D-Day: June 6, 1944 [A Visit to the Beaches of Normandy]

Today we are taking a bus from the ship docked in Rouen to the Normandy D-Day Invasion area. It was about a two hour drive. When we signed up for our cruise we learned that Viking River Cruises has a recommended reading list which also includes a list of films. This list is related to the area that you will be cruising. So I ended up reading D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen Ambrose before we left for our cruise. After reading the book I was really excited about this part of our trip and I was really looking forward to our trip today.

We were up at 5:45am and met Deanne and Dave in the dining room for breakfast at 6:30am. After breakfast we stopped by the cabin got our things and then stopped by the reception desk for our cards before heading out to the dock and our buses for the drive to the beaches of Normandy.

Looking toward Juno Beach

At 7:45am the buses left Rouen and we started our journey. During the drive I read a little, journaled and took pictures. I thought we were stopping Caen and at Juno Beach but all we did was drive through Caen and then past Juno Beach. I was a little disappointed about not stopping but it turned out to be okay. Our tour guide gave us a little history about the area and the bus driver drove slowly so we could take a few pictures.

Gold Beach Breakers

Eventually we made our way to Arromanches and Gold Beach. Juno Beach was invaded by Canada and Gold Beach was invaded by the British. In Arromanches we visited a D-Day Museum and watched a short film. After that we had a short period of time to walk around the town and visit the beach.

German Bunker

Then we walked a short distance to a restaurant for lunch. We didn't have a choice in what we ate, they just brought us a meal. It was a quick lunch and then we had a little more time to shop and tour the town. Then we met back at the bus and continued on to the American Cemetery. Before getting to the cemetery we made a quick stop at some German bunkers. These are located west of Arromanches at Longues-sur-Mer. Here there are four 150mm navy guns. From the batteries the soldiers couldn't see the beach but there was a lookout where someone would related coordinates of the enemy to the battery. These were impressive structures and it was obvious why these survived the bombings.

The American Cemetery is located Colleville-sur-Mer, France and sits overlooking Omaha Beach.We arrived at the cemetery and our guide gave us some history and then we had some time to walk amidst the immaculate and orderly grave markers.

Entrance to the American Cemetery

At 2:30pm they asked us to meet at the Spirit of American Youth. They held a small ceremony for us - they first asked any Veterans in the group to step forward, then they played the National Anthem, then they played Taps and finally we had a moment of silence. Being in the cemetery was emotional enough but with the ceremony I don't think there was a dry eye in the area. Once the ceremony was complete we had some free time. Deanne and I went in search of a letterbox. You can read about the letterboxing part of our visit at D-Day Letterboxing. After a little letterboxing we did some more walking around and looking at the markers.

The American Cemetery is a perfect memorial to our Veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. It is in a beautiful location and is tended with respect and dignity.

Wall of the Missing

There are two buildings at the edge of the parking area. One is the visitor center and the other is restrooms. From the parking area and buildings there are three walkways that lead into the cemetery. There are two outer walkways that lead to the edges of the cemetery. One of which leads to an overlook for Omaha Beach. The center walkway leads into the Memorial. You first enter into The Garden of the Missing. It has a arced wall with a list of soldiers that were missing. They updated the wall at some point and added some bronze rosettes next to names whose remains were later recovered. From the garden you ascend either stairs or a ramp into the the Memorial. There is another arced wall with columns at the front where you enter and on either side are covered areas with maps of the D-Day invasions. In the center of the Memorial is a statue called The Spirit of American Youth. It is positioned to overlook the graves of the soldiers. In front of the Memorial is a reflecting pool and gardens and then the graves are set out in ten sections. There is a center aisle containing a chapel and some statues. What I can't describe here is the emotion and pride that is present all around. I felt that the choice of markers was especially well done. The crosses have softer curves and flares and aren't so rigid. Then there is the diversity where soldiers were honored with stars of David. I was also moved to see markes for unknown soldiers. They had the most wonderful sentiment on them . . .

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY

A COMRADE IN ARMS

KNOWN BUT TO GOD

When we left the cemetery we traveled to Omaha Beach. Here we got to walk on the beach and see a couple of memorials and the flags of the Allies.

D-Day Memorial on Omaha Beach

After reading the D-Day book and seeing images from the invasion it was odd walking along such a beautiful beach and enjoying the most incredible view. It made the information and images I had in my mind all that more emotional. I think we had about a half hour to contemplate things before we had to return to the bus.

