D-Day Continues

After checking out Omaha Beach, the Budman and I continued our trek through the Normandy D-Day sights. As we saw more and more sights, I realized I had seen some of these before in the movie or so it seemed. In fact, I had seen them in the epic film, The Longest Day. Great film, by the way, if you’ve never seen it.

Next up, Utah Beach. The US troops had a much easier time securing Utah than Omaha – its flatter, has low sand dunes, and proved easier to attack than Omaha. Allied troops landed at dawn and within just a few hours had conquered the German defenses and headed inland to join the airborne troopers.







Monuments to those who landed on Utah Beach.









Part of the prefabricated bridges used at Utah…still lying on the beaches.



Close to the Utah beach, Dunes de Varreville, with its monument to French Leader General Leclerec.



Some of the most spectacular scenery is along the coast at Point du Hoc. Today, the grasslands and jagged cliffs share the spotlight with German bunkers and craters formed from Allied bombs. Pointe du Hoc is also the location where Colonel Rudder and his 225 US paratroopers scaled the cliffs with only rope ladders to capture the German defenses. Only 90 of the men survived, with many of their rope ladders being cut as the ascended the cliffs.











Passing through the village of Carentan, we stopped for a late lunch at the B52 Café, met a great English guy who collected WWII memorabilia. He and his wife ran this café (next to their home), and he gave us some great touring tips. He even had an army jeep in his front yard…wonderered how his wife liked that...

Anyway, the main event of D-Day pertains to Carentan, the site of the 82nd US Airborne Division drop. Paratroopers fell from the sky about 2:30 am on the morning of the D-Day invasions, heralding the start of the D-Day operations. One parachutist, John Steele, caught his parachute on the church spire of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Today, a dummy is strung up each summer to recall the event.





Inside, lovely stain glass windows pay tribute to the paratroopers landing.







Last but not least, as the D-Day tour drew to a close, we stopped for dinner (yes, sightseeing works up an appetite) and feasted on galettes and crepes in a little café (and the only game in town, I might add) across from St. Marie du Mont. During the D-day invasions, gunfire broke out in the church with a couple of German soldiers being captured. The confessional still shows signs of the machine gun bullet spray.