We started today with breakfast at 7 am. We had our choice of crêpes, croissants, pain au chocolat, cereal, yogurt or fruit. It was a great selection so I always tell everyone to load up because we aren't sure at what time we will have lunch. :) Our bus left the hotel at 8:15 to go to Caen to the Memorial museum. This is the best museum ever. It is divided into parts: before World War II, the D-Day Invasion and pat 1945. One really needs several days to go through the museum thoroughly, we had two hours and that included the 22 minute long movie about The allied invasion of Caen. So much to see and so much to learn!
From the museum we headed to thee beachside town of Arromanches. This town took a major beating on June 6, 1944. The false harbors are still in place and the town has been rebuilt. Immediately after the liberation, the remaining 6 buildings were leveled to build a landing strip for the Allied forces so that they could get supplies to the existing front. 
We were able to eat lunch here and enjoy a bit of free time, that has definitely been lacking so far month is trip, our activities have been jam packed. The kids and I went to the Restaurant 6 juin in the little town where we ate mussels Normandy style (fresh Normandy cream) and Sabrina had a club sandwich. Guess who's was better?! We took some photos, Luke ran out to check the insides of one of the false harbors, a mulberry harbor, and discovered it was a bit funky smelling on the inside. These harbors were built in England and transported to the Normandy region to help with the offload of supplies needed for the troops. They are still scattered in the English Channel all along the D-Day beaches today. Amazing.
Form here we went to Colleville sur mer , the location of the American cemetery. Thousands upon thousands of perfectly placed crosses and Stars of David are here to memorialize the young boys who died fighting to liberate France from the iron fist of Hitler and his army. It is a sobering visit, more so this time since the preparations for the 75th anniversary are already starting for this summer. Fewer veterans will be able to make the trip to these memorial services. Although the cemetery is overlooking one of the beaches, we hopped on the bus for a photo stop a bit further west at Omaha beach.
Our final stop of the day was at Pointe du Hoc, a pivitol spot on June 6, 1944. It was here that these brave boys scaled the cliffs and hoped to come out alive. The conditions in which they faced the Nazis were behind trifling. They were literally sitting ducks. It is amazing that the Allies lost only the umber of boys that they lost...
It was an emotionally heavy day. We ended at the hotel, back on the marina and had dinner at the same restaurant as last night. Fish and chips was the dish of the evening, delish! Early morning time tomorrow. In fact the alarm will go of at 3:45 in order to get to the ferry port in Calais, France on time to make the channel crossing it England. With that, I end today's entry with a photo of the green pastures of Normandy. 
We were able to eat lunch here and enjoy a bit of free time, that has definitely been lacking so far month is trip, our activities have been jam packed. The kids and I went to the Restaurant 6 juin in the little town where we ate mussels Normandy style (fresh Normandy cream) and Sabrina had a club sandwich. Guess who's was better?! We took some photos, Luke ran out to check the insides of one of the false harbors, a mulberry harbor, and discovered it was a bit funky smelling on the inside. These harbors were built in England and transported to the Normandy region to help with the offload of supplies needed for the troops. They are still scattered in the English Channel all along the D-Day beaches today. Amazing.
Form here we went to Colleville sur mer , the location of the American cemetery. Thousands upon thousands of perfectly placed crosses and Stars of David are here to memorialize the young boys who died fighting to liberate France from the iron fist of Hitler and his army. It is a sobering visit, more so this time since the preparations for the 75th anniversary are already starting for this summer. Fewer veterans will be able to make the trip to these memorial services. Although the cemetery is overlooking one of the beaches, we hopped on the bus for a photo stop a bit further west at Omaha beach.
Our final stop of the day was at Pointe du Hoc, a pivitol spot on June 6, 1944. It was here that these brave boys scaled the cliffs and hoped to come out alive. The conditions in which they faced the Nazis were behind trifling. They were literally sitting ducks. It is amazing that the Allies lost only the umber of boys that they lost...
It was an emotionally heavy day. We ended at the hotel, back on the marina and had dinner at the same restaurant as last night. Fish and chips was the dish of the evening, delish! Early morning time tomorrow. In fact the alarm will go of at 3:45 in order to get to the ferry port in Calais, France on time to make the channel crossing it England. With that, I end today's entry with a photo of the green pastures of Normandy. 
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