I think the day tired us all and the bus ride back to the ship was very quiet. I did get a little journaling done during the drive. Once back at the ship we showered and got ready for dinner. We skipped the happy hour and daily briefing today. Dinner was fantastic and relaxing. After dinner I spent some time in the library editing pictures. I did this because I felt Thomas deserved to have the cabin dark and quiet to get some sleep. But now it is time to get to bed, it has been an emotional and busy day.

The Ally Flags (From Left to Right) - United States, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Great Britain, Canada, Norway and France

Cruising the Seine and Walking in Rouen

We woke up this morning to an eerily foggy view. The fog was thick which only allowed us these ghostly outlines of the banks of the Seine. At 7:00am we met Dave and Deanne in the dining room for breakfast. After a nice meal Thomas and I returned to the room and I took some pictures of our foggy cruising. Then around 10:00am I met Deanne in the lobby and we played dominoes for about an hour. After that, I walked around and took some pictures of the ship and then ended up on the sun deck. By this time the fog had cleared and we got some beautiful views of the banks. I took pictures and then sat and just enjoyed the rest of the morning. I returned to the cabin about twenty minutes to noon and then at noon we went to the dining room for lunch. While at lunch we docked at Rouen. After finishing lunch we returned to the cabin and gathered our things. Then we stopped by the reception desk and got our cards and then met our group on the dock for our walking tour of Rouen.

We started our walk at 1:45pm at the southern end of Rouen and made our way north. We saw lots of half-timbered houses and a couple of gothic churches. We learned about the city during the war - what was bombed and what survived. Then we visited Cathédrale Notre Dame, such a beautiful and historic building. Our guide did a thorough tour of the inside of the Cathedral. Just on the right as we entered was a breathtaking staircase and the stain glass windows were phenomenal. We spent about 40 minutes in the church and then went out the front door so that we could get a look at the monumental facade. The Cathédrale Notre Dame is a stunning piece of architecture - I enjoyed the time we spent here.

From the Cathedral we walked along Rue de Gros Horloge to the Gros Horloge.

We turned onto Rue Thouret and walked to the Palais de Justice. This put us on Rue aux Juifs right in front of the courts. We continued along Rue aux Juifs which changed to Place du Maréchal Foch and then to Rue Rollon. At the end of Rue Rollon we reached Eglise Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc. This is where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Before going into the church our guide pointed out Restaurant La Couronne. This is the oldest restaurant in France and it is where Julia Childs ate her first french meal in France. This dining experience changed her life - it gave her the inspiration to go into cooking. Eglise Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc is a bit different in architecture than most churches and is dramatically different than the Cathedral. It has an asymmetrical shape and some strong angles. Inside it is open and cavernous. The pews are arranged in groups of three or four arcs. They have very low backs and no arms. They face the altar which is on a low raised stage and is simple in design. The ceiling curves upwards towards the middle and is made of wood - it looks like ribs holding the boards in place. Not sure if I liked it but it was different.

[NOTE: When we got home I searched the internet about the church and found that the sweeping lines of the church represent the flames that consumed Joan of Arc on the same square in 1431.]

Our guided tour ended here and we had the rest of the afternoon to walk around on our own. We did some window shopping, got some postcards and just explored. We spent our time in the older section of Rouen which was fine by me. It was a beautiful area and I loved it. My favorite part of the tour was the Cathedral.

At 4:30pm we headed back to the ship for a little rest before dinner. After taking a shower I spent some time editing pictures and then Thomas and I met Deanne and Dave in the lounge for a drink. During our drink, the program director talked about Viking and other cruises they offer and we got the daily briefing. At 7:00pm we headed to the dining room for dinner. We ended up eating dinner with a nice couple (Mike & Anne) from Seattle. It was another great meal. At 9:00pm we came back to the cabin and I continued editing pictures and wrote his post. Now it is time to get some rest - tomorrow we visit the area of the D-Day invasion.

Paris & the Heart of Normandy

Last year Thomas and I were contacted by some friends to join them on a Viking River Cruise from Paris to Normandy along the Seine River. We jumped at the chance - we have been wanting to take a river cruise for a while now. So this morning we left Santa Fe for our Paris & the Heart of Normandy adventure.

