France: Normandy

We stayed at a charming Airbnb in Bayeux as our home base to explore Normandy. The owners were so nice and accommodating and had a yummy breakfast for us each morning complete with local jams, pastries and croissants.

Here's our group in front of our Airbnb...

We split into two groups, and we each had our own guide take us around the different sites of Normandy.  I'm so glad we hired a tour guide, he was amazing and I learned so much about WWII. Here's a pic of our guides...

He first took us to the German Cemetary where 21,000+ German soldiers are buried...

We then visited Sainte-Mere-Eglise, which is where many of the paratroopers mistakenly landed. Unfortunately a lot of casualties happened here as some buildings were on fire that night lighting up the sky so the men were easy targets. Others got caught in trees and utility poles and were shot before they could get out of their harness. You can faintly see a dummy paratrooper on the bell tower which depicts the story of John Steele, whose parachute got caught on the church and he could only watch the fighting below. He hung there imply for hours, pretending to be dead, before he was later captured by the Germans and taken prisoner (he later escaped and rejoined his division).

Inside the church there is a stained glass of St Michael and the insignia of various Allied military units...

We then went to a beach near Sainte-Mere-Eglise and saw many German bunkers...

We then grabbed sandwiches and had lunch near one of the beaches

a shot of Utah Beach and Point du Hoc in the distance...

 We then saw Utah Beach which was a landing site for US troops

and ran into the other half of our group!

We then visited Point du Hoc which is a cliff between Utah and Omaha Beaches where the Army Rangers scaled the 100 ft cliffs and took control.

One of the many German fortifications on Point du Hoc...

Our last stop was the American Cemetery where over 9,000 US soldiers are buried, including President Theodore Roosevelt's son.

The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach...

After a long day we had another yummy dinner

After dinner we drove around the French countryside...

and through the town of Bayeux and saw the Bayeux Cathedral.

Touring Normandy ended up being one of my favorite things we did in France. I was amazed at all the coincidences that happened to help the Allies win the war. Although I think the coincidences were God's hand in helping us defeat Hitler. The entire day I was in awe of the stories of bravery and sacrifice. I will forever be grateful for the soldiers who fought and gave their life for the freedoms we enjoy today.