Have not had much Internet access this last week. Which is just fine to be honest, but the posts are a bit delayed…

Honfleur is a wonderful little town by the sea. An inviting harbor, just on the edge of being too touristy, small narrow streets with a mix of French and English architecture draws your mind to those pirate towns you imagined in books, or seen at the movies. The streets are filled with small shops, galleries, cafés, restaurants et al. A great place to spend a weekend to just wander, relax and look around with our without a camera.

As mentioned the weather was absolutely superb so we decided to do as many here, spend the weekend. Only minutes, up to one and a half hour, are a plethora of interesting spots and attractions. Friday was dedicated to the Normandie landing. This is going to be a long post so without any further ado.

On the night of June 6 1944, fifteen thousand of paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne dropped in and around Sainte-Mère-Eglise to attack the the rear of the German defenses as the invading force stepped on to the Normandie beaches a few hours later. Well, that was at least the plan. Not so favorable winds scattered the soldiers over a large area.

Twenty minutes drive towards the sea we found Utah beach, the most western of the Normandie beaches. It was a “quieter” landing here, compared to its neighbor to the east, Omaha beach. In the surrounding area you find today numerous blockhouses and other testaments to the war.

At La Pointe-du-Hoc, allied bombers and battleships sent over 700 tons of bombs on the beach during the night. The morning after, beneath the 30-meter (98 feet) high cliffs rangers landed. With help of cables, hooks and rope they attempted to scale it under heavy German fire. I was told that the siege took on the appearance of a medieval siege. Finally when the Rangers reached the top they recognized nothing of the terrain they’d been studying on aerial photographs. It was shattered so severely by shells and bombs it looked like a lunar landscape.

The bloodiest of the Normandie landings where at Omaha beach. The American infantry divisions were to land in very difficult conditions. Speilberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” gives a realistic impression one how it must have been. I, in particular are amazed by the guts and lunacy of Robert Capa, who joined the forces on the first and third wave only armed with his camera. Capturing some of the most famous war photography to date.

We continued to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. We arrived at the gate one minute to late. What had planned to be the grand finale of a day at the landing beaches was now robbed from us. And i must admit, I’m to blame. Spent a “little” time with my cameras at the beaches…

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The day after we rose up bright and early, meaning before nine, and drove west again to Le Mont-Saint-Michel. I’ve been wanting to see this castle in the sea for years.

In blistering sunshine, way over thirty degrees (around 90++ Fahrenheit) we arrived around noon. To my disappointment there were a road running all the way to the island. That aside it was a great visit. Walking into the little town surrounding the castle we climbed the ant hill up to the castle. I seriously haven’t seen that many tourists from all over the world gathered in one place.

At the top, we entered the abby and we got some peace and quiet. I first wondered where all the others had gone, until I realized the size of the place. It is huge! It led from one room to the next, with great views of the landscape surrounding us.

Since we were up so early and surprisingly little traffic driving through Normandie to Mont-Saint-Michel, we decided to drive back up to the beaches and have another go at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. There are many, many war memorials and cemeteries in the north of France, but this is probably the best known.

On the way back to Honfleur we did hit traffic, bad. Decided to have dinner in Deauville hoping the queue would be gone by the time we were finished with our food. To our disappointment we had no such luck. Amazing how many cars they managed to fit in that little town. And the town itself, a disappointment to. The dessert was great though =)