Saturday through Tuesday 23-26 June 2007

Who says size doesn’t matter?

This past weekend I ventured to the Normandy coast of Northern France and toured the D-Day Invasion sites. It was a whirlwind of activity that had the weather go from absolutely gorgeous to persistent wind blown rain. It’s somewhat eerie that so much of the French coastline is still dotted with the concrete remains of the German occupation.

I visited the initial points of attack on both the eastern and western flanks of the 50 mile stretch of invasion zone. Starting with Ste. Mere Eglise to the west where the American paratroopers dropped continuing all the way to the east where British glider troops took the all important Pegasus Bridge .

In Ste. Mere Eglise they found it fitting (I found it in bad taste) to adorn the village church with an effigy of paratrooper John Steele. If you’ve seen the DDay movie, The Longest Day this is the role played by Red Buttons. It also has a kilometer post that signifies the start of “The Road to Freedom”.

At Pegasus Bridge you can see just how close the British glider pilots landed (47 ft. as there are markers behind the bridge) in order to capture the bridge within ten minutes time. We actually had lunch at Café Gondree which existed at the time of the invasion and is considered to be the first building liberated. Arlette Gondree who was a young girl at the time still tends to family run café. She has become somewhat notorious in that if you don’t follow her “rules” you won’t get served. I’d reference Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi” here, but that would be in bad taste…

Oh well…

In between lay the five invasion beaches, Utah , Omaha , Gold, Juno and Sword each with their own distinct features that proved the obstacles for the invading troops. Whether it was the 500 ft. long stretch of beach during low tide at Utah (turned out it was close to low tide when we were there), the elevations at Omaha, or the seaside villages at the Eastern sites, actually “seeing” these give one a new found respect for the determination and resolve of the Allied soldiers.

Perhaps the greatest “visual” was that of the one at Pointe du Hoc, the site of the U.S. Rangers’ assault on the 330 ft high sheer cliff to take out the German’s 155mm gun battery that potentially could have fired down upon either Utah or Omaha beach. The guns are no longer there, but… BUT… they have chosen to leave the grounds “as is”, which allows you to view the aftermath of the Allied bombings and offshore shelling.

It wasn’t all Operation Overlord, monuments and war museums as we also visited Mont St. Michel (which honestly turned out to be one of my favourite stops of the tour) and the Bayeux Tapestry.

Mont St. Michel is a Benedictine Monastery (complete with Scriptorium in its lower recesses) dedicated to the archangel Michael that sits atop a tidal island that rises over 240 ft. above the coast line and is one of those “wow” moments when you first see it appear on the horizon as it dominates the French countryside. Built in the 11th century it has been the site for pilgrimages for centuries, and has become the second most visited tourist destination in France behind Paris.

Like the Book of Kells that we viewed whilst in Dublin , The Bayeux Tapestry is considered to be one of the world’s true relics. An embroidered depiction of the events leading up to and including the William the Conqueror led Norman invasion of England in 1066, the Tapestry was commissioned in the 1070’s and measures 20 inches high by 230 FEET long. Unfortunately, no photos allowed.

After viewing the Tapestry I made a quick run (mainly because it was raining so hard) to visit the Gothic 11th century Bayeux Cathedral.

Without a doubt the most moving visits of the trip were to the British War Cemetery in Bayeux and the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach . Let the photos tell the tale.

“It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.” – Sir Winston Churchill