Friday, October 3, 2014
We visited the very helpful Tourist Information Center in Caen and got all the information we needed to visit the Normandy Beaches. The first piece of advice was to visit the Museum/Memorial of Caen. Although it was 3pm by the time we got to the museum, this turned out to be perfect timing. Our visit took 4 hours and the museum closed at 7pm and consequentially the place was pretty void of screaming kids, babies and tourists generally. The statue ‘Unconditional Surrender’ by J. Seward Johnson, located outside the museum at the time of our visit, was causing quite a controversy between art lovers and feminists. Caroline felt very lucky to be able to see the photographic exhibition ‘Shots of War’ by Tony Vaccaro.
During the drive we crossed from the Eastern hemisphere into the Western hemisphere. Not since Sterlin left Los Ageles has he been in the Western hemisphere. We stayed at a Budget Ibis a little outside Bayeux for the night and had a relaxing night in.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Normandy Landings / Beaches Day.
First stop was Arromanches-les-Bains to see remains of the artificial bridge built by the British prior to D-Day and used after successfully obtaining a beachhead. Next up was the Batteries of Longues-sur-Mer where the Germans had built 4 impressive 152-mm fortified guns as part of the Atlantic Wall. We continued along the coast to the beach codenamed “Omaha”, the scene of the highest casualties during D-Day. This beach was in the American sector and approximately 10,000 American soldiers lost their lives during the assault. Located on a bluff overlooking the beach is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and we had a very good visit. Unfortunately the rain drove us away before exploring all the grounds.
We then drove south to Mont Saint Michel.
