France

May 29 – June 1

This was a quiet period on the trip as we made our way up the coast of France to the regions of Brittany and Normandy.

Brittany

We encountered some windy weather here that prevented us from visiting the island of Belle Ile on May 29th.  The following two days however, we were able to visit the fishing villages Concarneau and Douarnenez.  Here are a few photos.

As with many of these towns, we took a Zodiac into the harbor here and got off at a makeshift landing spot.
The main fortress in Concarneau that guards the town with the old walls still well intact.
The entrance to the fortress.

From inside the fortress through the gate out into the harbor.
This type of architecture is very common in these towns.
We were blessed to have an artist join us on the cruise for many weeks that opened our eyes to the simple things in places that we may not have previously noticed.
One of many creperies in these villages.
This was the world’s most patient dog. He would choose a table with food and just sit there with a constant stare like this and not move.
A view from the village of Dournenez


Normandy, France

On June 1st, we visited the area of Normandy where the soldiers from the US, Britain, Canada and other countries invaded France on D-Day (June 6, 1944) in the largest seaborne invasion in history.  Over 160,000 men participated, and over 10,000 lost their lives in the first days of the operation.  After visiting so many places on the cruise for their beauty and their wildlife, it was sobering to visit a place so rich in American history. 


The amount of deception that was carried out in the year before was significant and contributed to the German high command not being prepared for the seriousness of the operation.  It is told that Hitler himself had gone to bed late the night before and left instructions not to be woken up for any reason the following morning.  Even after he awoke and was briefed, he still thought the real counter-offensive by the Allied forces was going to occur someplace else.  General Rommel, after checking the weather forecast for the days ahead had left Normandy to return to Germany to celebrate his wife’s birthday.

Utah beach, along with the better known Omaha beach were assigned to the American troops under General Omar Bradley. (using b&w photos for these)

This was an incident that was apparently kept secret for a time. During a rehearsal 6 weeks before D-Day, communication issues put many landing craft in harms way both from friendly fire and German boats caused nearly 1000 deaths.
One of many WWII German concrete bunkers that have been left standing.

We also visited St Mere Eglise, which was the first town liberated from the Germans after the landing.  Since we were there on June 1st, there was a lot of activity preparing for the yearly commemoration of D-Day that is held there and attended by thousands. 

On the night before D-Day, American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne were parachuting into the area west of the city in successive waves.  At one point, two planeloads of paratroopers were dropped in error directly over the village.  They were easy targets for the Germans and an American named John Steele had his parachute caught in one of the pinnacles of the church tower in the town, leaving him hanging on the side of the church.  He hung there for two hours pretending to be dead until the Germans took him prisoner.  He later escaped and rejoined his division.  A dummy replica of him hangs on the church as a permanent memorial to the determination of the Allied forces.


One final place I visited was a museum called Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg, France which was quite good. It had 3 parts to it — one was about the Titanic, which made its final stop here before its fateful voyage; one was a nice aquarium and one was about nuclear submarines, including the ability to walk around in the one below.


On to the islands of the United Kingdom.