27/04 - D-Day Beaches of Normandy 2

It wasn't the right day and time to visit the D-day beach. The water was high. The wind was chilly. And then the rain. Pointe du Hoc was quite impressive. Scars and craters of warfare were everywhere on the landscape. Empty concrete shell that once fortified the mighty German guns, which defended the Normandy beaches from Allies attack, scattered around the site. Influxes of tourists came and followed their guide like school children. A sensational site, would be much nicer without the tourist noise. Though of course I was one of them. We returned to the Memorial Museum in the afternoon. It is an fantastic museum on everything about WWII and the D-Day battles. At the atrium, a large photography depicting Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in 1989 commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Fall of Berlin Wall.

27/04 - Memorial Museum and D-Day Beaches of Normandy

In the morning, we joined a 1/2 day tour at the Memorial Museum to the Harbour of Arromanches, Normandy American Cemetery, Omaha Landing Beach, and Pointe du Hoc. It was a cold and rainy morning. From the museum, we hopped into a van with a guide for the Harbour of Aromanches, where remnants of wartime articial harbours were still on the beach and out in the sea. These articial landing platforms were prefabricated in England. During the D-day operation, these concrete and steel structures were dumped into the sea to form a series of landing strips for te Allies supply ships. We could only take pictures of these amazing structures from a cliff high above the beach. We then moved on to Normandy American Cemetery, where more than 9000 soldiers were buried.

26/04 - Caen

Sunday afternoon, Caen, Normandy. We lingered in the empty streets. We carried our dirty clothes to the laundry. We chatted with an African student. We bought some food and water and returned to our room.