September 11 is a very meaningful day in the history of the United States of America, because of the attack on New York. It happened to be the twenty-fifth anniversary of that attack on the day we planned on visiting Omaha Beach by coincidence. We had planned on ending our visit to the D-Day sites we wanted to see by ending up at the American Cemetary at the end of the day
As we pulled up to the gate at 16:35 (4:35). We realized that we were much too late for the entrance. It was a gloomy day so we headed to our Bed & Breakfast at nearby Bayeux, France planning on returning the next morning for a visit. We started the day at our hotel in Honfleur, arising early to get a good start. We made the short walk just before we reached the harbor and made our way up the narrow cobblestone streets in search of our morning coffee. We found another of those perfect cafe/bakeries with smiling young owners eager to please, serving delicious breads, pastries and strong coffee lattes. The pastries were flakey pan au chocolates, chocolate croissants. Afterward we ventured a few short steps to the see Frances largest wooden church. The builders were ship builders who knew nothing of building churches so they built two large ship hulls which served, inverted, as the roofs and finished the walls under them.
We packed up, checked out of the hotel and loaded in our car to drive to Ste Eglise de la Mer. This the first village liberated by allied troops on D-Day. It was the scene of heavy fighting and damage to the village. It is famous for the Airborne Museum dedicated to the troops parachuting behind enemy lines and in gliders dropped to glide down and land onto fields to support the landing troops and prevent German retreats. Just as noteworthy as the museum is the now iconic picture of a paratrooper, now recreated with a dummy soldier, hanging from the steeple on his chute which got caught as he tried to reach the ground. He was unable to cut himself loose and was cut down and captured by two Germans. He later escaped.
The Airborne Museum was very informative. It provided a comprehensive history of the D-Day invasions and specifically of the role of the Airborne fighters who were dropped behind enemy lines. There were five larger display buildings one with an actual aircraft used to fly the paratroopers to the drop destination and another with a glider, a craft without on engine pulled by another plane to be released to glide down and slowly land in the fields to dispatch troops and small equiptment for battle. After a light lunch at the museum’s cafe. We drove through the village then headed out for our next destination, Pointe du Hoc.
Point du Hoc was believed to be the most strategic location for the Germans to help defend both Utah and Omaha Beaches, each of which were the landing sites for American troops. It sits at a very commanding promontory 110 feet high above both beaches protected by the steep cliffs it sits on. The Point overlooks Utah Beach to the South and Omaha Beach to the North. The point was heavily fortified with concrete bunkers and machine gun posts as a key defensive point for German troops. The surrounding fields still retain the massive deep craters caused by heavy bombing raids by the unchallenged allied bombers. German aircraft had been destroyed and not available for defense. The second and fifth Army Ranger Battalion were assigned the daunting task of taking the Point. After approaching the narrow beach under the cliffs under heavy enemy fire, the Rangers used ropes with grappling hooks and rope ladders to scale the cliffs and take the point. At the end of the day the original force of 225 men was reduced to 90 still able to fight. Even though the Germans continued to counter attack the Rangers held their ground. The site is preserved mostly intact with the deep craters everywhere and the concrete encasements somewhat intact. President Regan gave a memorable speech at the site for the fortieth anniversary of the battle on June 6th 1984. I recommend listening to a replay of the speech which is available on YouTube.
After visiting the site we headed for our what was to be the final destination on the D-Day tour, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. We were driving the back roads when Janet asked if I could stop at a Cider plantation for some pictures. We circled back and pulled off the highway inside the arched wall to the plantation courtyard and up to the small shop. In the back. They offered an array of apple products produced from the orchards surrounding the site. There were jellies, and jams and different sizes of apple flavored beer, alcoholic and non alcoholic ciders and Calvados, an apple flavored cognac that is a favorite of mine. I bought a bottle, thanked the young clerk, petted the family lab and we were soon on our way to Omaha Beach. We realized as we pulled up to the entrance that we were arriving at closing time. We parked and walked down a slight incline where there was a monument to the battle and a good view of the wide beach. We decided not to go on down and got back in the car to head to nearby Bayeux where we were to spend the night.
Bayeux is a quaint village which was a key area for the D-Day invasion. We located our Bed and Breakfast on the outskirts of the village, Le Petite Matin, parked and pulled our bags to the front door. We knocked and one of the owners, Pascal, opened the door and welcomed us in. He got us checked in and showed us up the spiral staircase to our room, The Rose Borbon, on the first, second to us, floor. Le Matin is in a beautiful old mansion which is well maintained and decorated by Pascal and his partner the owner/operators.
After unpacking, we walked into town for dinner without a plan or reservation. We turned up a small, quiet street to an interesting looking restaurant with busy sidewalk seating. We were welcomed inside by a nervous maitre de and seated in the middle of the mostly empty dinning room. We ordered our usual bottle of Loire Valley red wine. We started with a warm Camembert cheese appetizer salad that was superb. We both ordered a veal dish with a wine sauce which was also very tasty. Dessert was an almond cake with ice cream and a Pear Belle Helene, a pear poached in a sweet wine then served with a chocolate sauce, ice cream and whipped cream, garnished with a gaufrette lace cookie. The young owner, named Pierre greeted us to ask how dinner was. It seems they had been opened for only two weeks so I congratulated and gave home some encouragement before we left to walk through the old town passed the massive cathedral and back to our room for the night.
