By Carl Dombek
After a very pleasant drive from Paris (well, once out of the city anyway) we arrived in Bayeux, a town on the Aure River in the Normandy region of France. We checked into the Hôtel Le Lion d'Or (General Eisenhower’s favorite hotel in Bayeux), then took a short 400-meter walk to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to see an amazing piece of history.
The Bayeux Tapestry is a 70-meter-long linen tapestry, and contains a graphic representation of the Battle of Hastings at which William, Duke of Normandy fought the British on Oct. 14, 1066. Ultimately defeating the Brits, he became known as William the Conqueror, England’s first Norman-French king.
A very reasonable admission of €14 per adult included an audio guide which moved visitors through the tapestry and described what each of the 58 sections was depicting. The narration also explained that, in the 11th century, society was largely illiterate, so presenting the tapestry with explanations similar to those we heard served to educate the masses about that pivotal transfer of power.
The ticket price also included admission to the Museum of the Battle of Normandy, which we visited the following day after enjoying a light breakfast at a sidewalk café along the Aure River, just downstream from the Bayeux Mill. Modest in size, the museum is well laid out and provides an excellent overview of D-Day activities.
A short distance west from Arromanches is the German gun battery at Longues-sur-mer. With so much of the D-Day sites’ focus on Allied activities, we thought it important to see the German fortifications for several reasons. First, we wanted our grandson to realize the extent of the preparations the other side had made, to give him a sense of what Allied soldiers faced, and finally to acknowledge that "war is hell" and that many lives were lost on both sides.
After Omaha Beach, it was up the hill to the final resting place for so many brave men and women: The American Cemetery.
Their heroic efforts are memorialized by the Dagger Memorial, which represents the Ranger dagger used to help scale the cliffs. It is currently in need of repair so most of it is fenced off, but the handle is still easily visible.
With daylight growing short, we could fit in one more sight, so we made our way to the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, the first French town liberated on D-Day. The focal point today, the church named Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Our Lady of the Assumption), is because of a mishap that has become legend.
Inside the church, a panel explained that two Nazi soldiers were discussing their next course of action. One said they should shoot Steele just to be sure, but the other dissuaded him by saying they couldn’t desecrate the church’s holy ground.
Today, the church has two stained-glass windows that depict D-Day-related events. One on the north side depicts two paratroopers while a second on the east side says, “They’re back!” commemorating the 25th anniversary of D-Day in 1969.
Sainte-Mère-Église was also the site of The Longest Day, a movie about the D-Day invasion that premiered in 1962 and remains iconic, both historically and in the annals of moviedom.
After a very pleasant drive from Paris (well, once out of the city anyway) we arrived in Bayeux, a town on the Aure River in the Normandy region of France. We checked into the Hôtel Le Lion d'Or (General Eisenhower’s favorite hotel in Bayeux), then took a short 400-meter walk to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum to see an amazing piece of history.
The Bayeux Tapestry is a 70-meter-long linen tapestry, and contains a graphic representation of the Battle of Hastings at which William, Duke of Normandy fought the British on Oct. 14, 1066. Ultimately defeating the Brits, he became known as William the Conqueror, England’s first Norman-French king.
A very reasonable admission of €14 per adult included an audio guide which moved visitors through the tapestry and described what each of the 58 sections was depicting. The narration also explained that, in the 11th century, society was largely illiterate, so presenting the tapestry with explanations similar to those we heard served to educate the masses about that pivotal transfer of power.
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| Tapestry; photo credit France.fr |
The ticket price also included admission to the Museum of the Battle of Normandy, which we visited the following day after enjoying a light breakfast at a sidewalk café along the Aure River, just downstream from the Bayeux Mill. Modest in size, the museum is well laid out and provides an excellent overview of D-Day activities.
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| Bayeux mill |
From there, we drove to Arromanches, a small town which is in the British landing area of Gold Beach. One of the floating piers used to make temporary harbor Port Winston remains on the beach, a solemn reminder of events gone by.
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| Floating pier at Arromanches |
A short distance west from Arromanches is the German gun battery at Longues-sur-mer. With so much of the D-Day sites’ focus on Allied activities, we thought it important to see the German fortifications for several reasons. First, we wanted our grandson to realize the extent of the preparations the other side had made, to give him a sense of what Allied soldiers faced, and finally to acknowledge that "war is hell" and that many lives were lost on both sides.
