Storming the beach at Normandy

June 16, 2008

Like I said yesterday (actually, today, but it was yesterday’s entry) we had a fairly short driving day. All told, we were in Caen in less than an hour. We found a grocery store and stocked up on picnic stuff for the day – Becky loves the yogurt here. That’s one thing I just don’t get. It doesn’t seem all that hard to use the same ingredients. Why is the yogurt, bread and chocolate so much better in Europe? Now don’t get me wrong; I love America, and I couldn’t last without Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cups and A&W Root Beer, but still you think that Yoplait could sell the same yogurt to us in the United States as they do in Europe.

We made a cool discovery too. Apparently, the McDonalds in Europe have free WIFI – they have it in the states but you have to pay. However, the prices are more expensive – no dollar menu. We were able to check our email this morning, but we didn’t have time to post a blog entry because we needed to get back on the road.

We drove out to the American Cemetery that overlooks Omaha Beach, and that was a very moving experience. I had been there once before, but it was the first time for Becky (and obviously for the kids). We visited the memorial and the gravesites, and we walked down and had a picnic lunch on Omaha Beach. It was a little windy, but the kids still played in the water and found crabs.

We tried to explain to the kids about D-Day and World War II as much as they could understand. Unfortunately, I think that Zac (and even Alex a little) are afraid of Nazis (not a bad thing, I guess).

We found a place to camp for the night (Thank you, Franco and Emily for lending us your tent and sleeping bags), and then we went over to visit Pointe du Hoc. At this site on D-Day, the US 2nd Ranger Battalion was given the job of scaling the cliffs and taking out huge cannons that could threaten the landings at Omaha and Utah Beaches. After bombardment from the Allied ships, the Rangers captured the site after suffering heavy casualties only to find out that the cannons weren’t even in place. Still, there were many fortifications and artillery that the Rangers were able to capture and secure the high ground overlooking the two beaches.

At the site today, many of the fortifications have been left along with huge craters caused by the D-Day shelling. The kids really enjoyed running up and down the shell holes and looking for long-forgotten Nazis in the maze of old concrete pillboxes. Although it was over their heads somewhat, I think they gained some appreciation of the people who gave their lives in the service of our country and freedom in the world.