We recently took a trip to Normandy that will not easily be forgotten, both for the sights we saw and the way we experienced the travel with our family of five and my parents.
We crossed the ferry and picked my parents up in Calais, France. We were literally cramming things wherever we could find space, but we were determined to make a five-day trip with belongings and bedding for seven people fit. And it did, thanks to the master packing of Ryan and Big Daddy.
We arrived at the campground where we had booked a "caravan" (static mobile home) for the week, but were later than we expected and found the gate to the grounds closed and absolutely no one around to help. Ryan carefully navigated the back roads of a few small French villages until we came to a very basic hotel which had space for us to crash for the night. We literally walked into our room, made pallets on the floor for the kids, brushed teeth, and all fell asleep in what we were wearing. It wasn't the way we intended to start our vacation, but it worked, and we were grateful for the beds. It was nice to wake up at a place within walking distance to the water where we found some yummy breakfast along the Sunday morning market stalls.
The rest of the very windy day was spent exploring Utah beach and the accompanying museum. I won't be able to do justice to the impact these sites have, so I'm not going to try. Suffice to say, walking along the beaches where soldiers risked and lost their lives in the fight for freedom 70 years ago was deeply moving.
Photo by Rooke
We passed through Sainte-Mere-Eglise on our way home that evening to see the church tower where paratrooper John Steele hung for two hours after his parachute got caught on the church steeple. You can read his story here.
The next day we began at Arromanches with a viewing in a 360-degree theater of a video tribute to the soldiers and civilians who died during the battles in Normandy. Powerful.
You can see remnants of the mulberry harbors (artificial ports) that were built after Arromanche was liberated. The engineering behind the project is amazing. You can read about it here.
We ate SO MUCH bread on this trip! It's hard to pass up a fresh baguette or chocolate croissant.
Down on the beach in Arromanche.
The last stop of the day was the American cemetery. The rain kept most of us from spending more time there (Ryan stuck it out), but the visitors center is remarkable and the more than 10,000 gravestones left me speechless, even with the limited time we had to walk through the immaculately kept grounds.
Our last day started with a picnic breakfast before heading out
We walked through the craters made by bombs at Point du Hoc. The weather was funny that morning and it felt surreal to be ducking into old bunkers to get out of the rain.
The afternoon was spent at Omaha Beach where the sun stayed out longer than it had all week and the weather was warm enough for the kids to play, and play, and play in the sand. It was the highlight of my week. Seeing their innocent joy come from getting to play in sand on a beach where an intense battle was fought for freedom was an experience like none other I've had.
And then it was time to head home with some wonderful memories, including the enclosed pool with the kids and late-night dominos with Mom and Dad.
