the other structures were destroyed by the Germans and this was left as the place for the officers to live at the time. You can rent it to stay in now.

Another photo of the beach. It looks like it could be anywhere. Not like a beach where so many died.

Not too far from the brown house was this monument. The "inhabitants" were all moved to the American Cemetery that you will see pictures of shortly.

The Omaha Beach monument. Part of the countries involved flags are on the left.

The rest are on the right of the monument.

Bryan, Alex, and Grams standing in front of the Omaha Beach monument.

I am leaning against the monument.  The top part is in French, the bottom in English and it reads:
"The Allied Forces landing on this shore which they call Omaha Beach liberate Europe - June 6th 1944".

I walked down on the sand. Little girl running into the small waves to fill her bucket.  Her regular "day at the beach".

Looking the other direction, east along the English Channel. Families playing on the beach. 

"Les Braves" sculpture honors the men who helped liberate Europe. It stands on Omaha Beach behind the other monument.

Signage along the walkway between the flags and the beach.

A sign about "Les Braves."

As we are driving to our next location this tank was parked along the street. In front is one of the obstacles that was placed under the water on the beach at low tide to damage landing crafts. Designed to puncture and not be pushed over.

Symbols along a museum wall. Unsure of what they represent.
A friend of Bryan's and mine, Jason Faler (thanks Jason), provided us with insight to what the last 3 symbols represent: 
the green painted shield 1 ~1st Infantry Division 
next is ~ 29th Infantry Division: 
and the one with the star represents ~ 2nd Infantry Division 
 ~ all US Army. 
He wasn't sure of the 1st one.

These were attached to the front of tanks and were designed to enable tanks to push through the ever present hedgerows once the Allies made it past the beaches. The thick hedgerows made it difficult to impossible to move men or equipment. Some of these type of attachments actually cut the hedgerows. It looks like this one pushes through the brush and then rolls branches flat in front of the tank and its tracks.

We arrived here after Omaha Beach.

Alex follows Cecile into the Memorial.

Names of the 1,557 American Missing.

The walls around this area are covered with their names. If someone's remains are found, their name stays and there are bejeweled medals placed by their name indicating when and where they were found.

"The Landings of the Normandy Beaches". This tiled map is on the inside of the semi-circular walls by the entrance to the American Cemetery and Memorial.

Bronze statue "Spirit of American Youth."

Grams leads the way past the reflecting pool toward the cemetery.

Looking right across the reflecting pool.

Looking back at the semi-circular memorial. The bronze statue is rather large. A group of school children gather around their adult leaders.

Looking toward the English Channel across part of the cemetery.

The center walkway of the cemetery. English Channel in the background, very near Omaha Beach.

Looking over part of the 172 acres of this cemetery.

Here are some of the 9,387 graves of the American dead who gave their lives during the D-Day landings and ensuing military operations.

There is an index if you are looking for someone's grave. The "Niland Brothers Robert and Preston" are the men the "Band of Brothers" movie depicts. They are still buried here in France.

Another view. Every grave marker is set up so very precisely. Not a grass out of place, not a leaf on the lawn. Beautifully kept.

An American flag. A Star of David. 

The grave marker of an unknown "Comrade in Arms".

Grams and Alex visit the shade by the wall of the cemetery. English Channel in the background.

Looking over the edge of the cemetery down to the beach. 

A solid wall runs along the beach side of the cemetery.

"Military Operations in Western Europe." This is opposite the previously shown map.

The statue and this also shows the size of the maps on the walls.

These rocks of this memorial were collected on Omaha Beach.

Alex, Bryan and Grams leaving the American Cemetery and Memorial. The perimeter walls have the names of the American Missing.

This entire cemetery and memorial was neat as a pin and showed great pride in honoring those who gave their lives.

On our drive to the next beachhead, we saw many buildings like this. The image on the side of the street shows the damage done during shelling in 1944. It has been restored.

There are pock marks on this building. The Xs are connected inside and help hold the building together so the walls don't fall outward.

We are waiting our turn to pass this narrow spot, our minivan won't fit with the other cars. These buildings and roads were built many years ago.

Another narrow street. Stone walls and buildings were very common.

A shuttered house along the street.

A blooming flax seed field out the van window.

Another pock marked building along a narrow walled street.

Our next tour site, Lougues Battery. One of 4 concrete bunkers at Lougues Battery between Omaha Beach and Arromanches. This one shows damage from attacks on D-Day.

Another one with its gun pointing downward. This one doesn't show much damage to its concrete.

Inside. Water has accumulated underneath this old rusty equipment.

