Normandy {Part IV}: Remembering D-Day

Tomorrow is the 67th anniversary of D-Day.  I have co-workers that are in Normandy for this reason.  There is a reenactment of the infamous airborne assault by our Soldiers/Paratroopers stationed here in Europe.  It's too bad we didn't wait to go until this weekend.  That would have been a sight to behold.

While in Normandy, we were fortunate to visit the National American Cemetery and Memorial that honors all Americans who died in Europe during World War II.  The cemetery is located on a bluff that overlooks Omaha Beach and the English Channel.  At the same time we were there, there were Soldiers rehearsing for Memorial Day ceremonies and I believe President Obama made an appearance there as well (we had seen his motorcade on the autobahn on our drive from Paris to Normandy).

We walked about the grounds in silence, remembering our fallen comrades.  We also walked about the grounds with great pride--in being servicemembers and Americans.

This is the museum and a lovely one at that.  The displays were fantastic and we saw a tear-jerking film called "Letters".  In the film, actual letters written by World War II Soldiers were read and their stories told.  In this picture, down past the museum, you can see Omaha Beach.

This bronze statue sits at the center of a semi-circular colonnade containing large maps and narratives of the military operations during WWII.  The statue is called "Spirit of American Youth".

Looking out west from the bronze statue is a reflecting pool and beyond that the burial grounds. 

Here's Malu going down to see the graves.  On this side, stands the French flag.  On the other side, is the American flag. 

View of the bronze statue from the reflecting pool.

There are several notable burials at the cemetery including two sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, one of which was awarded the Medal of Honor.  The others we actually saw were the Niland brothers whose story was the basis of the movie, Saving Private Ryan.  Our friend's daughter was the one who actually found their headstones (shown below).

And this post pretty much wraps up our trip.  Not sure we'll ever end up in Normandy again, so boy are we glad we can check this off of our list!

Here is a group photo of the gang with our B&B hosts, Keith and Penny, just before we left.  I stole this one from the Finches.

  We miss our friends already.  Lucky for us, the Finches will be in Germany for another three years.  We'll get to visit with them again.  The Donofrios will be moving to the states in the next month or so.  We wish them the best of luck and hope that the Army allows our paths to cross again!

Anyway, hope you're all enjoying the last of the weekend!

Until next time...

Normandy {Part III}: Beaches

We've lived inland for I don't know how many years now...I think around four.  So knowing that Normandy would land us right along the English Channel was so thrilling.  Although we didn't luck out too much as far as the weather was concerned, as being along the coast brought in some strong winds (not to mention the sun didn't make its debut until the day we left), the beaches of Normandy allowed for some spectacular sightseeing.  It also allowed us the opportunity to reflect on the significance of the shores along which we roamed.  This weekend will mark 67 years since the Allied invasion of German-occupied France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day)--almost seven decades since thousands lost their lives in one of the most significant events in military history.

I'm not going to give you the entire history lesson on the Normandy landings.  I'll let you guys Google that yourselves.  I will tell you, however, that the landings (known as Operation Neptune) were conducted in two phases--the first phase was an airborne assault and the second phase was the largest amphibious invasion in history with over 160,000 troops (infantry and armored divisions) landing ashore on along a 50-mile stretch along the Normandy coast.  The coast was divided into five beach sectors--Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword.  We visited two of the five beaches as well as other beautiful waterfront towns in Normandy.

{Omaha}

This was the most heavily fortified beach, hence it took very heavy casualties.  The beach was so peaceful and the moments we walked upon it were very solemn.  It was almost too hard to believe that once upon a time, on that fateful day, that this very area was a battlefield and a very horrific scene at that.

It was low tide when we went, so we were able to get our feet wet and collect some seashells.  In that area was a very nice National Guard memorial as well as that restaurant that I mentioned in yesterday's post.

{Utah}

We actually went to Utah Beach on our last full day in Normandy.  By then, my camera had run out of battery and I the pictures I took with our camcorder were horrible.  This picture was "borrowed" from the Finches.  In any case, the scenery wasn't too much different from that of Omaha Beach. 

Utah Beach sits west of Omaha Beach.  D-Day casualties on this beach were the least and the 4th Infantry Division landed there.

{Pointe du Hoc}

Pointe du Hoc is a clifftop along the coast and is located between Omaha and Utah Beaches.  The Germans heavily defended this area from the high ground, looking down on both beaches.  Their guns were a huge threat to the allied invasions on both beaches.  Here, the 2nd Ranger Battalion was charged with the mission of destroying these fortifications, which they did.  Pointe du Hoc has a Ranger Memorial as well as a museum dedicated to his battle.  Along the grounds, atop the cliff, many of the fortifications (bunkers) still exist as well as craters from the D-Day bombing attacks.