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| Surviving German gun emplacement |
Next, we drove to Omaha Beach where we were captivated by the now-famous sculpture Les Braves Memorial Monument and the Signal Monument.
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| Les Braves Memorial Monument on Omaha Beach |
Les Braves Memorial Monument was originally created for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion by French artist Anilore Banon. It consists of three stainless steel wings and towers: ‘The Wings of Hope’, ‘Rise, Freedom!’ and ‘The Wings of Fraternity’ that stand proudly as a lasting tribute to the western Allies that landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
Also on Omaha Beach is the Signal Monument. The inscription, in French then English, reads, "The Allied forces landing on this shore which they call Omaha Beach liberate Europe - June 6th 1944."
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| Signal Monument |
After Omaha Beach, it was up the hill to the final resting place for so many brave men and women: The American Cemetery.
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| Two sectors of the American cemetery with the beaches in view |
With its rows of pristine crosses and Stars of David symmetrically organized and within view of the beach where many of those soldiers died, it was solemn and moving.
The cemetery contains several memorials, including The Garden of the Missing. The statue at its center is meant to depict the bravery and bravado of the (mostly) young soldiers who took part in the invasion. Over 1,500 names are carved on the walls that flank the statue at the center.
The cemetery contains several memorials, including The Garden of the Missing. The statue at its center is meant to depict the bravery and bravado of the (mostly) young soldiers who took part in the invasion. Over 1,500 names are carved on the walls that flank the statue at the center.
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| Garden of the Missing; photo credit Jennie Blu Photography |
My wife and I were both particularly moved by the inscription at the base of the statue in the Garden: familiar lyrics from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Then to the Pointe du Hoc, which was the Germans’ most heavily fortified position along Omaha and Utah Beaches. The cliffs are so steep that the Germans turned their defenses toward land, as they were convinced that was the direction from which the attack would come. However, U.S. Army Rangers scaled the impossibly steep cliffs to disable the gun battery.
Their heroic efforts are memorialized by the Dagger Memorial, which represents the Ranger dagger used to help scale the cliffs. It is currently in need of repair so most of it is fenced off, but the handle is still easily visible.
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| Ranger Memorial |
On to the Utah Beach Landing Museum. Another excellent museum with well-done displays depicting the events of D-Day without being too gruesome or graphic.
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| Realistic diorama depicting "war in the trenches." Photo credit TripAdvisor |
With daylight growing short, we could fit in one more sight, so we made our way to the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, the first French town liberated on D-Day. The focal point today, the church named Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption (Our Lady of the Assumption), is because of a mishap that has become legend.
On D-Day, U.S. paratrooper John Steele’s parachute caught on the church steeple and left him dangling there for several hours. He survived by playing dead as the Nazi soldiers patrolled below.
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| Representation of dangling paratrooper John Steele |
Inside the church, a panel explained that two Nazi soldiers were discussing their next course of action. One said they should shoot Steele just to be sure, but the other dissuaded him by saying they couldn’t desecrate the church’s holy ground.
Four hours later, Allied tanks rolled into town and Steele escaped by sneaking through a window.
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| Paratroopers in stained glass |
Today, the church has two stained-glass windows that depict D-Day-related events. One on the north side depicts two paratroopers while a second on the east side says, “They’re back!” commemorating the 25th anniversary of D-Day in 1969.
Sainte-Mère-Église was also the site of The Longest Day, a movie about the D-Day invasion that premiered in 1962 and remains iconic, both historically and in the annals of moviedom.
Throughout the region, most every town of any size has at least a monument or memorial and often a museum dedicated to D-Day, either as a whole or a specific aspect of it. For example, the museum across from the church in Sainte-Mère-Église is The Airborne Museum.
Pragmatically, there is a lot of repetition from one museum to the next. Although each works to focus on a specific area of interest, the facts of the invasion -- the landing patterns, the waves of attacks, the weapons, the ordnance, etc. -- are all well-known and the presentations don't differ dramatically from one museum to the next. Choosing a few that address your interests will provide a fairly complete picture of those historic events.
But by all means, anyone with any interest in World War II and history should absolutely experience Normandy for themselves.
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Photos by Carl Dombek unless otherwise noted
Click on photos to view larger images
Photos by Carl Dombek unless otherwise noted
Click on photos to view larger images
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