NORMANDY LANDING BEACHES

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Day 2: CAEN - DESEMBARCO BEACHES (Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, La Cambe, Arromanches, Batteries de Longues) - MONT SAINT MICHEL

Friday, August 16, 2013

Today the alarm sounds at 6.30 in the morning. As usual and we always count, when an alarm sounds at this time, it is usually a sign that we are traveling and warns us that it is time to start getting going! And today with more reason. We will know the Normandy Landing Beaches.
We collect our bags and after checking out at the Hôtel La Fontaine we load the car and take a walk around Caen hoping to find an open cafeteria to recharge our batteries before continuing with our tour of Normandy.
Fall at this time does not show us his friendlier face and leaves us wanting to warm our stomachs because we do not find a cafeteria or an open bar where we can have breakfast, so determined not to waste much more time, we decided that we will lay hold from our bag of super we bought yesterday on the way to the Cliffs of Étretat and we will have breakfast at the first stop we make.

After touring some streets near the hotel in Caen, we return to the car, connect our GPS and put on what will be our first stop today: Pointe du Hoc
Today is the day to go Normandy Beaches and soak up especially a story that delights anyone who likes this topic a bit.
Pointe du Hoc is about 40 minutes drive from Caen on the N13.
Today we have a very clear day, which we hope will remain throughout the day to allow us to enjoy the Normandy landing beaches, although the temperature does not become completely hot, since we see that the thermometer does not exceed 15 degrees.
We do not know if the lack of coffee or the desire we had to start the tour of Normandy, we were wrong with the GPS and we finished in Omaha Beach, another of the points we had to visit today on the tour of Normandy beaches.
The mistake has been the best scenario we could have imagined for the makeshift breakfast we make.
With these views, who needs a coffee shop?

Having breakfast at Omaha Beach, with incredible views! Normandy Landing Beaches

Our car in Omaha Beach. Normandy Landing Beaches

The Normandy landing beaches They were the scene of the largest military operation in history.
The code name of the D-Day landings was “Operation Overlord” and today we will have the scenarios where all this happened in front of us.
A piece of history ...

Omaha Beach Normandy Landing Beaches

On the morning of June 6, 1944, a swarm of boats, which were part of a fleet of more than 6000 vessels, reached the Normandy beaches and tens of thousands of soldiers from the US, United Kingdom and Canada, along with other countries, drove into French territory.
Most of the 135,000 allied troops attacked along 80 kilometers of beaches north of Beyeux, whose code names were: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
The D-Day landings resulted in the Battle of Normandy, which would result in the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation.
In the 76 days of fighting, the Allies suffered 210000 casualties, of which 37000 corresponded to the dead.
It is believed that the German casualties amounted to 200,000 and another 200,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner.
The most brutal battle on D-Day took place 15 kilometers northwest of Beyeux, on the 7 kilometers of coastline between Vierville-sur-Mer, St. Laurent-sur-Mer and Colleville-sur-Mer, known as Omaha Beach.
Today there are few indications of the carnage that took place in it on June 6, 1944, except for a ship used to take the tanks ashore and 1 kilometer further west, the bunkers of the German key position WN62.
Near the parking lot of St. Laurent, a memorial marks the location of the first US military cemetery in French territory.

Commemorative Monument in Omaha Beach

Details of the Omaha Beach Memorial

After this first impact, having such a brutal scenario before us Normandy's landing and even with our hearts shrunken by the piece of history that we have just faced, we return to the rental car in Normandy, to make our way to today's second visit: Pointe du Hoc.

We arrived in just over 10 minutes and as soon as we parked, we find that the sky has suddenly turned gray, it seems that he wants to remind us that the history of this place does not deserve to be explained with a blue background ...
At 7.10 on June 6, 1944, 225 members of a US army command under the command of Lt. Col. Rudder climbed the 30-meter cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, where the Germans had a battery of huge artillery pieces, perfectly placed to drop projectiles on the beaches of Omaha and Utah.
But what Rudder and his men did not know is that the weapons that had been transferred inland, and spent the next two days repelling fierce German counterattacks.
By the time they were released on June 8, 81 of them had died and 56 others were injured.

Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

Today, the enclosure, which France handed over to the US Government in 1979, looks the same as half a century ago.
The ground is still full of craters caused by bombs, and the German command post and several of the cement sites for artillery are still standing, full of bullet holes and blackened by flamethrowers.

Craters caused by bombs in Pointe-du-Hoc

More practical information to prepare your trip to Normandy
- 10 essential places to see in Normandy
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Normandy

Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

Cement site of Pointe-du-Hoc

Details ... Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

Views from Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

Facing the sea, the Utah beach, which extends somewhat perpendicular to the cliffs, is 14 kilometers to the left.

Cliffs of Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

It is difficult to be in a place with so much history and not consider many things that would not leave humanity in a good place.
We have never liked to "put" in our travel diaries too much history, we always say that for that there are already the guides, but today in the Normandy landing beaches It is impossible not to.
History is the true protagonist of this tour of Normandy and we believe that this time it deserves a space in this travel diary.

Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

We say goodbye to Pointe-du-Hoc with some sun rays that illuminate the craters caused by the bombs.
Maybe some rays of hope ...

Rays of hope in Pointe-du-Hoc. Normandy Landing Beaches

During the entire visit, we have not looked at the clock for a moment, but when we are going to pick up the car, we see that we have been almost an hour, so without entertaining ourselves too much, we reconnect the GPS and put the following point as a destination: Change
La Cambe is about 10 minutes by car from Pointe-du-Hoc and as soon as you get to the parking lot, after a couple of laps because we find it difficult to find the site, we check that even if we are in the month of August, Normandy It is not exactly a hot place.
The day has turned a little gray and the temperatures have dropped, wrapping in this way, all the scenarios of the Normandy Landing beaches of a grayish color that keeps reminding us of the color of the story that took place here.
Near Le Cambe, right where we are now, we find the German Cemetery, where more than 21,000 fallen German soldiers rest during the campaign of Normandy, in groups of two or three per grave.

German Cemetery of Le Cambe

Entrance of the German Cemetery of Le Cambe

There are no remarkable flags or inscriptions, each grave carries a simple plaque that barely protrudes from the ground.

German Cemetery of Le Cambe

Black and White in the German Cemetery of Le Cambe

Detail of a grave in the German Cemetery of Le Cambe

German Cemetery of Le Cambe

In the center of the cemetery stands a Maltese cross, flanked by two hesitant figures that symbolize the parents of soldiers whose bodies lie buried in regular rows throughout the compound.

Maltese Cross in the German Cemetery of Le Cambe

German Cemetery of Le Cambe

We walk through the cemetery without hardly speaking. For more than 45 minutes, we cross only a few words, which are to make it clear, among ourselves, that we are not and will never be able to understand these things happening.
As we travel through it, a feeling similar to the one we live in Hebron, in Palestine, invades us, where we couldn't even try to understand that piece of history.
We leave the German cemetery of Le Cambe in silence and return to the car thinking about the next visit we have ... The American Military Cemetery ...
It is very clear that today the tour of the Normandy landing beaches they will remind us at every step we take, what man is capable of doing.
We had read that the German Cemetery closed at 5 in the afternoon and you could not enter, but as we went to the parking lot, we see that next to the main entrance, where the gate is, the rest of the enclosure is not fenced nor has security, so if you arrive later, we believe that you can access without problems ...
We return to Omaha Beach, to reach the American Military Cemetery, which is located on the cliffs overlooking the beach.
As the morning progresses, we begin to cross with many tourists that we intuit are taking the same route as us through the Normandy landing beaches.
In the American Cemetery we have some problem to park, although at the end and after a couple of laps, we can do it among some of the many caravans that we are crossing throughout the tour.
Throughout the tour of the Normandy beaches we do not stop crossing with many caravans that we see again in the following points where we are stopping ...
Before arriving at the American Cemetery, a few drops have fallen that have made the day cool a little more than we would have liked, but that at no time diminishes the desire we have to continue with this tour of the Normandy landing beaches.
Before entering the American Cemetery, we have to go through an exhibition hall, where we also have to go through a security arch, before entering the cemetery grounds.
17 kilometers northeast of Bayeux, in Colleville-sur-Mer, we find in American Cemetery, which is the largest North American cemetery in Europe.
He became famous by appearing in the introductory scenes of the movie Save Soldier Ryan and contains the graves of 9387 American soldiers and a memorial to another 1557 whose remains were never found.

