D-Day – June 6, 1944 is a day of remembrance, especially on the northern coast of France. We arrived in Cherbourg, France today and had arranged a ship tour to Some of the WWII Sites. From the tour bus we could see a fort out on the water.
The countryside was lovely with centuries old buildings with slated roofs and whitewashed brick along with 13th century churches and cemeteries.
We arrived at the Azeville Gun Battery with winds howling but the sun shining. It was very cold. The gun battery was a subterranean network and complete defense system created by the Germans during the war.
During the war, the German camouflaged the buildings to look like houses to the Allied forces flying over the country.
Walking through the underground network was a little claustrophobic, especially since there were so many people going through.
Utah Beach was our next stop. We arrived at low tide.
There was a US assault landing craft on display which was called a Higgins Boat.
Approximately 22,000 were constructed during WWII and used in The Normandy invasion.
There were several monuments to the sailors and soldiers who came ashore at Utah Beach.
Our final stop on the tour was the town of Sainte-Mere Eglise which was made famous in the movie the Longest Day. The famous church where Red Buttons landed his parachute in the movie still has a parachute and mannequin hanging from the rafters.
The church which was built in the 12th and 13th centuries had beautiful stained glass, which was not from that time period.
It was a beautiful church.
We went through a WWII museum in the town which had air planes from the war.
A group of children were dressed in WWII costume at the museum learning about French history in the war.
After our tour of the museum, Bruce and I went to a Cafe for some coffee and pastries.
For dinner we ate at Alfredo’s on the ship and then went to see a great show.
What a great day!
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