What a great day for pictures.  But pardon the bad hair photos...it was really windy!

The 2nd Ranger Battalion Memorial.  Nope, he doesn't go anywhere without his little girl.

Memorial Inscription

Inside the bunker beneath the memorial

View of the clifftop--you can really see the bomb craters

West side of Pointe du Hoc (in the direction of Utah Beach)

East side of Pointe du Hoc (in direction of Omaha Beach)

Another bunker

Group picture at the entrance to the Ranger Memorial

I believe we all liked this place the most.  We spent the most time there.  The guys, especially Malu, were beyond excited to be there.  I could see Malu replaying all of the Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, and every other WWII movie in his mind and picturing the movement of troops up those cliffs.  I don't know how many times he pulled out the maps we were given at the museum.  The place was like heaven on earth to him.  I loved that he was so happy.

{St. Vaast}

 Our hosts at White Cross Manor recommended that we go to Saint Vaast--a town even further west from Utah Beach.  The place had some shops and restaurants specializing in seafood, only we didn't get to do any of that.  Everything was closed by the time we got there.  Yuck!

We all took pictures of this...thought it was kinda neat.

And that's the beach edition of Normandy you guys.  Hope you enjoyed it, however long it was!

I'm almost done with the Normandy posts.  Just one more.  I think I'll save that for the anniversary of D-Day!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Normandy {Part II}: The 3 C's

In the weeks before we left for Normandy, people at work gave me feedback on what to do there, since so many have been there before.  One person told me to remember the 3 C's of Normandy...

{1} Camembert

As in camembert cheese, which is very similar to brie cheese both in taste and texture.  Soft, creamy, and delicious, camembert cheese was first made in Normandy in the late 18th century.  This is no surprise as most of the area we traveled through was rolling countryside ripe with dairy cattle.  I'd had brie cheese on many occasions before Normandy, but don't quite think I ever had camembert.  If I did, I didn't know the difference.  Either way, I was dead set on finding and eating some.  Conveniently, Keith & Penny served it to me for the first time at our first breakfast feast!

The cheese plate is smack-dab in the middle of the table.  But what the hey...let me tell you what else they served to us every morning.  In addition to cheese, they served croissants and baguettes, cereal, fresh fruit, deli meats, crepes with strawberries and nutella (my fave!), and even smoked salmon!  Not only that, Penny made the best coffee and English tea and all the jams/jellies were homemade.  We were in heaven!  Here's a group shot of all of us (well, minus one!) at our first breakfast.

From L to R: Reegan, her dad Mat (the Donofrios--minus Brooke, his wife), Me, Sina & Malu, and Eric, Maddie and Madisen (the Finches)

The second time I had camembert cheese was at a restaurant overlooking Omaha Beach, which many of you know was one of the landing sites for the Allied invasion of German-occupied France during World War II (D-Day).  I'll be talking more about that either tomorrow or the over the weekend.  In any case, the restaurant served a variety of pizzas. 

I ordered the La Normandie--it had andouille (French sausage), potatoes, and camembert with a cream sauce.

It was delicious.  Then again, anything tastes delicious to me.  Malu had that salad, also with andouille and camembert, and pears as well.

{2} Cider and {3} Calvados

These are lumped together because that's how we knocked them out--in one shot.  Okay, along with cows, the vast Normandy countryside consists of apple orchards, making it the country's major cider-producing region.  On our way to Omaha Beach from visiting Pointe du Hoc (which I'll also discuss later), we passed by a sign next to an old chateau that said "cidre and calvados", so we pulled in. 

 

Little did we know that this random place we nearly whizzed by was an absolute jewel.  The place is called Le Chateau d'Englesqueville and dates back to the late 16th century.  The place belonged to the family of its current owner, Bernard Lebrec, who produces his own cider (or cidre) and calvados, which is apple brandy.  We were able to sample both!
 
Cider for the kiddos...even Sina enjoyed it!
 

Cider (alcoholic, of course) and calvados (whoa, it was strong!) for the grown-ups!

And more than enough of both for us to buy and take home with us!

I even bought some vanilla apple jelly!  Yum-o!

