Normandy - France

When we left the memorial, our first stop was at some German bunkers. Surprisingly, they were in very good condition. I was also surprised at how far they were from the sea shore too. The guns and cannons must have been powerful.

Next, we stopped at the British beaches to get some information because they were close. The interesting thing about this location was the artificial ship docks that were made. These are still there today as if they are ready to be used if need be. Another surprise was to see people swimming in the sea near the beach. I saw a few more people doing this throughout the day, but I had an initial shot to see it at first. For me, it would be hard to take pleasure from a place where there was so much bloodshed.

After this we saw the American cemetary.

I was awestuck... not by the symmetry of crosses (I had been prepared for this by photos) but by the NUMBER of graves there are. I have never seen so many before. Standing at the entrance you cannot see the end. The width alone is amazing in size, but the length is what makes you so sad. I got a little choked up when God Bless America chimed in at the top of the hour. I was okay before that. It hits you even harder when you see the names, ranks, state of residence, and date of death on each cross. Technically, I was back in America because the land is US soil, I just wish it could have been due to a happier reason.

Next we stopped by Pointe du Hoc site and memorial. It is amazing to see all of the bomb indentions here. I would not have wanted to be a German here on D-Day haha.

We backtracked a bit to Omaha Beach after. It feels strange to walk here remembering all the crosses we had seen not long before. I had a lot of respect at this moment for the soldiers and also a lot of pride for my country and the other countries who aided France.

We were running out of daylight, so we did not go out to Utah Beach. We did stop by a famous church near it though. Here, an American soldier got caught on the church after diving out of a plane and hung there for hours. Luckily, he survived and there is a memorial there for him.

We left for Le Mont Saint Michel. We wanted to be there so we did not have to drive in the morning. This was a VERY good idea. If you plan to see LMSM, do NOT miss it at night. Doing so was among the top experiences I have had so far this trip. Really, the photos do not do it justice at all.

To sleep, we parked at a hotel and slept in the back of the car. This was, of course, okay with my and my budget haha.