Normandy, France

Our tour of the Normandy beaches was a great thrill for me, as it allowed me to visit so many places I'd read about and always wanted to see.

Our tour driver, a woman named Crystal, picked us up at our hotel in her van, and then we collected another couple, and that would prove to be the whole tour group. Our first stop was the legendary Pointe du Hoc, where wrecked German gun emplacements still have a commanding view of the Channel. While we were there, we got to see current U.S. Army Rangers recreating the assault on the cliffs of D-Day morning. They were practicing for a commemorative event at the anniversary ceremonies two days hence. Hannah overheard one of the Rangers say to another at the top, "Now imagine doing that with people shooting at you." Next, we stopped for a close view of Omaha Beach and the German bunkers overlooking it. It was hard to imagine that peaceful seaside resort town as the scene of such violence.

The American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer is actually American territory on the European mainland, given to the U.S. by France in gratitude. Realizing that Colleville is only one of fourteen cemeteries that all together hold only 40% of the Allied dead, it is easy to see what they are so grateful for. Row upon row of graves, as far as the eye can see, and it's only one fourteenth of forty percent?

The next to last stop on the tour was Longues sur Mer, a German artillery position, the only one with the guns (now disabled, of course) still in place, left there since they were captured.

Our final stop was the seafront town of Arromanches, where the British built their prefabricated Mulberry Harbour for the offloading of supplies in the days after the initial invasion. Ruins of the piers and breakwater are still visible, and there is a small museum showing a diorama of the harbour, as well as a variety of artifacts of the invasion. All day long, we had seen restored military vehicles driving about, and here at the museum's parking lot they had informally assembled. Jeeps, deuce and a halfs, ambulances, even tanks, all were amazingly well preserved and on open display by their owners. It was just a small taste of what it must have looked like around here just after liberation. Regrettably, we couldn't stay too long before we were driven back to our hotel in Bayeux.