Reflections on Normandy

It's rise and shine at 6 am to catch a 7 am train to Caen (imagine you are a crow and that's how you pronounce this city's name). A little glitch in the train sets off a bit late, but we have a cabin nearly to ourselves, until some random backpacker decides to crash.  C'est la Vie.

At only 1 hour 40 minutes, it's an easy ride. Mitch and Pierce sleep, while I keep vigil making sure we get off at the right stop.

Awaiting our arrival is a guide I hired for a 9 hour tour of the Normandy sites.  Specifically the American beaches, cemetery and anything else we can fit in.  Mathias is everything he is advertised to be and more.  A Normandy native, his encyclopedic knowledge combined with his family's personal history is extraordinary.

Mathias outlining the invasion 

Omaha Beach is the first stop and what strikes me is my God, this is absolutely massive. It's also the most peaceful scene I've come across in a long time.  We are alone on this wide expanse of beach and the sun is impeccable and the sea resembles Lake Michigan, a flat horizon of passiveness.

Of course, what happened here is anything but passive, rather an unimaginable blood bath. Mathias methodically details the events of June 6, 1944 complete with photos and 'sand mapping' of the beach invasion. It's nearly too much to comprehend.

A hike up the bluff of pure green carpet of grass and it feels like Ireland.  Wild flowers still bloom, despite the calendar. Solemn monuments stand guard like fortified bastions of hope.

The American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach is an exceptionally beautiful monument to those who gave their lives so others may see days of freedom. It is at once visually stunning and heartbreaking.

On the inside of a German bunker. This one overtaken by some
seriously incredible Army Rangers.

A visit to Pont Du Hoc yields the highlights of the trip for Pierce, wandering German bunkers on the inside while running through craters, produced by American bombs on the outside that make the area look like the moon's surface. The story of victory here is astounding. Imagining the Rangers climbing up 100 feet of sheer cliff to disarm the bunkers is unfathomable.

Running through the craters created by American bombs

A mix of confusing emotions overtakes you as you hear and see of this unbelievable fight for freedom and then remember the ugly hatred of the current day.




I am incredibly grateful and thankful we got to experience the powerful visit to such a sacred place and with all my being believe that hope and freedom can triumph.

At 9 Pierce was the perfect age for a visit, he engaged enthusiastically with Mathias, understood the gravity and it yielded a train ride full of conversation back home.

With a 9:30 pm arrival in Paris, it was off to a dinner at a corner bistro for some wonderful reflection on the day accompanied by Beef Bourgignon.

Needless to say, if a visit to Normandy is on your  bucket list, make it priority number one.