Post by Shoesy on Jun 27, 2009 1:00:58 GMT -5
Friday, June 12, 2009
I had made reservations for a Battlebus Tour months ahead of time due to the fact that the month June is always a very popular time for touring Normandy since it was the month of the Normandy Invasion in 1944. In addition, this year marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day so there would likely be even more tourists than usual. BTW, one week before our visit (when Obama was there) it was a lot more crowded because June 6th was the exact date of the landings.
I had selected a one-day American Highlights tour, which commenced at 8:30 A.M. and lasted until 5:30 P.M. There were 8 people on our minibus (the maximum for any tour), and our companions for that day were 2 Norwegians (Gitte’s neighbors ;D) and a family of 4 from Boston. (I thought of you, Happy.
) Battlebus is an English company, and our guide was a real cute guy 
named Sean.
We visited: 1. Omaha Beach, the largest landing beach, where troops suffered very heavy casualties 2. Utah Beach, the westernmost landing beach 3. Ste. Mere Eglise, a village located on the route that the Germans would have used to attack troops landing on Omaha and Utah. Paratroopers occupied this town. 4. Pointe du Hoc, the German gun position located on a cliff 5. the American Cemetery
Both Shlomo and I enjoyed our tour immensely, and truthfully speaking, I don’t understand how many people choose to visit all these historical places on their own.
Sean is extremely knowledgeable (well, that’s his job, isn’t it?), and his explanations were fascinating. We were mesmerized by the heroic stories he told about actual people who participated in the D-Day events. As he was telling us about those wonderful men who fought so bravely, he held up pictures of them, and this made all the accounts even more meaningful. The tour cost us 85 euros per person, and we tipped our guide generously for a job well done.
And here are some photos of our very memorable day:
Sean on Omaha Beach
At Omaha, one of the Norwegian guys picked up some sand, which he wanted to take home. He was about to put it in his pocket
when I gave him a plastic bag.
Ste. Mere Eglise. There is a dummy paratrooper hanging from the church spire to commemorate John Steele, the paratrooper that this actually happened to. (depicted in the movie "The Longest Day")
The Airbourne Museum at Ste. Mere Eglise. Shlomo enjoyed seeing all this "boys stuff" ;D. (For me, a plane is a plane and a tank is a tank.
)
Here I am enjoying a delicious sandwich during our lunchbreak. (Our guide had taken our lunch orders at the start of the tour, and our yummy sandwiches were ready when we arrived at that spot at 12:30.
)
At Utah Beach. (I was cold. Brrr......)
Pointe du Hoc. In the 2nd pic. note that I was cold, while the 2 Norwegian guys were perfectly happy wearing short sleeves.
The American Cemetary
. Note that Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a Brig. Gen. and a recipient of a Medal of Honor, was buried alongside men who had much inferior rank and had not received any medals. Also, note there's a grave with the star of David on the left side of the photo. There are a number of those, but most graves have crosses as tombstones.
I had made reservations for a Battlebus Tour months ahead of time due to the fact that the month June is always a very popular time for touring Normandy since it was the month of the Normandy Invasion in 1944. In addition, this year marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day so there would likely be even more tourists than usual. BTW, one week before our visit (when Obama was there) it was a lot more crowded because June 6th was the exact date of the landings.
I had selected a one-day American Highlights tour, which commenced at 8:30 A.M. and lasted until 5:30 P.M. There were 8 people on our minibus (the maximum for any tour), and our companions for that day were 2 Norwegians (Gitte’s neighbors ;D) and a family of 4 from Boston. (I thought of you, Happy.
) Battlebus is an English company, and our guide was a real cute guy 
named Sean. We visited: 1. Omaha Beach, the largest landing beach, where troops suffered very heavy casualties 2. Utah Beach, the westernmost landing beach 3. Ste. Mere Eglise, a village located on the route that the Germans would have used to attack troops landing on Omaha and Utah. Paratroopers occupied this town. 4. Pointe du Hoc, the German gun position located on a cliff 5. the American Cemetery
Both Shlomo and I enjoyed our tour immensely, and truthfully speaking, I don’t understand how many people choose to visit all these historical places on their own.
Sean is extremely knowledgeable (well, that’s his job, isn’t it?), and his explanations were fascinating. We were mesmerized by the heroic stories he told about actual people who participated in the D-Day events. As he was telling us about those wonderful men who fought so bravely, he held up pictures of them, and this made all the accounts even more meaningful. The tour cost us 85 euros per person, and we tipped our guide generously for a job well done. And here are some photos of our very memorable day:
Sean on Omaha Beach
At Omaha, one of the Norwegian guys picked up some sand, which he wanted to take home. He was about to put it in his pocket
when I gave him a plastic bag.Ste. Mere Eglise. There is a dummy paratrooper hanging from the church spire to commemorate John Steele, the paratrooper that this actually happened to. (depicted in the movie "The Longest Day")
The Airbourne Museum at Ste. Mere Eglise. Shlomo enjoyed seeing all this "boys stuff" ;D. (For me, a plane is a plane and a tank is a tank.
)Here I am enjoying a delicious sandwich during our lunchbreak. (Our guide had taken our lunch orders at the start of the tour, and our yummy sandwiches were ready when we arrived at that spot at 12:30.
)At Utah Beach. (I was cold. Brrr......)
Pointe du Hoc. In the 2nd pic. note that I was cold, while the 2 Norwegian guys were perfectly happy wearing short sleeves.
The American Cemetary
. Note that Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a Brig. Gen. and a recipient of a Medal of Honor, was buried alongside men who had much inferior rank and had not received any medals. Also, note there's a grave with the star of David on the left side of the photo. There are a number of those, but most graves have crosses as tombstones.
hahahha