Larry and I spent a good part of our second day in Normandy using various maps on our iPhones trying to find a way around the gendarmerie (police) road blocks to get to the American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer. But, these guys were no Inspector Clouseau imitations. They had every conceivable route blocked, along with the freeway, so we couldn’t even travel in between the other towns easily. The area was closed until about 7:30 pm because of President Obama’s visit. Because of that, we were able to see a lot of the beautiful countryside in Normandy. The area is peppered with charming tiny little towns and narrow one-lane roads. It’s peaceful and still, very unlike what I imagine it was 65 years ago.

We stopped and spent some time in Arromanches, which is a gorgeous little beach town with majestic cliffs. It was filled with British citizens and veterans as Arromanches was part of Gold Beach, a landing spot for the British forces on D-Day. We originally parked up at the top of the cliff overlooking the town just to catch the view, but as we were standing there we noticed an old military ship and several pieces of the artifical harbor created during the Normandy invasion lying on the beach below, so we went to investigate.

When landing in Normandy, the Allied Forces were not able to bring their ships all the way into the harbor because of the obstacles the Germans had installed for protection. So, they did the next best thing. They created an artificial harbor which allowed them to unload vehicles and supplies while out in the Channel, and drive them straight onto the beach. The artificial harbor was left in place when the forces departed, and still sits there today. As this was low tide, certain pieces of the artificial harbor were lying exposed on the beach.

While we were investigating these interesting relics, we noticed a plethora of military vehicles driving up the beach toward us. We lucked into a parade of many of the vintage vehicles in the area. Every country that comprised the Allied Forces was represented along with every type of vehicle you can think of, including ambulance and emergency vehicles. It was a bit disorienting, I kept feeling like I’d stepped into an episode of M*A*S*H* (I know, wrong war, but the vehicles were the same). The French Resistance were even represented. It was great fun to see just how much the local people and people who travel there for the event get into it.

We were also able to spend some time at the far western portion of Omaha Beach (the portion that was outside of the road blocks), though by that time it was pouring rain so we didn’t stay out and frolic in it for long. We went into a local souvenir shop and bought some American flags so we could display them in our car and show pride in being Americans. (Probably the only time you’d actually want to identify yourself as an American while traveling in France). We also visited an Omaha Beach Museum, which had a lot of interesting artifacts and equipment from both the German and Allied sides. Once the roads to Colleville sur Mer opened up we and many others raced to the American cemetery only to be stopped by an Army soldier who told us that they were cleaning up from the ceremony and it wasn’t open until the public until Sunday morning. Drats!

As there was a small break in the rain, we followed the road that ran alongside the cemetery down to Omaha Beach and parked near monuments to the 1st Infantry and 1st Engineers, two American batallions who participated in D-Day and who saw heavy casualties (the engineers suffered 40% casulaty rate that day). Of all the invasions on D-Day, Omaha Beach was the most difficult, the most tenuous, and the hardest fought. It was so bad that at the end of the day, General Bradley considered evacuating Omaha and moving the troops to Gold Beach. For this reason, Omaha Beach is often referred to as “Bloody Omaha”. The Omaha Beach invasion is the one which is depicted in the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, for those of you who have seen the movie. In fact, I’ve been told that Tom Hanks was in Normandy when we were there for the commemoration. He probably had the super special embassy pass to get him past the gendarmes!

As we paid our respects at the monuments for the engineers and 1st infantry divisions, we realized that we were standing on top of a bunch of German bunkers built into the hillside. In fact, the 1st infantry monument is erected right on top of a German bunker. Now most of them are covered with vegetation, giving the hillside a strangely lump look. Several of the entrances are still exposed and you can even climb into them. It is a bit surreal to realize that from these enclosed cement blocks German soldiers killed thousands of our own, and were killed by our own. These days they’re home to the swallows that nest there. A much better use of the habitation in my opinion.