Map of the River Cruise

Our flight from Albuquerque was at 12:10pm so we didn't have to get up early and rush. But as usual for both of us we were up at 6:30am. Which worked out well. It gave us a chance to bring the dogs bowls and food over to Bruce, empty the garbage cans, close the blinds and turn off the air conditioning. It was 7:45 when we decided to leave for the Albuquerque International Sunport. That was a good time for us to head out since it meant we wouldn't hit morning work traffic as we drove through Albuquerque. We arrived at Airport Parking where we left the car and took the shuttle to the airport. When we got to the Delta counter there was no one there so we used the kiosk and checked ourselves in, but there was no one to take our bags (not at the counter and not outside at the drop-off). So we found a place to sit and wait for someone. We only had to wait about five minutes when a gentleman showed up and checked in our bags. Then we made our way over to security. The line was short and the TSA agents were friendly and cordial. In only a few minutes we had passed through security and gotten our shoes back on and we were ready for our trip to begin. We had about two and a half hours to wait for our flight so we just sat and read. Before we knew it they were calling us to board our flight.

We are flying Delta all the way to Paris and the first leg of our trip took us from Albuquerque to Salt Lake City. The boarding process was surprisingly fast and efficient. We were on a smaller plane than usual - only four seats across (two on each side of the aisle). the flight was mostly good except for a man and woman behind us who talked incessantly and at a volume better used when talking to someone across a crowded room. Also, the guy, who worked or has a hobby in alternative medicine, kept opening different scents that he was explaining to the woman he used in aromatherapy. Unfortunately in that closed space the scents sent my allergies into orbit. I ended up having to take one of my prescription allergy pills to counteract it. Other than that we just read for the duration of the flight. We arrived in Salt Lake City in under an hour and a half.

We were in row 8 so we were out of the plane quickly and made a beeline for the restrooms. After that we needed to get something for lunch. We landed at the 'B' gate area and we needed to make our way to the 'D' gate area for our next flight. So we started walking keeping our eyes peeled for somewhere to eat. We ended up at our gate and hadn't found anything we wanted. So we decided to go to a place just that we passed just before getting to our gate. We had burgers and fries at a place called smashburger. Pretty good for airport food. Once we were done eating we found a place to sit and relax for the next three hours until our flight to Paris (which is 10 1/2 hours). We read, played on the computer and relaxed. Time passed quickly and before we knew it we were boarding our flight for Paris.

They started boarding at 4:30pm and we took off at 5:15pm. We ended up reading from the time we got into our seats until the Captain turned off the seat belt sign when we reached cruising altitude. Then we watched movies - I watched Lincoln and Thomas watched The Jungle Book. During that time they came around with drinks and pretzels and then an hour later we had dinner. I had ravioli and Thomas had chicken. With that we had a salad, cheese & crackers, bread, shrimp cocktail and a brownie. When the movies finished Thomas tried to sleep and I went back to reading. Thomas had a hard time relaxing - he felt antsy and fidgeted for a while, took a stroll around the cabin and tried reading. Eventually he was able to fall asleep for a while. Sometime after 10:00pm (Santa Fe time) they brought us a ham sandwich and cookies. I kept reading (my book is really good - I am reading The Monuments Men) and Thomas watched another movie. Then about two hours before we landed (which was 9:00am  Paris time) we got some breakfast. It seemed that all we did was eat on this flight. I have to admit that I eventually became restless. Being on a plane for ten hours is trying. But with a lot of self control we endured. We landed a little bit early (by that we had wheels on the ground) but it took us almost 30 minutes to taxi to the gate.

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

It seemed to take forever. Finally we arrived at the gate and made it into the terminal. I think we landed at Terminal 2 Gate B or C but I am not sure. Anyway, we started following signs for baggage claim. We walked and then walked some more and eventually arrived at a train. We took this train from Gate B or C to K. We walked a short distance and then had to go through customs. This was so quick and easy. When we arrived at customs there were two people in front of us. When it was our turn the woman looked at our passports, stamped them and sent us on our way. From this point we found a Baggage Claim board and located the baggage claim we needed to get to for our flight number. So we walked some more. Finally we arrived at Baggage Claim 31. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our bags. I was wearing my FitBit and from the gate we landed at to the baggage claim was .68 miles. I do believe that this is the largest airport we have ever visited. Once we had our bags we exited the terminal and found the Viking River Cruises kiosk and checked in. The man there greeted us and then walked us to a waiting area. He told us he needed four more people and then we could get on the shuttle for the ship. Thankfully we only had to wait ten minutes and we were off. The drive from the airport to the ship dock took us 50 minutes. I tell you I am glad we made it to the ship - it has been a long journey but now we can relax and enjoy our cruise.