Since today is the 74th anniversary of D-Day, I thought I better take the opportunity to post an entry finally...

We were to take a Normandy sightseeing tour of the American landing beaches (D-Day). We arrived at the Place du Québéc, only a couple of minutes walk from where we were staying in Bayeux where we found other people, all Americans, waiting for their tours. One couple were going to Mont-Saint-Michel. The tour guides left, and then made us wonder if they were coming. Then a minivan shows up 10 mins later and an English tour guide (also Matthew) asked if we were on his tour. At first, it didn't seem like it, as we were not mentioned on the list. But we were. We just hadn't paid yet. He asked if we were there for the British landing beaches tour, but we were there for the US landing beaches tour (Utah and Omaha). When we got on the bus, we met the rest of our group. All Americans of course. We introduced ourselves, and also told them a bit about our trip so far. In Picardy, visitors are Australian due to the First World War, whereas in Normandy they are Americans because of the Second. The others in the group seemed impressed with our story, but I realised I hadn't told them we were talking about a different war.

First, the tour took us to the large German cemetery. There, they buried the men in pairs, and in the middle, below a huge monument, a mass grave. As we had seen on the German graves in Picardy, their inscriptions and markings were minimal. Then we were taken to the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, where the American paratroopers landed, two of them landing on the side of the church under heavy fire. We went inside the church. Our guide mentioned a secret passage used by the priests to escape. As we were leaving the church, I realised they were playing Taizé hymns, so I was very impressed. They took us then to the museum, where we saw many items used by the soldiers, including the gliders that were used to drop the paratroopers during the battle. I found the general everyday items they used during this period the more interesting part of this museum.

Then we were taken to Utah beach. Our guide explained that the men who landed at this beach had the easier time during the battles. At Omaha beach, the casualties were much worse. Viewing the ocean here, we saw a huge rain storm off the coast towards England. It was a nice beach to visit, despite the weather. After this, everyone ate lunch at Le Roosevelt Café except me, since I was still sick. I had been sick for a number of days since we were in Picardy. It didn't stop until the last day in Bayeux. It was about 6 days that I felt sick. Le Roosevelt Café was built on one of the shelters created by the Germans. Our guide explained the way they were built in a hurry. He explained the change in their methods for pouring cement to create these shelters.

We followed Utah with a visit to La Pointe du Hoc. This is located between Utah and Omaha beaches. This was probably the most interesting part of the tour, since the whole ground was marked by huge shell craters. The larger ones were made by aerial bombardment, and the smaller ones by naval bombardment. This place was well defended by the German army. There was a large series of pillboxes and artillery firing sites. The Germans even used some old World War One Howitzers taken from Picardy. We visited Omaha beach. This was a longer, wider, less sheltered beach than at Utah. These are some of the reasons why it was a much bloodier battle. The last part of the tour was at the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Obviously for us, it didn't have the aura that the place would have had for any American visitor. At 5 pm everyday they have taps. This is the ceremony they use at US military funerals. It is mainly just the lowering of the American flag in a particular way. I found the large diagrams of the progression to the end of the war following the landings. Also an impressive feature was the perfect diagonal rows of crosses lined up with military precision. Also impressive, but in a bad way, was the security you had to pass through if you wanted just to take a brief look in the visitor centre. One look at how much effort it would take to enter the centre and we turned back. That was the end of the tour, so we went back to Bayeux.

One of the American couples had to go back to Caen that night. Due to the strikes, there were no trains running to Caen. They told us it cost 60€ for a taxi between Bayeux and Caen. Back in Bayeux, we searched for a restaurant. I found the one that I had found on the internet, but it was a bit expensive and didn't have so many options. We went to the one next to it which had nice food. We had a funny experience - There was an English family who came in shortly after us. I heard the man talking about us, quite loudly. He said he thought I was speaking English and trying to figure out where we were from. He guessed South Africa or Australia. It was obvious that he was talking about us. It was like he was surprised to hear someone in France speaking English.

That night I thought it would be a good idea to check how the strike would affect our travel the following afternoon. I was right, it was going to be a problem. I checked the amended timetable to find that there was no way to get to Nantes by train. In the best case, we would have made it to Rennes late at night. I would have had to spend money on accommodation and still had to get to Nantes the following day. I checked blablacar. There were people travelling to Nantes, but they only had room for one person only. I checked the buslines. There were two buses to Nantes, but they departed Caen. I decided the best case would be to take the bus between Caen and Nantes. I got the cheapest one that only cost 10€ each. I ordered the tickets, then decided it would be a job tomorrow to get to Caen for the bus.