"I'm glad I didn't have to go. My buddy went though... lost half his battalion in the first hour" - An elderly American man we met at Longues-sur-Mer



We spent Saturday visiting the D-Day sites in Normandy. We started at the Mémorial de Caen, which gives extensive background on World War II in France, and what exactly happened during the Battle for Normandy. The most powerful exhibit was a film entitled "Jour J / Bataille de Normandie" which consisted of 35 minutes of un-narrated battle footage, interspersed with animations of troop movements on maps to give context. There were scenes shown in split-screen where the fighting could be watched from the Allies' and the Germans' perspectives simultaneously.



Afterwards, we drove along the coast, stopping at many of the major battle sites. The first was Point-du-Hoc, where American soldiers scaled 30' cliffs on harpooned rope ladders to attack the German position. The area has remained a memorial park since the war, so it is still littered with the ruins of bunkers and pock-marked with enormous bomb craters.

We also stopped at the American Military Cemetary, Longues-sur-Mer, Arromanches, and Omaha Beach. At Omaha, I wanted to photograph the new memorial statue when two little girls playing on the beach ran into the shot. To think, what happened in that very spot in order for them to enjoy the freedom to play there peacefully...





Finally, the last stop on our drive was Juno Beach. We lingered, and paid our respects in silence to the Canadians who died there, as the sun slowly set behind the horizon.