Our guide, Stephen Cooper, from Overlord Tours was a prize. He was waiting for us right outside the pier terminal door and at 7:50am (ten minutes early!), we were in his van and driving away through the port of Le Havre, which, admittedly took a while as it is a huge freight port. Finally we were on the highway and speeding through northern France…well, at least until we hit rush hour in Caen. Eventually, though, we were on the narrow side roads of Normandy, which is as charming an area as exists anywhere.
The hedgerows, the small Norman castles and Norman farmhouses that survived WW2 and the gently rolling hills all provided ample scenery to keep us entertained until we arrived at our first stop. Meanwhile, Stephen, who was originally from Manchester, England but now resides in France by way of Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland, educated us on the Norman history of the area and how (and why) some towns, such as Bayeau, were largely spared in the war while Caen and St. Lo were decimated.
We were among the earliest arrivals at our first stop of the American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer. The morning was sunny and quiet and it was a wonderful way to see that solemn site. On June 6 this year, we attended a D-Day memorial service with a “video in the round” showing this cemetery and I saw the rows of white crosses and was immediately in tears, causing G to lean over and ask if I was certain I wanted to see this in person on this cruise. Of course I did, but hearing that the average age of the troops buried there is 22 and that 90% of the men in the initial attack were killed on the beaches…I think that most people would be strongly moved. Most people (cough cough).
The American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Met with nearly 9400 graves.
We stayed for a while, enjoying the fact that we were among the few people there. Stephen let us wander and then naturally drew us together from time to time to point out one particular marker or another, and then the chapel and the memorial and the Wall of the Missing (1557 names). By the time we left, the large buses carrying the Princess tours were arriving, and we felt that our early arrival had provided us with a very special, very emotional experience.
One of three Medal of Honor awardees buried in the cemetery
In the chapel at American Cemetery
Our next stop was at Omaha Beach and it was simply astounding to think that this quiet, off-season beach had been home to Operation Overlord, one of the biggest battles of the war and the one responsible for the liberation of Western Europe. Here Stephen, with the help of his trusty binder full of large laminated maps and photos, made the attack come alive for us (he has a bit of an actor’s talent for telling a mesmerizing story). It was rather bizarre to think that some of the homes on the beach actually survived that day and the ones following it.
Omaha Beach
Omaha and Utah Beaches were code-named for the hometown/state of two privates in General Omar Bradley’s headquarters.
Our final historic stop was to see the bunkers at Pointe du Hoc and Stephen related the successes of the US Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, where we saw several German bunkers sprinkled around the sand dunes. Stephen had an attentive audience all day, but this was one of my favorite stops because we learned how wind and currents on a foul weather day almost resulted in losses that would have been difficult to overcome but for the efforts of the Rangers. If you’re interested in knowing more about it, this site has some great info.
We were well ready for lunch by then, and Stephen drove us to the charming village of Bayeux where we all had lunch at a brasserie. We met up with him at 3pm for the drive back to Le Havre and the Regal Princess. It had been an extremely moving yet fun and educational day and it was worth it to take this cruise just to do this tour.
Bayeux
Pont du Normandie over the Seine River
We had a choice then: go back to our cabin to change and likely collapse in bed instead and never get to dinner, or go to dinner just as we were, which is what we did. I remember very little about dinner other than waiters Peter from the Philippines and Matthew from Zimbabwe are already spoiling us. We skipped dessert, coffee and any entertainment and fled to our cabin afterward where I fell asleep in about 37 seconds and G unpacked his suitcases.
Tuscan tomato soup
Crunchy Asian salad
Pasta with broccoli race and white beans
Definitely a miss
There only other thing I recall from last night is Captain Maresco announcing that, due to tropical storms Joyce and Kirk, our itinerary was being changed and we were skipping the ports of Bilbao and Vigo, Spain and are instead heading north to Cobh, Ireland. This opens up a few issues but we’ve never been to Ireland so it’s all good for us.
Tomorrow: I will finally unpack and change out of the clothes I’ve worn for six days.
