COUNTRY HOSPITALITY
Our B&B about 5 miles outside Bayeux, Le Manoir du Pont Senot, is a medieval home dating from the 15th century which has been lovingly restored. There are only two rooms for guests, and ours is very spacious with a round table and chairs, queen size bed, and a very modern bathroom.
Our hostess, Walkyrie, was most welcoming and solicitous and prepared a wonderful breakfast. Croissants and French bread plus apple cider, coffee and tea, almond cake, and individual strawberry rhubarb cobblers. She lives in the country, the grounds are lovely, and she keeps peacocks, parents and four babies.
D-DAY BEACHES
For the morning, we toured some of the Normandy Beach area. Our guide, Eva, is from Germany, but has lived and studied in France for a number of years and is exceedingly well versed in the history of the D-Day battles. She was also easy to be with.
Our tour began with Pointe du Hoc, which I have to admit I was not familiar with. But, as a result of this tour, and knowledge shared later by the Chief Penguin, I understood that this steep cliff where American Rangers used climbing ropes and grappling hooks to reach the top, being fired upon by machine guns and grenades from the enemy above, was a key piece of the Allies’ D-Day offensive against the Germans and their battery of weapons there.
In 1984, on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, President Reagan came to Pointe du Hoc and gave a commemorative speech, an address considered one of the greatest by any U.S. president. Here is one paragraph from that speech:
“You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.”
Seeing the height and steepness of the cliff, it is hard to fathom that any men made it to the top.
From Pointe du Hoc, we went on to a stretch of Omaha Beach. Today it is a peaceful stretch of sand and the waves roll in and back ceaselessly as the tide ebbs and flows. In June 1944, it was a very different scene of ships and soldiers and extreme loss of life. This beach stretches for six miles and the entire Normandy beach battleground is about 30 miles long. On a map, one doesn’t realize how extensive the area of battle was. What I also never appreciated until seeing it is that even if a solider made it from the ship out of the deep water to the land, there is a steep embankment just behind the beach.
Our last stop was the Normandy American Cemetery. There are some nine thousand graves here of individuals who died in the D-Day Landings and after. They represent 40% of the American military personnel buried in cemeteries around the world. The cemetery is in a beautiful spot above the beach. The rows and rows of crosses are in no particular order. There are a few topped with a Star of David signifying a Jewish grave. And there are graves for just four women, one a nurse, and the others three Black women who served. It is a moving sight to see all these crosses, each one someone who gave his or her life in service to their country.
We were fortunate to arrive when a small ceremony was taking place in the colonnade at the front end of the cemetery. Hearing both the Star Spangled Banner and Taps sound out over the graves was stirring and sobering simultaneously. A chapel midway down the cemetery is a simple building between the newer graves and the original temporary cemetery created in 1944. This cemetery was started in 1948 and opened to the public in 1956. The Walls of the Missing now include more than 1500 names; a few of the missing have been identified since the walls were installed, thanks in part to today’s DNA testing.
LUNCH
After our half day tour, lunch was a simple affair. We drove into Bayeux and as it was approaching 1:00 pm, we parked at the train station lot, figured out how to use the latest parking ticket machine, and then walked across the street to Hotel de Gare. This casual restaurant was busy, but we found a table to squeeze into. I ordered salade Parisienne which sounded like my kind of thing. Greens, tomatoes, egg, and tuna with mixed vegetables. It looked very pretty, and I loved all of it except the mushy peas and whatever underneath which constituted said veggies. The Chief Penguin had a lovely plate of tomatoes followed by an acceptable croque monsieur. Basic fare which fit the bill and assuaged our hunger.
Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)