The entrance is on the side away from the beach.

These 4 batteries were quite a distance from the beaches. The view from the battery, overlooking a field of poppies and wild mustard flowering. They were far enough away from the beach that our ships couldn't spot them from the water.

Bryan, Alex and Grams looking at this battery. Not much damage shows on this one. Again, quite a distance from the beach. It would be shooting over the field of flax. They couldn't see our ships, either. Both sides firing had to shoot to coordinates. Not always hitting the spot.

Red poppies have been a symbol of remembrance since 1915 and WWI. Poppy seeds can lay dormant in the soil until they are upturned and then in spring they start to grow. After the cold winter of 1914-1915 during WWI, the ground around Flanders had been churned up by the fighting and as spring approached the poppies germinated and then bloomed.

These fields between the batteries in the background and the beach behind the camera may have been planted, but they are still in remembrance of the events of the times and the people who lost their lives during battle.

Looking toward the English Channel. Acres and acres of poppies.

Poppies had been known to grow along the edges of grain fields prior to WWI in the disturbed ground. So they grow here, too.

Another view of the battery.

Heading toward Arromanches. Notice the mirror up on the corner of the building in the ivy. Also the "workman" triangular sign. They have an antennae and a satellite dish up on the roof.

I am glad I don't live behind that white shuttered window. Car lights at night would be so bright! And if someone missed the curve, "hello"!

Doesn't everyone pull their boat with their tractor? We ended up behind this outfit for a while. No place to pass.

A corn field. 

Interesting road lines.

Another narrow street with stone walls and buildings.

Our first view of the artificial harbor, Mulberry Harbor, at Arromanchers.

To us it is all about the history of this area during the D-Day invasions in 1944. Here the people "just live" and even make hay. The artificial harbor is out in the English Channel.

I don't know if this is where he lived while here, or the name of this street we were driving on, or possibly both.

Walking along the mowed path to get a better view of the harbor in the English Channel. Over 865,000 tons of concrete were poured into caissons and placed around the arch of this inlet to create a man made harbor, Mulberry Harbor which is the size of Dover Harbor. The Allies brought 17,000,000 ship tons of munitions, weapons and supplies safely to the 2,500,000 troops. All of these were brought ashore in Normandy in the first 109 days of the invasion.

Walking out to look at the artificial harbor. The large concrete structures were open on the top and once in place water was let in to sink them and sometimes sand was pumped in, too. There were different sizes of caissons to account for the different depths. 150 in all were placed. The tall waves and 20 foot tides here along the English Channel made it tough to land supplies, hence the artificial harbor. The paths are just worn paths in the grass for the most part.

The large grassy area overlooking the artificial harbor. This is a calm day and the channel doesn't look menacing at all. I suppose this isn't always the case.

A view to the left of the remaining parts of the artificial harbor.

These boats zooming back and forth help give perspective to the size of this artificial harbor. This area of the harbor is more solid than the one in the previous picture. There were piers towed to this site also. The floating roadways were attached to the piers and then connected to the beach. Supplies could be driven off the ships and on to the land. 1/2 million vehicles were brought on shore.

The map of the area. Arromanches is the dark label on the left side of the map out in the water. Omaha Beach would be out of the picture to the left. We were driven from Caen, France to Pointe du Hoc the farthest spot of our day tour and worked our way back toward Caen.

Street signs along the way.

More fields in France.

An airport tower in the background of this field.

Our tour has ended and we are back in Caen, France. This is a street "facility".

Our hotel in Caen, France had an apartment set up. There are two rooms for the bathroom. The left one is just a toilet with two buttons. One for "little jobs" the other one for "big jobs". The sink and shower/tub are in the other room nearby.

Our front room as seen from the little kitchen. Alex is on her bed and Grams is sitting on hers. Just below the trees outside is the Orne River. The tv is on and I think we may have found an English speaking news show. Bryan was happy about that.

Part of the kitchen included this built in microwave on the right and  a small stove top. Below the stove top was a small dishwasher. We boiled water in their teakettle and made oatmeal packages we had brought from home for breakfast. Handy.

Our location along the bottom edge. We are 4 degrees more north than Salem, Oregon. I was always curious about our locations.

The room Bryan and I shared. Stuff everywhere as we are repacking for departure back to Paris the day after our D-Day tour. We will have a train ride to Paris, a subway ride to the station near our hotel, and then find our new hotel. Sounds easy enough.

The view out the front window of our hotel, the Adagio, right before we left. The Orne River in its controlled canal next to the street. Next stop, Paris. Eiffel Tower here we come!