Days #: 14-16

Date(s): 10MAY – 12MAY2025

Location(s) Visited: Normandy D-day Sites: Sword, Juno, Gold (Arromanches), Omaha and Utah Beaches

Overall Impression of Location(s): 3

4 -added to our favorite list and we would return again
3 – a great place to visit
2 – OK for one visit, but we would not return again
1 – we wish we hadn’t wasted our time here  

Distance Driven on Leg/Trip (km): 203

Weather/Temperature (°F): Overall, we had great weather with daytime temperatures in the low 70s (°F) and nighttime temperatures in the high 40’s (°F). Sunny and blue skies with light winds on most days. We waited for about 15 minutes in the van for a small storm to pass while at the Arromanches and that night a major storm passed through the area and it rained very hard most of the night, but that didn’t affect us at all.

Road Conditions: Typical skinny French roads for most of this route. We are finally getting used to driving these roads.

Chickpea Mechanical Status: Everything is working great!

General Thoughts: Visiting the D-Day beaches of Normandy has been on Tony’s bucket list for a while. His grandfather was in the 60th Infantry which landed at Omaha Beach on June 9, 1944.  After our visit to Normandy, we better understood the many sacrifices of the soldiers who gave their lives to stop Hitler. So many injuries and lives were lost. So much bravery and courage. This all happened not that long ago during our own parents’ lifetime. When we visit the Arizona deserts as part of our volunteer work, we always say the desert is simultaneously beautiful but also deadly for the migrants crossing through it. We had the same feeling about Normandy in that it is a spectacularly beautiful place with steep cliffs, sandy beaches and turquoise waters but it is also a 50-mile-long cemetery.

Highlights:

• We stayed a few nights near Sword Beach and biked along the coast to Juno Beach, the Canadian landing beach. We toured the Juno Beach Center Museum and learned so much about D-Day from the Canadian perspective. We are embarrassed to admit, but we both thought D-Day mainly involved only US Soldiers but learned that while there were 73,000 American soldiers there were also 83,000 British and Canadian soldiers present on D-Day. We enjoyed the Juno Beach Center Museum and also went on a guided tour of several types of bunkers that were part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
• Overall, while we both learned about D-Day in school, in books and via movies, we really did not understand D-Day until visiting Normandy. Tracey always said she did not like “history” but realized during this visit she just did not like how history was taught to her in school by uninspired teachers who focused on rote fact memorization. We were both fascinated to learn about D-Day from a geographic, strategic, medical and operational perspective, along with emotionally connecting with some of the personal stories presented in the museums.
• We took long walks on Juno, Omaha and Utah beaches trying to imagine what it must have been like on D-Day. The beaches are now used for recreational purposes with the museums and memorials being mostly a bit more inland. Before our visit, we both assumed the beaches would be set aside as grave sites and for remembrance purposes only but we were pleased to see the memorials/museums and recreational areas actually co-exist. On one of our beach walks on Juno Beach, we laid down on the beach for a break and both of us promptly fell asleep under the warm sun and cool breezes. This is something neither of us has done since we were kids.
• Overall, this entire area was not crowded.
• There is a great bicycle infrastructure, especially near Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches. We cycled from our campsite to Juno Beach almost entirely on dedicated bike paths. At Juno Beach Center they had dedicated bike boxes for locking up our bikes, e-bike charging stations and also provided discounted tickets for us since we arrived by bike.

Lowlights:

• The driving was quite slow between the beaches as it mainly involved driving through small towns and communes on D and Rue roads. While the distance between the beaches was not far on the map, it took us almost double the time to drive than expected each day.
• By chance, one of our good friends, Sheri, was leading a tour of Normandy while we were also there. We just missed seeing her as we were on the Juno side (east side) and she was on Omaha Beach site (west side) and we already had purchased tickets to tour the bunkers in Juno Beach that day and so we ended up being like 2 ships passing in the night. ☹
• The US sites had very visible and heavy-handed security which felt entirely out of place. None of the other museum or memorials we visited had any type of formal security, but both US sites we visited (National Cemetery and Arromanches Visitor Center) had metal detectors, x-ray machines, visible screening of purses and/or security personnel wandering around the grounds. It seemed unnecessary and felt hypervigilant. We were quite disappointed that both of these US sites felt they needed this type of security.

Up Next: Mont Saint-Michel

Onwards! Vorwärts immer, rückwärts nimmer! Allez on y va!