American cemetery

Omaha Beach from the American Cemetery. Normandy Landing Beaches

The simple white crosses, with some star of David interspersed, form endless rows surrounded by a large area of scrupulously manicured grass.

American cemetery. Normandy Landing Beaches

Black and White in the American Cemetery

The cemetery dominates a large memorial monument with semicircle columns around a statue dedicated to the spirit of American youth.

American Cemetery Memorial Monument

Nearby is a pond and a small chapel. There are three graves with golden characters for having been awarded the Gold Medal of Congress.

American cemetery

Tombs Niland Brothers, in the movie, Ryan Brothers, in the American Cemetery

Flowers in the American Cemetery

American cemetery

Before we go to the parking lot, we meet a Spanish family that catches our attention not only because of the tone of voice, much higher than that of the rest of the people, but because two of the children / teenagers who go in the group They carry several guns in their hands and play hiding among the white crosses of the graves pretending to shoot.
If the atmosphere so far in the whole tour of the Normandy beaches It has been almost solemn, this moment, marked in its entirety by this fact, makes us reconsider the purpose of this type of tours according to what type of travelers ...
We are not who to judge anyone, but at that time, and now transmitting what we feel, we have not been able to avoid telling this specific fact ...
On the way to the exit, we go back to the viewpoint that leaves us with incredible views of Omaha Beach!

Omaha Beach from the American Cemetery. Normandy Landing Beaches

As we walk towards the exit, we realize that we take with us the same feelings we had in Mauthausen, in Austria. There are certain places that are “difficult to visit”, but that without a doubt, you have to know.
Before we leave, we return to the security controls area and visit the exhibition dedicated to the largest amphibious landing in history.
About 12.30 we are on our way to Arromanches, where the first thing we want to do is go to a restaurant that we have seen recommended in many travel forums.
At this time the temperature has risen a little and it is much better than this morning when it has started to drizzle.
We parked right in the parking lot in front of the beach and knowing that the low tide began at 12 in the morning, we took advantage before eating, to make sure we go to the beach to take the pictures and not miss this opportunity to be eating! 😉
To enable the unloading of the large quantity of merchandise that the invading army needed without having to take any of the ports of the English Channel, which were very well defined, the Allies installed prefabricated provisional ports in front of two of the Normandy landing beaches, whose code name was Mulberry.

Views of the beach of Arromanches. Normandy Landing Beaches

They consisted of 146 huge concrete cubes that were towed from England and sank to form a semicircular breakwater, to which floating sections of bridge were moored. In the three months after D-Day, Mulberries facilitated the discharge of some 2.5 million men, 4 million tons of equipment and 500,000 vehicles.

Arromanches Normandy Landing Beaches

Details in Arromanches. Normandy Landing Beaches

The port erected in Omaha was completely destroyed by a violent storm only 2 weeks after D-Day, but the second, Port Winston, can still be seen near Arromanches.
At low tide it is possible to reach many of the blocks from the beach.

Blocks in Arromanches

Arromanches Normandy Landing Beaches

Detail of the Arromanches Blocks

After this raid on the beach, taking advantage of low tide, we go to the main street where we find many restaurants, bars ...
Arromanches is very similar to Étretat where we were yesterday and at the end after a walk, we sat at Le Bistro where we ordered a menu of 18 euros, which includes the famous moules avec frites and a pizza, plus drinks and coffees for 37 euros.

Eating in Arromanches

Eating moules et frites in Arromanches

After filling the belly well, we get back on track, to tour the town of Arromanches and visit some souvenir shops.

