Walking on the Normandy beaches is kind of like taking a stroll through a history book

The final excursion of this past weekend was to Caen, Bayeux, and the Normandy beaches... which is all pretty much the same thing.. sort of.. but not at all... I don't know exactly the name of where we were for the most part... we were in a place... where World War II happened, and that is really all that is important. We were most definitely in Bayeux for a time... maybe a bit too much time because it might be the tiniest town in France. However, it was a hotel, a cathedral, a tapestry, shops, eateries, and assorted other things in it as well... and we're off...


This is the first beach we toured. We had a Polish/Dutch/Non-American tour guide. He was difficult to undersand.. and it was incredibly windy and rainy and just generally miserable. It added to the authenticity of the tour. So that was good I suppose. Made you really appreciate what took place on those beaches. Also really makes you want to watch Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers at the same time... just to get a sense of the insanity that was going on that day and the days that followed.



This is the National Cemetery that is along the beaches. It is officially US soil.. so it was good to be in America for a bit. They had just had a huge memorial/celebration/gathering for the anniversary of D-Day. Thus, the aesthetics were a bit off.. with construction vehicles everywhere and construction workers taking random things apart... and stuff. But as long as you were facing this way... and tuning out the noice.. everything was good.

One of the memorial buildings in the middle of the cemetery. A great place to get out of the rain.


I was attempting to do something artistic with this rose... then it just kept raining... it's difficult to have a good eye while holding an umbrella and keeping your balance without touching the ground for fear of getting wet. Then that person walked into the frame.. and that building came out of nowhere to the left. O well... just imagine that none of that is there... and think of something inspirational.


I want to say that this is Omaha beach. I'm 84% sure that this is Omaha beach.


This is the US monument that is on Omaha beach. It was apparently nearly torn down because there is a law that says nothing can be built on these beaches... I'm pretty sure that it's going to make it though. It's called "The Three Arms" or something that sounds like that... or is similar to that... did I mention it was windy and that was it incredibly difficult to understand our tour guide sometimes?


This place was bombed for something like 24 or 48 hours straight... which led to this incredibly hilly area with lots of holes in the ground. The Germans were stationed... and the Allied troops scaled the cliffs here on D-Day. Crazy stuff


A better picture of the cliffs the Allied troops had to go up. It apparently took like 20 minutes to make it to the top. I might have completely just made that up. I'm sure if you watch the History Channel long enough that you'll find out for yourself. Consider it your homework for your lifetime.

This is not an actual person. However, there apparently was a man during the war that got caught up on this church steeple. Actually 2. Just before he died, A man on the ground saved both their lives when he shot a German soldier before he could shoot the men hanging from the church. Hopefully you followed that terrible pronoun usage. Then Red Buttons (an actual actors name) portrayed this scene in some old movie. Then the city thought it would be a good idea to commemorate this with this mannqeuin. Hollywood makes everything cooler.


The farmers in the town of Bayeux decided it was a good time to go on strike. This was basically just an excuse to parade manure all around the city... and generally just make everyone upset because everything smelled like manure. Thanks Bayeux farmers for everything you do. You're really making a difference in the world.


During the entirely too long 5 hours of free time we had in Bayeux before we left for Oxford the last day, we found this water mill... we were impressed for all of 2 minutes. 4 hours and 58 minutes to go.


Here's another example of something to kill time in Bayeux. The world famous, or France famous, or someone made famous Bayeux Tapestry. 70 meters of pure exhileration. With an audio guide that is all narrated with top-notch musical interludes. Featuring an exactly 16 minute film that is nearly identical to the audio guide. A great way to spend 50 minutes. 4 hours and 2 minutes to go.

All in all, Normandy/Bayeux/Caen was really interesting. I'm not too huge on history but those beaches were quite affecting.

Definitely a once in a lifetime type of an experience.