Bernard was so kind to take us on a tour of the grounds.  The house, which he's still in the process of refurbishing, he says, was headquarters to the 147th Engineer Battalion following D-Day.  The battalion suffered many casualties on Omaha Beach that day.  Those that made it ashore helped clear beach obstacles and helped to get men and supplies off the beach.  Bernard told us that the monument that stands on the property was the first World War II memorial erected in Europe.  Apparently, this isn't common knowledge and we were happy to discover this.

Posing in front of the 147th Eng Bn Memorial with Bernard Lebrec

The memorial has the infamous Army Engineer insignia--the Castle 

Here are some other beautiful things we saw...

A beautiful gate...at least I thought it was

 I believe the soldiers used this to stand guard

Part of the chateau that is being refurbished.  It kind of gave me the feeling of being on the set of Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola's movie).

Who knew that some random stop along the French countryside would land us in such a fascinating and beautiful place? 

Coming up tomorrow.....beaches!

Thanks for following along you guys!

   

Normandy {Part I}: Lodging!

I'm going to a series of posts on our trip to Normandy for two main reasons...I have too many photos that I want to share and I'm way too tired to do one huge post on it right now.  I just don't have the energy.  Could it be because I spent the entire day at work and then, against my better judgment, decided to try out a Zumba class tonight?  Most definitely.

Anyway, I didn't do much of the planning for this trip.  Our friends, the Finch Family, did most of the leg-work.  Just so you know...the Finches followed us to Germany from El Paso, only they're stationed in Northern Germany, about four hours from us.  They, and some friends of theirs (the Donofrios), met up with us at the Charles de Gaulle airport in dirty Paris and we rode in our rental van about three hours to Normandy, where they had us all set up in this manor/bed & breakfast owned by a lovely couple, Keith & Penny.  The place is called the White Cross Manor.  Now, I had to borrow these pictures of the manor from the Vacation Rentals by Owner website.  But check out our digs!

This is the main house, built in 1875. It was refurbished a few years ago, but still maintains the charm of a typical French country home. It is situated in St. Jores, the area where the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed on D-Day in 1944 (so the place had historical and personal significance to me, Malu, and the other two paratroopers in the group). The main house has a lovely garden with a fish pond, a sunroom where we enjoyed breakfast every morning, as well as a bird house near the sunroom and two adorable little Yorkies that kept the kids entertained (both the Finches and the Donofrios have each have daughters--three girls total!). As if that wasn't enough...Keith & Penny have chickens that laid organic eggs while we were there. A wonderful learning experience for the little girls, even Sina, who can now say rooster! Don't you just love all of the ivy?

The house also has a separate Gite cottage (pronounced "jeet" with the "j" sounding like the "zs" as in Zsa Zsa Gabor) with a loft, where Sina, Malu and I slept. On the main floor of the cottage was a kitchenette, some couches, a dining area as well as a furnace (which came in handy since the weather was much colder than we'd anticipated).

A fabulous breakfast was provided by Keith & Penny every morning.  They called it continental breakfast, but feast was more like it.  I swear, we ate like kings and queens each morning!  I'll talk more about that tomorrow.  In the evenings, we'd grill out in front of the gite, have a few drinks and talk until we had to put the kiddos to sleep. 

Basically, we were out in farm country and seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  Just green pastures, cows, horses, sheep and goats everywhere--an utterly beautiful setting and a stark contrast to Paris.  Spread out around the area were other farm houses, manors and chateaus--things we'd only read about and/or seen in movies.  We were just so thrilled to be there!

I realize I'm all over the place with this post, so thanks for bearing with me.  But I'm tired and have to prepare for another early morning.

Stay tuned you guys!  I have much more to share with you!

Happy Memorial Day!

We returned a few hours ago from our trip to Normandy.  What a fantastic way to celebrate Memorial Day.  I'll save the details of this trip for posts throughout the week.  For now, I'll leave you with a breath-taking photo I took at the National American Cemetery in Normandy that honors those who fell in Europe during World War II.

We were truly honored to be there.  There aren't enough words to express the gratitude we felt for those whose graves we stood upon; those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our freedom.

Today, we honor them and all of our brothers and sisters in arms who also paid the ultimate price; as well as those who have served and continue to serve our great country on the homefront and abroad.



I took this picture at the Normandy American National Cemetery.  The cemetery overlooks both the English Channel and Omaha Beach, one of the landing beaches of the infamous D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.  A huge celebration to commemorate D-Day will be held next weekend.

And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave,
for glory lights the soldier's tomb,
and beauty weeps the brave.
~Joseph Drake~


Happy Memorial Day!