Souvenir shops in Arromanches

Practicing diving in the center of Arromanches !!

At this time of the afternoon, it seems that Arromanches has been calmer and the last part of the visit will be done alone ...
The best views of Port Winston and Gold Beach are from the hill to the east of the city, where a statue of the Virgin Mary stands.

Climbing to Arromanches Hill

As we ascend and turn our heads, we see that we have before us the image that we have seen so many times in the books ... and that we can now enjoy them in person.

Views of Arromanches !!

Arromanches !!

As we descend from the hill, it begins to sparkle and we see that the sky turns a grayish color that announces storm, but what surprises us most is that the tide has risen to such an extent that it already reaches half a beach.
After taking another walk through the main streets of Arromanches, we put our last stopping point on GPS Normandy landing beaches, Longues-sur-Mer.
The parking in this part of France is checking that it is not expensive at all. In Arromanches, from 1 noon to 4 in the afternoon, we have paid 3.60 euros.
Without stopping to rain, we get going and in little more than 10 minutes we are parking in Longues-sur-Mer.
It seemed that it had stopped raining on the way, but again we visit that chimichimi that makes it very clear what they had always told us about Normandy: it never stops raining ...
We are a little lost and when we arrive in Longues-sur-Mer, we deduce that we are not in the right place, so we look in the village, the Batteries de Longues sign and continue to the beach where we find the last stop we will make today at Normandy landing beaches.
Before getting out of the car it starts to rain again and seeing that the intensity increases, we do not get out of the car and take the opportunity to have a warm coffee from a position at the entrance.
Seeing that the pint is not to stop raining, but that has cleared a bit, we arm ourselves with courage and we will visit the site where the batteries are.
The huge bunkers for the 152mm German cannons were designed to reach targets about 20 kilometers away.

Batteries des Longues

Half a century later, the gigantic artillery pieces remain where they were, in their colossal cement sites. They are the only large caliber weapons left in Normandy.

Views of Batteries des Longues

The rain stops from time to time, but not at all, so the visit is not quite pleasant and we do it quite quickly.
At 5 and shortly, we return to the car after having another coffee for 1.50 euros, we head for Mont Saint Michel! One of the great reasons for this trip to Normandy.
We thought it would take 45 minutes to arrive, but when we put the GPS it marks us 1 hour and 40 minutes, so we will arrive at Mont Saint Michel at 6:30 in the afternoon, with the time to check-in and go to the Mount to see it for the first time at night ...
We hope that the weather improves a little and allows us tonight and tomorrow to visit this “icing on the cake”.

Way of Mont Saint Michel

"Way of Mont Saint Michel"

The last 45 minutes, we make them on the A84 that takes us directly to Mont Saint Michel, one of our traveling dreams ...
Today we have our hotel in Mont Saint Michel in Beauvoir, a town 5 kilometers from Mont Saint Michel that allows us to be there in a few minutes and not pay the exorbitant prices of hotels in the center of the heart.
It takes a few minutes for our GPS to locate the hotel and once we find it, we park and check-in, rest for a few minutes and shortly before 7 pm, we take the car again to get on our way to Mont Saint Michel

- Book a tour of Mont Saint-Michel in Spanish from Paris

From the road and without waiting it appears right in front of us and although we are at a distance where we can not see any detail, only the silhouette, cutting the horizon, reminds us that in a few minutes, we will be lucky to face one of our "traveling dreams."

Mont Saint Michel standing out on the horizon ...

Mont Saint Michel

We arrive at the parking area, since now you have to park in this area and with a few shuttles access the site of Mont Saint Michel.
Parking from 7 in the afternoon until 2 in the morning is free, so this time, we get rid of paying parking!
The indications to access the zone of the shuttles are very well signposted and in about 10 minutes we are planted at the entrance of Mont Saint Michel. There are buses every 3 minutes and before reaching the end point of the journey, stop in 3 more areas, coinciding with the restaurant / hotel area at the entrance of Mont Saint Michel.
This same path, by walking, is about 40 minutes and the idea is to do it tomorrow morning in this way.

