Anniversary Trip: Day 2

 

 

Watching the high tide roll in...

 

 

 

The proprietor of our B&B told us about a good place to watch the tide roll in.  We went there about an 1-1/2 hr before, so we could observe the changes.

 

 

 

Low tide

 

 

Low tide, but you can see the water moving in on the right side

(Le Mont St. Michel in the background)

 

 

Playing while we wait

 

 

 

 

The water is filling in

 

 

 

Fisherman taking advantage of high tide

 

The third picture from above and this one are the same view (difference is low tide vs high tide)

 

 

Visiting the D-Day sights

 

 

St. Mere Eglise

 

 

 

Normandy and Brittany have an abundance of orchards and are known for their ciders.  So at lunch, we sampled one!

 

 

 

American Paratroopers landed at this site, St. Mere Eglise, on June 6, 1944, and instantly began fighting the Germans.  One paratrooper's parachute got caught on this church's roof.  For two hours, the paratrooper pretended to be dead, so that he wouldn't be shot.  Amazingly, he survived!  Even today, there is a replica of the paratrooper hanging from the church.  See the picture below

 

 

American Paratrooper hanging from church

 

 

 

French countryside

 

 

 

 

 

 

Utah Beach

 

It was a gorgeous day while we were visiting the D-Day site of Utah Beach.  Check out the skies in these pictures!

 

 

 

 

German bunker

(as we were driving into the Utah beach area)

 

 

 

bunker

 

 

 

 

Utah Beach Memorial

 

 

 

 

At Utah Beach

 

 

\Windy, but pretty on this day.  Can't imagine the weather conditions for our military when they landed here on the early morning of June 6, 1944

 

 

 

Utah Beach Memorial

 

 

 

 

Plaque dedicated to the US coast guard

 

 

 

Another US Memorial---took picture through gate (closed due to US govn't shutdown)

 

 

 

Memorial honoring the dead

 

 

 

Boys being boys!

 

 

Statue honoring the US Navy

 

 

 

Utah Beach Museum

 

 

 

The museum is built into an old German bunker as you can see in the photo above.

 

 

When our troops arrived at the site of Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, they were in boats like this one. 

 

 

 

Example of the German bunkers and tank obstacles on the beach

 

 

 

French & US flags made into girls' dresses and worn on the 1st anniversary of the liberation

 

 

 

Utah Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pointe du Hoc

 

At this site on D-Day, American Rangers scaled a 100 ft cliff using ropes.  As the Rangers climbed, Allied Destroyers fired on top of the cliffs to prevent the Germans from firing down at the Rangers.  Once at the top, more battling ensued costing many lives. 

 

 

 

large craters still evident

 

 

 

German bunker/casement

 

 

Pointe du Hoc

 

 

 

cliffs

 

 

 

View from Pointe du Hoc

 

 

 

"Due to the closure of the government of the United States of America, this site is closed to the public." 

(We were unable to go inside the bunkers. )

 

The American Cemetary was also closed due to the shut-down, but we will try to get back to see more of these sites. 

 

 

"These are the boys of Pointe Du Hoc.  These are the men who took the cliffs.  These are the champions who helped free a continent.  These are the heroes who helped end a war."

-Ronald W. Reagan

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all those who fought in WWII, for all our veterans, and those who are currently serving in our military.  God Bless you all!