Day 8

Woke this morning and had cereal for breakfast. Jean Noel is kind enough to lend us his car, which is a manual and will from now on be known as "the mini beast". Luke and I set off on our own to visit Omaha Beach, the Cemetery, and Pointe du Hoc, about an hours drive away. Jean Noel hooked us up with his GPS which we have named Jac. Unfortunately Jac was a little difficult to understand at the first round about and we went the wrong direction ending up down a dirt road in a grocery parking lot. We changed to the GPS du Luke, continuing through the countryside and tiny villages that were mostly closed up. Later learned that these houses are often second homes for those who live in Paris.

We parked at the US cemetery and walked in. The ocean on one side, a sea of white crosses on the other, and a huge statue flanked by huge maps of the invasion tactics. Each cross had someones name, date of death and their home state. We were able to walk down to the beach where the action took place and I was surprised at how much uphill climbing the soldiers had to do before reaching any Nazi soldiers. From there we went to the museum, found an Alton burial plot from Wisconsin, and watched a brief documentary about letters written home by fallen soldiers. It made the human aspect of war very real and brought tears to our eyes. Afterward we toured the rest of the museum and found the Alton headstone.

From the cemetery we headed to Pointe du Hoc, another war memorial. We stopped for lunch at a small country restaurant. Either our ability to order food is getting better or awkward is becoming normal. Probably both.

Pointe du Hoc was right around the corner. It is a bluff in between Utah and Omaha beaches (the beaches that the US forces attacked). From here the Nazis could bomb both beaches simultaneously. There were 225 Army Rangers that climbed the cliffs on D-day and battled for 2 days without much reinforcement. When they were finally relieved there were only 90 men remaining. Here the French have left the bomb craters in the ground. It is astonishing how many craters there are and how much earth was moved by 1 bomb, let alone thousands of them up and down the coast. It's strange to be in a place where war destroyed EVERYTHING, but to be surrounded by ocean, grass, flowers and chirping birds.

Luke and I found our way back home and didn't even have to get out of 2nd gear in the mini beast, thankfully. We had to pass a group of cyclists up a hill on a narrow winding road, Tour de France style. If I wasn't in an old stick shift I probably would have been more patient, but for now I was mumbling obscenities under my breath. Luckily we passed them and found our way to Jean Noel's.

When we got there it was time to pick Alice up from her gymnastics class. All 4 of us went to the beach. While Alice played in the sand the 3 adults had a champagne aperitif and discussed politics. For dinner we had pasta and grilled sausage. Everyone was in good spirits after dinner, even though the French will not be advancing in the Euro soccer finals. It was a beautiful and meaningful day in Normandy.