France 2026—May 18th, Normandy and American Cemetery & a bit of Bayeux

May 18th, the American Cemetery

This morning was informative and moving because we spent 2.5 hours walking around the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach where over 34,000 came ashore June 6, 1944. Whether by parachute, glider, or amphibious assault craft, in all, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy on D-Day.

We circled the cemetery, visited the Chapel, the Memorial, the Garden of the Missing, and finished with the Visitor Center. We wanted to experience this place before reading about D-Day, viewing the video and displays. For us this was the right order, finishing our visit with the fact, but beginning with walking among the fallen, the men and women who saved the world from fascism.

Two of these busses arrived last night and unloaded about 100

American and Canadian tourists at the hotel.

We have a perfect view of these flags in the middle of a round-
about. The flags are from the allies who took part on D-Day. 

The first sign you see before entering.

 

Overlook to Omaha Beach.

This chapel is placed in line with the Memorial down the center of the 10 grave
plots, 5 to the left and 5 to the right of this central path.

This mosaic on the ceiling of the chapel depicts America blessing her sons as
they depart by sea and air and a grateful France bestowing a laurel wreath
upon the American dead.

The marble altar in the chapel.

This quotation is on the left side of the curved wall.

And this quotation is on the right side as you face the alter.

I am standing in front of the chapel looking east to the Memorial. Behind the sculpture, the curved 

wall of the Garden of the Missing embraces the Memorial and the 22 foot sculpture shown below. 

"The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" faces west toward the
headstones. As we arrived at the Memorial, a carillon rendition of "The Star 
Spankled Banner" was played over speakers. This was followed by taps and
the sound of a 3-gun salute. Everybody within hearing stopped where they were.

Panorama of the "Garden of the Missing".

Before leaving the Visitor Center—where displays about the Nazi occupation of northern France, the fortifications Germans used to defend the Normandy coastline, the Allied planning of D-Day, and the execution of the invasion—you enter a plain cement hallway where a voice announces the names of those who died and missing. 

Our time at the American Cemetery was enough so we didn't go to the WWII Museum, Utah Beach, or Point du Hoc, the location where "prior to the invasion of Normandy, the German army fortified the area with concrete casemates and gun pits. On D-Day, the United States Army Provisional Ranger Group attacked and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs. United States generals including Dwight D. Eisenhower had determined that the place housed artillery that could slow down nearby beach attacks." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc)

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We returned to Bayeux and purchased a taboule salad, cheese and crackers, and chips at a nearby grocery store and returned to our hotel for a snack. We rested up for about an hour and then figured out how far and where we had to go to meet our guide for the walking tour of Bayeux tomorrow. It was only a mile away directly down the same street as our hotel. 

The next set of pictures were taken near the Bayeux Tourism Office, the meeting place for the tour of the old town. Between this walk and the 2.5 hours we spent at the American Cemetery, somehow we walked 5 miles again.

The Aure River runs through Bayeux.

The walk along the Aure River looks relaxing.

Bayeux Cathedral was consecrated in 1077.

  

I couldn't resist this picture, because it's on the 

same street as the above 15th century buildings.

I'll be interested to find out about the older buildings pictured above during our walking tour of Bayeux tomorrow, May 19th.