I decided if Mc Donald’s was going to be the bane of my existence then I might as well use them. Jodi and I planned on a quick drive through McDonalds for breakfast this morning and then on our way to the American Cemetery! On the way I noticed a patisserie and I stopped to get Jodi and I a pastry, but the kids were holding out for better. Horror of Horrors, McDonalds does not serve breakfast, at least not the one in Avarranche! So on we trekked for white a while, needing fuel for both the car and our bodies. Finally we found fuel for the car, and eventually for us. We ended up at a Bar Tabac where we could get coffee and milk, after we paid a preliminary visit to the bakery next door.
We got to the American Cemetery and got our exercise for the day, as we had to walk almost a mile to get in because they were parking everyone far away. We walked in to barrier tape, bleachers and a sea of chairs set up for President Obama for the following day. It was not it’s normal lovely self, but I guess if you had not ever been there before…. Again the up side was that there were all these heroes there, both those who had experienced D-Day 65 years ago and those who currently wearing our American uniform. It was such a huge blessing to be able to talk to the men who had been there, hear their stories, and express our thanks! I had also the privilege of bedeviling a few of our current soldiers and at one such experience one of them, a paratrooper, gave each kid a pair of wings! How special was that? The kids were precious, a woman had walked by us touching each stone she walked by, as if caressing it. A few moments later I saw both kids doing the same thing, with only the reverence that can some from knowing that you are in a sacred place. I don’t believe that I will ever visit that place and not be moved, by not only the sacrifice but also the magnitude of the thousands of crosses and stars there. It truly is holy ground.
Next on the agenda for the day was Pont Du Hoc, but first Cider for Jodi. She loves the hard cider that they make in Normandy. We stopped as the same place we had visited before. The kids loved it and we had to buy some apple juice for them too! Pont Du Hoc had changed and morphed from a simple place you can go into a tourist attraction complete with parking lot and bathrooms. The kids had suffered through the “Longest Day” and I though it would help drive the story home. They loved running in and out of the craters left by fellow Americans 65 years ago. One some times wonders if they get it or not. We were walking, the kids playing and like a thief in the night a plane was on us, just overhead without any warning. I found out later that it was a new plane hot off the factory floor that was paraded around all weekend just for the D-Day events. It looked old, but I found it hard to imagine we had the technology back then to make a plane so quiet that was not a glider. As I mentioned earlier, Pont Du Hoc has changed significantly, it is now so roped off that it is hard to even see the actual piece of rock the title refers to. I wonder how many people go and think that the memorial is actually the rock? We got to visit with a couple of D-Day vets there too, one fellow said that he did not wear his uniform unless it was an official event, I found his reticence charming.
St Mere Eglise, where there is still likeness of a man hanging on the church, was next. It was tricky to find a space to park as here the whole center of town was barricaded off for festivities to come. There were scads of pretenders here and it was almost eerie to consider that this was as close as I was going to come to the real thing. Everywhere one would look were American, British and Canadian flags, thank you signs and other D-day paraphernalia.
I love driving straight east from St. Mere Eglise to the water. We did not find the same beach as Jodi and I had before, but the kids did not care, they still loved it, it was water and they could splash. Utah beach was blocked off and so we headed back to the hotel by way of Granville. I was driving and living in fear of yet, another McDonalds, but Jodi is really very good to me. I had indicated that I wanted to try some more mussels and in Granville we went in search for them. We found three likely spots right on the Warf and I asked some women passing by which they would recommend. Fortunately for the kids they recommended the place that also made Pizza. So I got my mussels and everyone was happy! After a delightful dinner we wandered in the car up into the older part of town only to encounter a lighthouse. As we were getting out of the car my phone rang, startled I answered it and it was work! Ironically they had a person who needed my services and spoke mostly French, Unfortunately I was not available to assist them (other than to give my opinion) and I went back to my vacation, after a small taste of my real life. The piece of ground on which the lisght house stood had been fortified by the Germans and still even had cannons in the pillboxes. The setting sun was exquisite and while Jodi is not thrilled with this photo of me, I like it; it softens out those 50 years!
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