We were up early today and up to the Cafeteria for a
quick breakfast. Then it was down to the
Vines restaurant to meet our group for our tour of Normandy.
It’s France and we should have expected problems. Read on.
After the group gathered it was off to stand in line to
get off the boat. We should have
considered the warning as we got off the boat.
The steps to get off made you feel as if you were climbing up to the
boat instead of down to the dock.
Strange feeling and strange start to the day. We waited for our bus, when all the while it
was parked across the street. No sign
saying it was ours. Our leader found out
it was ours, and we boarded same. After
getting settled, we were off. All of the
men on the bus realized early that we were in trouble, as the bus would not
stay in gear, only 1st or 2nd. The driver tried to make it work and got us
out on to the freeway where the speed limit was 90 kilometers an hour. We were doing 20. There were some big hills and a steep climb
to cross the Normandy Bridge across the Seine River. We finally found a rest area and she called
for another bus. We waited over an hour
for it to arrive. That’s 2.
Finally the bus arrived and we were again on our
way. We first visited Pointe du
Hoc. This is where the Army Rangers had
to climb a steep cliff and destroy six gun emplacements. They were to be reinforced by other Rangers
if they got the job done in thirty minutes.
Due to many reasons they were late arriving and the reinforcements were
sent to Omaha Beach. The Rangers lost
about half of their men, but ran the Germans off. The guns were fakes.
From here we went into Grandcamp-Maisy for lunch. It was a quick lunch as we were way behind
schedule. After lunch we visited Omaha
Beach. I walked on it in awe. So many brave young men died here. If not for them this would be a very
different world. While we were there we
got caught in a rain storm and were soaked.
We left Omaha Beach and continued on to the American Cemetery
at Normandy. This is actually American
soil. The French gave this land to the
Americans. When an American President
visits here, he is the one who enters first and invites the French President to
come with him. Ten thousand American
Soldiers are buried there. The names of
1500 Soldiers missing in action are engraved on a wall. A small button is placed by the name when one
is found and identified. The last one
was found in 2009. Judi and I stepped
into the Cemetery to pay our respects, but did not tour the graves. We had done this in Flanders Field, where the
First World War soldiers are buried and it was too sad to do the same here.
Leaving the Cemetery we had a vote, and the majority
decided to head back to the boat. It was
4:00 PM and we had more than a 2 hour bus ride ahead of us. As we were tooling along the freeway, fat
dumb and happy, the bus driver pulls over to the side of the road. We knew that this was not good. A busted fan belt was the cause. We limped into the next town, have no idea
what its name is, and went to a garage and had the belt replaced. Now we are back on the road. We got to the boat around 7:00PM and headed
for our cabin. A hot shower and some
pizza in the cabin and we were in for the night.
It was an interesting day, not exactly what I expected
but I am glad that I did it.
Was this a private tour? How many were on the bus Don? What a nightmare!
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