Normandy

The American Monument at Omaha
Beach

We had a late start and trouble getting to the rental car place, and even more trouble trying to account for the fact that they didn't think we had requested an automatic. They wanted to charge us €200 for an upgrade, since they really don't have that many automatics in Europe. No thanks, Jennie! We made do with my pitiful manual driving, which actually wasn't bad at all. I survived driving in Paris with only a British understanding of what most of the picture signs meant, thanks to S, and being completely unable to read the directionals ones.

The rubble left over from the shelling

As expected, part of the drive consisted of a discussion of manual driving theory, which Mi put into practice for about two tries before deciding he was ready for the open road. Luckily (?) he stalled it out about four times in a row shortly after when we stopped for a tank and decided he needed more practice.

The rolling ground,
damaged by shells

I also learned today what I suspected in Paris, which is that Mi wants to kidnap any adorable European kid he sees (which is pretty much all of them) and Me wants to do the same with cats. And sometimes dogs.

We went up to point Eagle between the Utah and Omaha beaches, where the German militia had set up cannons to cover the area. We learned about the Rangers who breached in the wrong place and ended up being late for the D-day invasion, ruining their chance at surprise. But they took the guns anyway and held it by themselves for two days, until reinforcements arrived. The ground around what was left of the bunkers was cratered from the shelling of the American war ships, which was both cool and a serious reminder of the devastation at the same time.

An empty gun turret

We unfortunately weren't in time to see the American Cemetery, but we went and walked along the beach to the monument at Omaha. I think it might be my favorite monument. It just has all sorts of possible meanings, from blades to fire to waves, and it's really elegant in its simplicity. It was a really meaningful reminder of all the blood shed on that beach so many years ago. I had a quiet walk up to the ocean by myself to appreciate that, and to take it all in.

A boat that carried jeeps to the beach

We returned to Cean late, and found it practically deserted. We were the only ones walking around the street at nine at night, and it wasn't as if everyone was just at home, because there were no house lights either. They had all gone somewhere else. But we eventually found the college side of town and found something to munch on, then sat on the sidewalk to enjoy some wine and whatever the local beer/wine/lemon mix that Mi got that tasted amazing. Then it was back to the hotel with the strange bathroom for the night.