Ben and Tiffany came to visit... Yay!! Not only do we LOVE visitors, we especially love the Walls, so it was a win-win. :-) They arrived on Friday and we headed northwest Saturday morning to Normandy, the region along the coast above Paris. Which, of course, contains the beaches of the D-Day Invasion.
On the way, we stopped in Rouen for lunch.
Rouen is home to a very famous cathedral, not only because it is a 12th century cathedral that has survived some serious opposition (including bombing during WWII), but also because Monet, the great impressionist artist, completed more than a dozen paintings of its facades. In those paintings, Monet played with light, weather, and perspective, truly revealing the "impressions" he received of the cathedral, rather than its concrete attributes.
We began our exploration of the Normandy beaches at Pointe du Hoc, a raised point along the coast with sheer cliffs, located right in between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. With such a location (and German guns that could shoot as far as both beaches), you can imagine what a pivotal point it was. Therefore, on D-Day, 300 Rangers (led by General Rudder, a name which all Aggies know) scaled the cliffs using ladders and equipment from the London Fire Department to take over the point. Only 100 survived the assault, but they managed to control that crucial location, playing a large part in our success that day. The pillar coming up from the rocks is a monument in honor of those Rangers.
The coastline on either side provides incredible views (Omaha beach is just around that peek in the distance).
Most moving, I think, is that nothing about the landscape has been changed. The partially destroyed German bunkers, complete with barbed wire, and the bomb craters are all still present, dotting the landscape.
And there were still signs of places where German tanks and guns had sat, fending off the American soldiers.
That evening, we stayed in Bayeux, an adorable little town only 15 minutes from the beaches. Miraculously, though it is by far the closest town to the invasion, it survived without any bombing, leaving it very pleasant to wander.
It also is home to a beautiful cathedral, rather breathtaking at night.
In the morning, we visited the Bayeux Tapestry. While pictures were not allowed, it was REALLY cool (and I realize that I am a nerd, but I really think many people would enjoy this). It is an embroidered piece of linen, several hundred feet long, telling the story of the Battle of Hastings. That was the battle during which William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) invaded England and took over the throne. It is because of that invasion that our "English" today is a mix of Germanic and Romantic languages, rather than simply German. Anyway, the tapestry is about 1,000 years old and is fascinating. Plus, there were some cheesy statues in the second part of the museum that made for some good laughs!
Driving back to the coast that morning to visit the American Memorial Cemetery also afforded some beautiful weather and a few nice pictures of the quaint little towns there. So much of it looks like it could still be 1940.
And, as always, the cemetery is a painful pleasure. Beautiful, immaculate, sobering, and sad.
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