At the entrance of Mont Saint Michel

As soon as we get off the bus, we cannot look away from Mont Saint Michel, although at the same time we cannot stop our eyes from the great “work” that is being done on the premises and in the surroundings.

Works in Mont Saint Michel

As we move forward, towards the entrance, we meet a group of people, with television cameras, as a contest, which we see is a guy to "Pekin Express" ... Today we will have a complete day!

Recording a contest at Mont Saint Michel

As we move forward, we decided that being this afternoon quite cloudy, tomorrow first time we will return to take photos from the bay of Mont Saint Michel and today we will only make a first contact, to soak up this special place.

Mont Saint Michel entrance

We started up the main street that is full of people, although it is almost 8 in the afternoon and we thought that coming at this time of the afternoon, we would have Mont Saint Michel for ourselves.

Streets of Mont Saint Michel

We had a very different idea to what we are finding, we thought that the “interior” of Mont Saint Michel would be much larger and that it would take us longer to travel all its little streets, but as we ascend, we see that part of the main street and A few parallels, we will have no more places to go.

Shops at Mont Saint Michel

After going through the streets full of shops, cafes, restaurants ... we reach the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, which closes at 7 in the afternoon, so today we can not visit it.

Abbey of Mont Saint Michel

We take many photos of this area of Mont Saint Michel, but the light does not accompany too much, so after having a good time in this area, we take a tour of the walls, including one of the viewpoints that has stunning views of the bay .

Views of the Bay of Mont Saint Michel

Views from Mont Saint Michel

Lights and shadows on Mont Saint Michel

As the minutes progress in the clock and we intuit that it will begin to sunset, we begin to return towards the main door, although this time we do it by the street parallel to the main one, that crosses the outer walls of Mont Saint Michel.

Views of the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel

It's almost 9 at night, so we go straight to find a place to have dinner and we don't think about it, when we almost reach the entrance of Mont Saint Michel, we go to the restaurant Le Confiance, where we ask for two crepe menus for 12 euros each.
Not for not trying the famous crepres !!

Having dinner at the restaurant Le Confiance in Mont Saint Michel

And now the desserts at Le Confiance in Mont Saint Michel

The truth is that Mont Saint Michel is smaller than we thought and it is not that we were disappointed, but we really expected a little more ... especially around, than seeing them at low tide (just this week there are no tides) leaves discovered all the work they are doing and does not favor the spectacular environment in which we are.
At half past 9 we leave the restaurant and think that the best thing we can do, after a tiring day, is to return with the free shuttle to the parking lot and before arriving, stop at one of the intermediate stops, where there is a viewpoint and we can take some pictures at night ...

Leaving Mont Saint Michel

But that is what we planned to do, because when we have gone out and have seen the light that was at this time on the bay, we have not been able to avoid entering and apart from having spectacular views, take all the photos that we could.

Amazing sunset on Mont Saint Michel

Start to dusk on Mont Saint Michel

As the minutes progress, the sky begins to darken and the lights that come on in Mont Saint Michel, give way to stunning views.

Mont Saint Michel

Stunning views of Mont Saint Michel

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Sunset on Mont Saint Michel

Dusk in Mont Saint Michel

And so we have been until after 10 pm, that we have taken the shuttle at the entrance of Mont Saint Michel and in less than 10 minutes it has taken us back to the parking lot.

Reflections of Mont Saint Michel

Saying goodbye to Mont Saint Michel

Entering the Mont Saint Michel car park at night is an adventure. There is not a light in the whole enclosure and we have to use the mobile light, in order to find our car after several turns.
Of course, it has been free because of the time we have come and the shuttle is free… so we don't complain too much 😉
Before returning to our hotel in Mont Saint Michel, the Hotel Chambres les Salles, we drive a moment to the viewpoint that is halfway and that at this time it is passable to private vehicles, but we see that the photos do not look too good , so we put our GPS back and go straight to the hotel, which today, being almost 12 at night, it is time to lie down and rest and above all, keep dreaming ...