Point du Hoc, Bayeux, & Omaha Beach Cemetery

    We sure like to cram a lot of stuff into a day--you can sleep when you're dead right?!  We hit the ground running today visiting 3 places before heading out to Paris.  First stop, Point du Hoc.

Point du Hoc:

    This place really brings history to life.  There is a small museum that you go and watch videos of war veterans and their stories.  You listen to that and then you go out and can see for yourself the damage that was done 78 years ago.  The ground is still scarred--grass has grown in but you can definitely see the marks of war.  

Rusty & Max 

Bayeux:

    New place for me on this trip.  We went to this little town for a quick stop before heading out to Omaha Beach.  The most famous thing in this town is the "Bayeux Tapestry" that dates back to 1066.  This tapestry illustrates the story of William the Conquerer (before he conquered he was William the Bastard.  Go figure😂).  Max was quite unimpressed by the tapestry but I thought it was pretty cool.  It's kept inside a special case to keep it preserved and you listen to the story on a recorder as you walk around the 70 meter tapestry.  Having a mom that cross-stitched a lot, I could appreciate the amount of work and detail that went into this work of art.  So I liked it and think everyone should see it at least once.  There is also a beautiful Cathedral in the town.

Omaha Beach Cemetery:

    Another great ceremony at Omaha Beach Cemetery.  As today was actually June 6th (D-Day) TONS of people were at this cemetery.  They have a veteran speak at the ceremony.  The man who spoke today, Maylen, was a veteran who arrived here after D-Day but then marched from here to Germany and was part of the platoon that freed the Dachau Concentration Camp.  During the ceremony, there were several flyovers by vintage airplanes actually used in the war.  One of my favorite things here is seeing all the people--kids too--dressed up in their American military gear and driving around the old WWII jeeps and motorcycles that are kept in pristine condition.  It feels good to be an American here!  Max and I spent a lot of time with the "Honor Platoon" (High school ROTC students) while on this trip--because Chris really does work a ton during this event--and we have just loved this group.  The leaders--Roz & Rusty--are so much fun to be around.  I've learned so much listening to them and Max has been "adopted" by Roz as one of her "grandbabies."😂

Roz & Max