Beaches of Normandy: A Day of Reverence

We allowed ourselves to sleep in this morning in an attempt to get our body clocks reset. I woke up a bit early, completed yesterday's blog post, then went back to sleep until 10:30 am! Sleeping in wasn't part of our plan, but it sure felt good. After hunting down a delectable chocolate croissant at a local patisserie, we headed for the Caen Memorial Museum, about an hour west of Honfleur. We had been told that this museum was brilliant and that it was.





The Nobel Peace Prize Garden at the Caen Memorial Museum.




The British Memorial Garden at the Caen Memorial Museum.



After spending several hours at the Caen Memorial Museum, we dashed over to the WWII Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial just in time for a quick walkabout before it closed. It was a sobering experience. I love the quote by Albert Schweitzer: Soldiers' graves are the greatest preachers of peace. . . . As you can tell, it was pouring down rain and since it wasn't raining when we left for the day, our umbrella was in our hotel room.














We visited Omaha Beach by going to Vierville-sur-Mer, where we were able to see a German bunker and walk along the beach.





The town of Bayeux is located only six miles from the D-Day beaches, was the first city liberated after the landing, and interestingly, Bayeux was not bombed during WWII. We arrived in this little city at the end of the day, so we weren't able to visit any of the historic sites or the beautiful Bayeux Cathedral, but we had a lovely time walking the town and dining in a cute little bistro.







Tomorrow will be a bit of a travel day. We'll be checking out of our hotel in Honfleur and heading two hours west to visit the Abbey of Mont St. Michel, then we'll be meandering our way south to Chenonceaux in the Loire Valley. Au revoir.