Normandy

We have spent the last week hugging the coast of France. Thomas was ill for a few days but recovered once we’d hit the D’day beaches of Normandy. It was a grey and drizzly while we explored Juno beach, where the Canadian Allies landed on D’day to free France and Europe. We moved on to Arromanches and parked at an Aire - a designated parking area for motor homes. Most of them are packed because of the summer holidays. We walked up a hill overlooking the concrete caissons protecting Port Winston, the temporary port where the British Allies unloaded their supplies to help liberate France.


The next day we went to the American War Cemetery overlooking Omaha beach. It was a little piece of America in France. We had to go through a security check in the Visitors Centre which was just like one’s in the American National Parks. We learnt a lot and understood a lot more about WWII and the importance of the D’day landings here in Normandy. Outside in the immaculate Cemetery were endless rows of white granite crosses and no matter how you looked at one others behind it would line up perfectly.

We went to Point du Hoc the next day and enjoyed Pate, homemade blackberry jam and some good French bread. We walked out to the German gun points and bunkers on the point. It looked like mars with all the bomb craters and we explored the damp, dark bunkers. We stayed at Utah beach where more American landed. We saw the memorials and watched our massive sandcastle get swallowed by the tide.

The next day we went to a German war cemetery and World Peace Garden. It had over 20,000 graves but was very different ti the American one. We stayed at a ‘France Passion’ Goat farm inland. We enjoyed petting the goats and watched them being milked. Anneke was lucky enough to bbe able to milk them with the owmer she said it was much easier than hand milking. So we left with more great ideas for our goats and cheese making back home.