Normandy

Our day (Sunday) got off to a bit of a rough start. Our Battelbus tour of the D-Day beaches (along with some other stops) was to begin at 8:30. We left with enough time to arrive as per the person at where we were staying. Evidently, someone before us had set the GPS in the car to 'Avoid Highways.' Not surprisingly, it took us longer than expected to arrive. I ran up to the van just as they were about to leave, and we made it on the tour.

The rest of the day was undoubtedly amazing and very moving. We stopped at a number of places including Sainte-Mère Eglise (one of the cities where fighting occured), three entry points for US troops (Pointe du Hoc, Utah and Omaha beaches), a church that was a medic station in a small town (the guide knew the two medics that had been stationed there), and of course the American cemetary.

My favorite part was learning about the medics, and Mom liked learning about the paratroopers and hedgerows. Hedgerows are more or less what they sound like - rows of extremely dense hedges (up to 10ft thick) that were actually built by the Vikings to divide up land. This made it very difficult for the Americans to get through to where they needed to be, as there was just one small exit in no standard place that would allow you out. Some remains of them are still around today and in our many scenic drives we got to see them.

Another one of the best parts of our tour was the guide. He was originally from England, but had moved to Normandy about 5 years ago. He definitely knew what he was talking about and had met many vets from the war (both American and German) and so was able to give their perspective on the invasion.

After the tour finished at 5pm, we went for dinner at La Rapière, which was recommended by one of Mom's friends at work. The food was excellent; I had poppy seed encrusted sea bass and Mom had a filet of beef with prune sauce, which she evidently liked.

Even though our day got off to a rough start, it was certainly a great one in the end!