We started the morning with another lovely French breakfast, but within half an hour we were in the car heading off on our first “excursion”. Thank god for some actual travel - maybe even some adventure!
Our first stop was at the top of the cliff at Arromanches. There was a bit of historical World War II artifacts and things that would likely arouse the attention of history buffs, but It wasn’t all too interesting. I specifically remember an old rusty canon being the most interesting thing on the whole cliff-top area. We also checked out some nice views of Mulberry bay (of which we took many photos).
The view of Mulberry Bay from Arromanches.
We then went to Tracy-Sur-Mer and had a bit of fun on the beach, before then heading to Courseulles-Sur-Mer where we grabbed some lunch. Rhys and I had some frites (chips) and crépes, my parents had some local Muscles - Rhys braved a muscle, but I didn’t want any. I’m sure they were lovely though.
We then went to our final destination of the day, the US War Memorial at Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes.
The US War Memorial at Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes, Normandy, France.
More than 9,000 people are buried here. It’s a very sombre place, and we didn’t speak much. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but now looking back it feels a lot more important. Very moving.
By now it was at least four in the afternoon, so we bee-lined it back to the camp ground at Arromanches where we relaxed, ate dinner and read a little bit before drifting off for the night.
Very lazy day today. Woke up, went for a bike ride (whilst Dad was looking around trying to find a place that could open to top-box and the lock on the bikes…).
A view of the beach at Arromanches, Normandy, the site of D-Day many years ago.
Had some authentic French lunch and then set off again for another ride around Arromanches - this time with Dad because he had managed to get the top-box open…
Today was a lazy day.. to begin with. Entertained myself in the park for a little while, just wasting time until a little after lunch when Mum rushed down and informed us we had to leave - Dad had lost the keys to the top box (a container thing that we put on our roof racks to carry stuff) and two of the bikes! Oh no!
So we had to hop in the car and start driving and re-tracing our steps back to the service station we stopped at after arriving in France, in the hope that some how the keys where still there. We drove for a few hours back to the petrol station, looked around furiously for a small shiny set of keys, and discovered our keys were no where to be found. We even reported the loss to the local police station in case someone miraculously handed them in. Then we headed back to the campground.
Rhys went with Dad into town that night and we all ate dinner before nodding off…
We caught the ferry across to France and drove to a campsite in the town of Arramanches in Normandy, France, which some of you might know from the famous battle of World War II known as D-Day. It is best known as one of the beaches where Allied forces landed on June 6, 1944, to begin the liberation of mainland Europe of Nazi forces.
Mulberry Bay harbor, Arramanches, Normandy, France.
After setting up camp, we had nothing much to do so we just passed the time with games and reading, as it was getting pretty late. We’d start exploring tomorrow.
