Only 3 more sleeps until we finish our Grand European Tour and get on
the ferry to Dover. After some early starts the last two mornings,
Marea was taking it easy and hardly even glanced at the sun rising
over the sea. Our sleeping spot was about 6km north of Utah Beach so
about 10:00 we headed there to eat breakfast.
We then spent the day driving south-east around more of the D-Day
beach sites. We went back to Ste. Mere-Eglise for a visit inside the
church to view the paratroopers depicted around the Virgin Mary in the
modern stained glass windows. We walked around the heavily cratered
Point d'Hoc. Here the Allies successfully captured this important
strategic battery after scaling the high cliffs on rope ladders.
After two days of fighting, of the 225 Rangers who landed here - only
90 remained. We then stopped at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach,
where 9,386 soldiers are buried in what seemed never ending rows of
crosses. Also there, was a museum with stories about some of the
soldiers buried there - including a story about the four Niland
brothers of whom two were killed on the beaches, one went missing in
the Pacific - so the fourth was sent home to be with his family.
Sound a bit like Saving Private Ryan? - this was the story the movie
was based on.
In a way I think that I (Marea) found this a more rewarding experience
than Daniel, on who's initiative we visited all these sites. Like
visiting Gallipoli, having actually been to the site, makes the events
seem more poignant and real. As one who tends to avoid all war
stories, it is much harder to ignore, or forget, the hard evidence.
Note from Daniel - my problem was that every memorial we visited
seemed very one-sided. I felt a bit for the German soldiers killed
who would have only been following orders.
About 15:30 upon realising that this part of France shuts down on a
Sunday we headed to Port du Bessin in the hope of finding both lunch
and dinner! We were in luck, "Un kilo et demi de moules(€4), sil vous
plait" and a bottle of €1.80 white wine (for the mussels!); we were
set for dinner.
We took ourselves back to Arromanches to the same spot we'd parked two
nights ago. It was a beautiful afternoon to soak up the sun, and as
the tide was low we could see the Mulberry Harbour in all its glory.
When the tide was high two days ago we thought the artificial harbour
had lost most of its effectiveness and had been swallowed up by the
sea. But now at low tide it seems a perfect breakwater.
We wandered over to the Arromanches 360° cinema for the last screening
of the day. This was a 20 minute movie of old and new footage
designed to give us a view of what it was like to an ordinary soldier
during the first few weeks of the Battle of Normandy. The nine
screens set up in a complete circle ensured you a little dizzy as you
keep turning around to try and take it all in.
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