D-Day and Normandy

Last summer, we took a 4 day vacation in Bayeaux, Normandy. Ever since I moved to Germany, I had wanted to see the D-Day beaches. We checked out the Rick Steves website where we found BattleBus Tours. This looked like just what we wanted, and it turned out to be absolutely the best tour we could have taken. After a 6 hour train ride from Frankfurt, with a train change in Paris, we arrived in Bayeaux. This is a charming little town that for whatever reason was not bombed during the war. It has a beautiful cathedral and lots of little streets to wander around in. We checked into our B&B, the Hotel STe. Croix and were pleasantly surprised. Our room was perfect, everything that you could have dreamed of in a French B&B. Huge, king size bed, giant bathroom, hot water maker, and beautiful antique furniture. More was to await us at breakfast. Everything home made and so yummy. The chocolate tart was to die for, as was the french version of french toast. It was like custard, it was so soft and creamy. I can highly recommend this B&B as the price was really reasonable and our hostess was very friendly.

Our BattleBus tour was for 2 days, from 0800 to 1700. We had Sean as our guide and he did a wonderful job of making D-Day come alive for us. Two other American couples were in our mini-van and Sean did an admirable job of answering each and every question we had. If you have watched "Band of Brothers" or seen the movies, "Private Ryan" or "The Longest Day", you will already have an appreciation for what this invasion meant. As we got to the beaches, I was so surprised to still see all of the bomb craters there, some of them as big and deep as a house. The German embankments and bunkers are permanent monuments that reveal how easy it was for the Germans to repel our attack. It is just amazing to stand there and view this beach. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to try and cross this beach while being shot at and having everyone around me being killed. The courage to do this just astounds me. BattleBus tours also offer a British experience, a Canadian experience and a Band of Brothers tour. We would like to go back and take each of these tours as ours was so fascinating.

We not only visited several museums, but also several churches. The most moving was a small chapel, where 2 medics cared for 80 civilians over several days of constant bombing. You can still see the blood stains on the pews. It was a surprise to see stained glass windows with paratroopers on them or dedications to the 101st Airborne. As we drove around the Normandy countryside, you could tell how the hedgerows were an awful hindrance to our troops. One of the more moving things that we saw were the little monuments dotting the countryside. All of them neat and with flowers and all of them erected by the grateful, local French population. At one spot where we stopped, you could look out over the countryside for miles. This was flatland, where the Germans had opened floodgates, covering the land with water. Hundreds of our paratroopers drowned here.

I really recommend this trip to any American, Canadian, or British citizen. Just visiting the cemetary or standing on the beaches can bring tears to your eyes, thinking of the sacrifices made.