8 Normandy Omaha and Utah Beaches

The next morning our breakfast was included in the price of the room. We booked 2 nights for only 120 euro. 'What a bargain!' We love it there. Breakfast in France is always the same French bread (way better than American bread), home made jams, yogurt, fruit and maybe one croissant if you are lucky. We were lucky here (no weight watchers in this country). There are no eggs, potatoes, bacon or omelets. We can’t wait for a good old American breakfast. This place was a converted farm, centuries old. The decorations exuded cuteness everywhere in a very homey natural way, even Jim took many pictures of the cuteness. After breakfast we visited the 5 donkeys which we could see from our room. Our car was plastered with leaves by the wind and rain, it looked like a camouflaged vehicle. We started our tour of the famous five WW2 beaches that marked the start of the invasion of Europe by the allied forces which would lead to the freeing of Europe from Nazi Germany. The wild wind continued but no rain. There were downed trees on the road to Omaha Beach that we just squeezed by. The roads in the country were narrow (a car and half wide) and very winding. They were like an amusement park ride in a spook house. The ‘Mad Hatter’ in Disney comes to mind. The country side was beautiful, picturesque, sprinkled with small villages always with a church at the center. The weather at Omaha Beach was dark and dreary with a harsh wind. The Channel was wild with agitated waves and baseball sized sea foam flying through the air , it was spectacular. The sea foam balls carried sand and salt and splattered spots all over us, we looked like painters. Our black car was splattered with whitish brown polka-a-dots for the rest of the trip. After walking the beach we were hungry. Since this was a tourist attraction there was hope of finding food. We tried a restaurant at 1:00p but they were full (tourist busses), we checked and found they would be opened until 4:00p (surprise! surprise!). We visited the Omaha museum (6 euro each) in the meantime. It was OK, interesting and it had a bathroom. Yay! We went back to the restaurant and had an OK meal for a high price. We continued to Utah Beach and its museum cost 8 euro, which was excellent. The sun had come out and the outdoor displays of landing craft, bombers and artillery were great. Omaha Beach and Utah Beach were the beaches stormed by the Americans. Omaha taking the greatest loses. The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. The total US figure, 2499 casualties. The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach. Standing

on these beaches you could imagine what those young men experience. It was hair raising and brought a great sadness to my heart and tears to my eyes, even now. I am not a war or history buff and the beaches were not high on my list, I was wrong. They capture history making you feel it. This is so important for people to experience so it will never be repeated. Thank goodness these monuments and memories have been created. It was truly experiencing history and I will never forget it.
We returned to our Inn and visited the 5 donkeys again whom the owner called her children. Our hotel picnic dinner was wonderful. When you are hungry and have French wine it does not take much. Dinner consisted of ham slices, cheeses, french bread, french sausage with a bottle of wine and, of course, chocolate. ‘Ooh là là!’.