Day 5 - Normandy Beaches

Today we had an early start because the Normandy beaches are a two hour bus ride from the ship still docked at Rouen.Our first stop was the D-Day Museum where we viewed a World War II video produced by the Ministry of War showing how the Allies prepared for the D-Day invasion.  The video showed how the American and English governments made plans for the invasion.  The Germans knew that any invasion of the French coast would require control of a major harbor port to continue to supply the invading forces.The Allies' solution to this was to begin construction of a floating harbor in pieces.  Laborers throughout England were commissioned to construct pieces of the harbor without knowledge of what they were constructing or its purpose.  The pieces were launched and assembled on location after the initial invasion.  They sank old ships to create an ocean break and then pieced together the many pieces to create a floating steel harbor that was supplying the Allied Forces within days of the D-Day invasion and was completed in less than two weeks.  The floating harbor was established in Arromanches along the Normandy coastline.

We then got back onto the bus and drove further along the coast to view the only remaining intact German gun and bunker on the Normandy coast.  They were mostly destroyed after the war when the guns were melted down for reconstruction and the bunkers were filled in with cement and abandoned.  The German guns and bunkers were located 300 yards from the shore to hide them from incoming ships.   Below, Laura and I are standing in front of the wildflower fields between the bunkers and the shore.  The other picture is of Laura in front of the destroyed German gun and bunker.  Pieces of the gun were found scattered several yards from the entrance of the bunker.

Our next stop was the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach.  There was a small moment during which the National Anthem and Taps were played and we were given roses to place on plots throughout the grounds.  The cemetery land was granted to the United States government and has the same designation as the US Embassy.  There are over 9000 soldiers buried on the grounds who played a role in the D-Day invasion.  At the entrance of the cemetery, there is a memorial to those soldiers from the invasion who were never found and classified as missing in action.  If a listed soldier's remains are later located, a star is placed next their name.  One was pointed out to us that was identified in 2010.The cemetery is located at the top of the cliffs on Omaha Beach where many of the US forces stormed the beach on D-Day.  We were able to walk along the top of the cliff and see the steep climb that they had to overcome.  There are now more than 100 steps from the top  of the cliff to the sand of the beach.  While we walked through the cemetery, we could here people on the beach having vacation - it was a stark dichotomy.

After returning to the ship docked in Rouen, we discovered that there would be fireworks in the evening!  Today, July 14th is Bastille Day in France.  It is similar to the celebration of Independence Day in the United States.  On July 14, 1789 starving Parisian stormed the Bastille Royal Prison and took control.  It was the beginning of the revolution that would remove the monarchy from power in France.  The prison was dismantled stone by stone and used to make the Concord Bridge in Paris.  The  French celebrate with fireworks and parades.  We sat on the sun deck of the ship to watch the fireworks over the bridge along the Seine River.I have been told that fireworks will go off throughout the night in the city, so I am glad that Laura brought the ear plugs! :)  We need to get come sleep tonight because tomorrow we are storming a castle!