Normandy!

We flew to Paris, France on Sunday and rented a car and drove to Bayeux.  A small village close to the D Day Beaches.  Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England.
The area around Bayeux is called the Bessin, which was the bailiwick of the province Normandy until the French Revolution. During the Second World War, Bayeux was the first city of the Battle of Normandy to be liberated, and on 16 June 1944 General Charles de Gaulle made the first of two major speeches in Bayeux in which he made clear that France sided with the Allies. The buildings in Bayeux were virtually untouched during the Battle of Normandy, the German forces being fully involved in defending Caen from the Allies.
The Bayeux War Cemetery with its memorial includes the largest British cemetery dating from the Second World War in France. There are 4,648 graves, including 3,935 British and 466 Germans. Most of those buried there were killed in the invasion of Normandy.

Bayeux Cathedral

Bayeux Cathedral

After running around the town of Bayeux we headed out to the Bayeux War Cemetery and Museum.  We didn't stop in at the museum since we only had one day to tour all the D Day Beaches.  The Bayeux War Cemetery is mostly British soldiers.  What a somber place.

Our Peugot...it was kind of like being in a golf cart. 

Patrick took up the whole front seat almost to the back seat.

Several pictures of the countryside as we traveled around the Normandy area.

Lots of horses since its a agriculture area and Equestrian breeding is big in the area too.

Field they use to make Canola Oil

Local Church and cemetery.  Most little villages had a church and a cemetery.

Our first stop was Arromanches: The town lies along the stretch of coastline designated as Gold Beach during the D-Day landings, one of the beaches used by British troops in the Allied invasion. Arromanches was selected as one of the sites for two Mulberry Harbours built on the Normandy coast, the other one built further West at Omaha Beach. Sections of the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches still remain today with huge concrete blocks sitting on the sand, and more can be seen further out at sea.

Patrick by the Mulberry Harbour

Gold Beach

Arromanches D Day Museum...

Next we went to the American WWII Cemetery which is by Omaha Beach.  It was a very sombering experience

Patrick in front of Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

WW II American Cemetery

We left the cemetery and headed to Pointe du Hoc and along the way there are just museums or displays of old WW II military machinery.  We would stop and take a quick drive by and here are a few of the things we saw.

On June 6th 1944 an international coalition attacked Nazi occupied France along the Normandy coast. Supported by paratroops, soldiers landed on five beaches - codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword - to begin the liberation of Western Europe. This was D-Day for Operation Overlord and its success - all five beachheads were established - was a pivotal moment in the Second World War. However, there was a sixth naval landing that, although far smaller than the main beaches, was considered more dangerous. It took place at Pointe du Hoc.
On the west of the Normandy coast, between Grandcamp les Bains and Vierville sur Mer, a rocky promontory called Pointe du Hoc sticks out of the cliffs. When Germany prepared an 'Atlantic Wall' of defences against Allied invasion in 1943/44 they picked Pointe du Hoc, with its vertical slopes, tiny shingle beach and views of the surrounding coast, to build a defensive compound mounting – according to Allied intelligence reports - six 155mm guns, artillery which could hit positions several miles away. With thick concrete casements and underground bunkers, protected cable runs, an equally protected spotting post on the cliff and a network of trenches, the position was amongst the strongest ever built by the Nazis in the west.
The beaches guarded by Pointe du Hoc had been chosen as the two American landing points - Utah and Omaha – on D-Day and, with the capability to inflict such massive casualties, the guns had to be neutralized as early as possible during the invasion. Unfortunately, the massive concrete infrastructure prevented Allied bombers from achieving a guaranteed success. Although the RAF and USAF dropped explosives equivalent to the Hiroshima bomb upon the Pointe, Allied soldiers would still have to attack in person on D-Day.Despite these initial setbacks because of weather and navigational problems, resulting in a 40-minute delay and loss of surprise, the British landing craft carrying the rangers finally reached the base of the cliffs at 7:10 and with half the force started with. The landing craft were fitted with rocket launchers to fire grapnels and ropes up the cliffs. As the Rangers scaled the cliffs the Allied destroyers USS Satterlee and HMS Talybont provided them with fire support and ensured that the German defenders above could not fire down on the assaulting troops.^[8] The cliffs proved to be higher than the ladders could reach.
Upon reaching the fortifications, most of the Rangers learned for the first time that the main objective of the assault, the artillery battery, had been moved out of position, possibly as a result of air attacks during the buildup to the invasion. It is said that German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel gave the order to move the battery since he had recently been placed in charge of the coastal defenses of Normandy. Removal of the guns had actually been completed on June 4, 1944, but poor weather conditions prior to the invasion limited a final reconnaissance effort which would have revealed the guns' removal. The Rangers regrouped at the top of the cliffs, and a small patrol went off in search of the guns. This patrol found five of the six guns nearby and destroyed their mechanism with thermite grenades.^[4] The new battery location inland was sighted solely for Utah beach

Morter holes

German gun Battery

Interior of German Gun Battery overlooking the coast at Pointe du Hoc

In case you were wondering it rained the whole day...thus the lovely hair and jacket the whole day.

We finally had to leave the Normandy area.  I know we could of spent a week there seeing all the sites and museums but we got one afternoon to just see the hightlights.  We decided we had time to drive over to Le Mont St Michel.  It was over an hour away and already after 5 pm but we did it.  We got there by dusk to eat and quickly tour this beautiful island before we had a 4 plus hour drive back to Paris.  We got into Paris at 2 am...you can drive right around the Arc de Triumph at that time and no one is there.  

Mont Saint-Michel  is a rocky tidal island 247 acres  in size, and is a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre (just over half a mile) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The island's highest point is 92 metres (301 feet) above sea level. The population of the island is 44, as of 2009.^[1]
The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it. On top God, the abbey and monastery, below this the Great halls, then stores and housing, and at the bottom, outside the walls, fishermen and farmers housing.
One of France's most recognizable landmarks, Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and more than 3 million people visit it each year.