Normandy, Part 2: The Pictures

Like I said in my last post, our trip to Normandy for the 66th anniversary of D-Day was the trip of a lifetime for me! I'm a big history buff, (perhaps a little unknown fact to some of you), especially military history. It's no wonder I married someone in the Army! When we moved to Germany, I told Buck that there were two places I absolutely had to see while we were here: Normandy and Rome. Now, I've crossed them both of my list!

We spent 3 days in Normandy, which is a region in France, not a city. It was amazing! The tiny little coastal towns that were the sights of the invasion, like Saint Marie du Mont, Vierville, Saint Mere Eglise, Carentan...have changed very little in the last 66 years. It was like stepping back in time.

There were "re-enactor" dressed in period uniforms everywhere, military vehicles driving down the roads, and American flags flying side-by-side the French flag, waving proudly from nearly every window.

I was expecting to see more of the veterans who fought their way through those streets and towns, but I suppose that the trip is becoming to much for most of them, who now are most likely in their 80's. We did however see a few, and I couldn't help but to stare and wonder what their eyes had seen.

That's enough rambling I suppose. Here are some of my favorite pic's from the trip...

It was a long drive, 8.5 hours, split into 2 days, and it didn't take long for B to rack out.
As usual, Noah was all grins...pretty much the entire trip. Both of our boys are awesome little travelers.

This was in our hotel room in Reims, our half-way stopping point. We had to pull out my computer for B to watch Little Einsteins (thank heavens for iTunes), since all of the programming was in French and had no cartoons! And, after seeing this picture, there's no denying that those two are brothers!

Some of the British vets who fought in Saint Mere Eglise. We saw more of these guys than American vets. I suppose it's a much easier trip for them. I loved these guys! They were the same 20 year olds who fought through those streets 66 years before, only trapped in an 80 year old body! Aren't they adorable?!?

One of the actual jeeps used by American forces. It's been restored, obviously.

This was one of the actual planes that dropped American paratroopers in on D-Day. It also pulled a glider plane in on the 7th.

Utah beach. In the background is the museum. And, of course that's B, running after his daddy, in the foreground.

Stay tuned for pics of Point-du-Hoc and Omaha beach.