Normandy

Our final stop in France was Normandy. What a beautiful place. As Chase and I were making our final travel plans before we went to Europe, we talked about cutting Normandy out because of time and distance and cost. But we decided just to go for it and I'm so glad we did. It was such a unique place. There's just a feeling of reverance when you're there. The more we learned about the people that lived and died there and the extensive undertaking D-Day was, we couldn't help but feel and overwhelming sense of gratitude and patriotism.

So below you will see a few shots of the Normandy American Cemetery, which was incredibly beautiful and overwhelming. The cemetery is located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 172acres, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. The graves face westward, towards the United States.

For those men and women who could not be identified. We saw a surprising number of these grave markers.

A view from above of a section of Omaha Beach

The disembarkment museum. This is where thousands of U.S. soldiers landed on the beaches. A huge, man-made harbor was built after the D-Day landing in order to ship supplies, vehicles, weapons, etc. to Normandy to aid in the invasion. It was the brainchild of Winston Churchill and they say that the Normandy invasion would not have been nearly as effective had they not built that harbor. (Here is a link to more info, if you're interested. We found it fascinating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulberry_harbour )

A remaining part of the manmade harbor. You can see other pieces out in the distance.

A close-up of part of the old harbor

This is the Fiat Panda...our little rental car. We liked it just fine.

Chase and the manmade harbor...at the 360 degree museum. It was a cool place where they had a 360 degree theater (hence the name) where you could watch actual footage of D-Day and other battle scenes. While you were watching it you had to constantly be turning your head around to see all sides because things were going on all around you. It really helped me to feel the chaos of war. Very neat.

View from the 360 degree museum...D-Day Beaches and the manmade harbor in the distance.

This was a monument outside of the Caen Memorial Museum in Normandy. It was a HUGE museum all about Normandy and D-Day. It really put D-Day in a better context....it explained what happened before and after and because of D-Day. It was an amazing museum and we were just sorry we didn't have more time there. Fascinating pictures and film footage and true stories about people involved. It was truly moving.

Omaha Beach in the snow, which was kinda cool. In the distance you can see a monument to the soliders who lost their lives on these beaches and to those who continued to fight in their honor. It is supposed to be sets of angel's wings.

Normandy was an incredible place and we would highly recommend it to anyone who goes to France. You have a greater appreciation for those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their time and lives for our freedoms. We have a wonderful country and we should all take more time to think about and thank those who protect and defend it on our behalf.