The Endeavour came in from the English Channel to berthing in Ouistreham on the Normandy Coast of France. We traveled westward past historical shoreline and countryside where the world’s most famous amphibious assault occurred – World War II’s Allied Invasion of Normandy.
Past yellow fields of rape flowers and picturesque medieval villages, we observed tanks, bunkers and other remembrances of D-Day, June 6, 1944. At Arromanches we looked beyond the blustery bluffs to surviving caisson docks, a feat of allied engineering. At Longues we explored a German battery site, part of the infamous “Atlantic Wall” where intact artillery guns remain overlooking the sea. Most importantly, near Coleville-sur-Mer we visited the Normandy American Cemetery.
Rows of identical white marble crosses run across the well-maintained lawn on the bluffs overlooking Omaha Beach where thousands of American troops stormed the shore on that fateful day. A prominent memorial is dedicated to the nearly 10,000 U.S. troops who are buried here. As people wandered the cemetery grounds, dunes and beach, a small military procession materialized. A color guard with flag and uniformed representatives of each of the branches of the U.S. armed services stood at attention during a ceremony overlooking the beachhead below. Some Endeavour guests who served for the United States in War World II were invited to the foreground and were given a hero’s welcome by those present. This was a particularly moving ceremony at this important location.
After a wonderful French lunch at a small hotel, we explored the world-famous Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th century masterpiece of embroidery and history. This colorful pictorial representation of William the Conqueror’s conquest of England in 1066 is an exquisite portrayal of life at the time and of the Battle of Hastings and the events leading up to it. Some folks traveled out to Caen, a town destroyed during the war, to visit a moving war memorial museum there. At evening recap back on board, our veterans shared their experiences and feelings after a day visiting this most significant military historical area.
