Normandy and D-Day sites

Today was all about D-Day sites in Normandy.

We started by visiting the Longues-sur-Mer battery.  I like this site because it really is just a  side-of-the-road thing.  We hit it early today and had it nearly to ourselves.  I shared with Charlie how somber visiting the site made me feel because the Germans had a bunch of kids about Charlie's age manning the site and the Allies had a bunch of kids about Charlie's age attacking it.  Either way you look at it, a bunch of kids died in this place.  He agreed.

From Longues-sur-Mer, we went to the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.  I'd been there 10 years ago, but it was special being able to share the place with my kids.  I was glad they felt the gravity of the place.  It was a beautiful day and I really did feel grateful to be there.

After we left the cemetery, we had a picnic lunch on be bluff.

Then, we went down to Omaha Beach and walked along it for awhile.  Seeing the movies like Saving Private Ryan, don't really prepare you for how vast a place it is. Waling along it today, at low tide -- especially after having walking down from a fortified German position and then walking back up the hill -- really underscored how big a deal it was for the thousands of GI's to get out of landing craft and make their way up the beach back on June 6, 1944.

After leaving Omaha Beach, we went to Pointe du Hoc and the walked the battle site there.  The craters left by the Allied bombardment, the bunkers still remaining and the spectacle of the cliffs that the Rangers scaled to attack the site were all very dramatic.

For scale, Charlie walks through one of the bomb craters left at Point du Hoc.

When we left Pointe du Hoc, we decided to visit the German war cemetery at La Cambe.  It was very moving, and a reminder that in war there really are no "winners".  I was glad that it was an experience I could share with my children and again, I was glad that they seem to absorb it.

After that, we made a brief stop at Carrefour Bayeux and did some shopping for dinner and breakfast tomorrow before heading back and having an "eat-in" dinner at the cottage.  After dinner, Laura and I send the kids back into town to have crêpes, while we enjoy some "parent-alone" time with a bottle of French wine.

Tomorrow morning, early, we board a ferry and head to England.