A few years ago in Caen we visited the memorial museum which has a fantastic display on D-Day. Timing, tide considerations, logistics, artifacts, and all really well done. But to see the actual sites where the Allies landed was something we knew we had to do.
Leaving Caen on yet another well marked bike lane.Fresh bike path. Rich was worried that we would be riding on the street. We were not.Really Komoot? This is a route you recommend?Leave the gates as you find them. Closed. We think, uh, know, that we were on the wrong road. There was a dirt path a bit off to the side. What a gorgeous day. The fields of oilseed rape are so bright.It didn’t take long for us to find some history. The smallest war cemetery in Normandy?
From the info sign: Isolated in the countryside, it is one of the smallest cemeteries in Normandy; the Cross of Sacrifice emerges from wheat fields in summer. 117 soldiers are buried there, 98 British and 1 unidentified, as well as 18 Germans. The men buried here were killed during the first two weeks of combat after the landing west of Caen, among them many soldiers from the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division. Originally, Canadians were also resting in this place, they were then transferred to the cemetery Bény-sur-Mer Reviers. The youngest fighter named in the Register of the Dead was only 17 years old.
The monument rises from the fields.Fields on three sides. A very peaceful place when we stopped by.Lovingly tended. These unknown soldier grave markers really make me sad.Me starting to realize how emotional this part of the trip will be.A lunch stop at the church in Moulins-en-Bessin.A new favorite treat, Diplomate au Bavarois. Brioche bread, egg custard, and dried fruit. Delicious!The fields of flax were blooming and buzzing with bees.I wish I could add the noise of the bees!Another curious horse.And made it to Bayeux. A bit of a tourist shock after all our time in Finistère. Bayeux was the first city to be liberated on the 7th of June, by British troops with minimal resistance. Beautiful half timbered buildings. “The buildings in Bayeux were virtually untouched during the Battle of Normandy, the German forces being fully involved in defending Caen from the Allies.”Bayeux wins the round-about plantings contest as far as I’m concerned. Knights on hedge and grass horses.I will always stop to photograph a waterwheel. Always.Our hotel, Domaine de Bayeux. We were in a lovely modern addition, this photo is taken from our front door.Another waterwheel selfie. We spent two nights in Bayeux so we could ride out to Omaha without our bags as leaving all our gear in a parking area often stops us from heading into sights.I’m immediately picturing the Allied troops on the narrow lanes.Every lane and building has its story. Château de Maisons. During the Second World War, the château housed German General Staff of the Coastal Sector. On 8 June 1944, the commune was liberated by English troops.And I’m seeing landscapes through the eyes of young American troops. It must have been so frightening and looked so unlike where most came from. The Normandy American Cemetery.
I don’t have a lot of photos of the American Cemetery. The visitor center is so very well done, films of events of the day, stories of individual people both military and civilian, details of what they carried and how they survived or did not. Quotes from family who chose to bury their dead in France instead of back in the US. I started crying quite quickly.
It was nice to see so many people of so many nationalities visiting. The cemetery is beautifully kept.It is all so overwhelming.And yes, there is good bike parking at the cemetery. Quite a few bikes too.Another Komoot short cut down to the stretch of Omaha Beach.A very muddy trail/creek to make you focus on the here and now.Happy to be on dry trail and in the sunshine.Photos and information signs at Omaha Beach.These anti-landing craft installations were called Czech hedgehogs.Where the different countries landed their troops.We stopped to read every sign. The beaches were so heavily fortified with anti-tank and anti-landing devices.We were visiting on a Sunday with beautiful weather, so there were loads of folks out and about, and camper vans parked up along the beach. It’s all a bit incongruous to the very powerful history, but it’s a lovely stretch of coast and deserves to be enjoyed.In memory of the ‘sons, husbands and fathers, who endangered and often sacrificed their lives in the hope of freeing the French people’. By Anilore Banon.Since we are having what Rich calls a “rolling rest day”, we also have a cafe lunch.L’Omaha cafe.Complete with D-Day IPA.Back up off the beach.The first landing strip. Constructed on the 8th and 9th of June directly behind Omaha Beach the airstrip was one of the first to become operational with the first sanitary Dakota landing at 6pm on D+3.The village where the cemetery and Omaha Beach are located.Large scale photos on the walls of the village. It’s hard to imagine what the locals felt when the American GIs showed up. After four years of occupation and hearing rumors of a landing, to have the men who made it off the beach arrive in town – they must have seemed otherworldly. A bunch of healthy well fed soldiers.More examples of anti-landing craft and anti-tank installations.It’s helpful to be able to stand next to a tank to get the scale of it. The huge photos are quite compelling.More Czech hedgehogs along the road.The area is beautiful. The bike and hiking path has stunning views.Down the hill into Port-en-Bessin-Huppain.Quick stop for caffeine.The clouds are coming in as we head back to Bayeux.As heavy as the history of the day was, we were happy to be riding and felt so light without our panniers.And the new bike way back to Bayeux was so impressive.It had obviously been recently created by acquiring strips of land from farms along the way.
We couldn’t help but marvel at what a big lift it must have been to stitch together an off the road bike path for so many miles. The coordination between municipalities and land owners had to have taken years. The bureaucrat in me wants to know, but my googling has not paid off with any details. Yet.
Back to Bayeux and the knights on the traffic circle.Time to calm down with a stroll around town.Wine and pizza dinner.The Bayeux cathedral spire peeking out from behind a row of buildings.A most gorgeous plane tree. Also called a London Plane tree, a close cousin to the American Sycamore tree. Cathedral added for scale. Arbre de la Liberté.Look at that tree trunk. Planted in 1797, as were many Liberty trees in the aftermath of the French Revolution this one is 30 meters or 98 feet tall.Ready for a good night’s sleep and then back on the bikes to continue east along the beaches of Normandy.
Tomorrow as we head off I will realize the my “rest day” in Bayeux actually involved cycling over 50 somewhat hilly kilometers and was quite emotionally draining. But we have more history to cycle through, so off we’ll go!
After decades of living and working in wonderful San Francisco we gave it all up to travel the world. Not owning a car allowed us to save money and live hyper-locally. Now we’re living around the globe. Follow along to see where we are and what cats I manage to pet.
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Less Car, More Life 