Had breakfast in our hosts dining room again. We learned that the house we are staying in was occupied by the Nazis for 3 years then the British for 2 years. Then their family retrieved it back. It is a gorgeous house!! Huge and lots of passageways.
The weather was beautiful this morning so we decided to head out to the D-day landing sites. First we went to Point du Hoc where the US rangers scaled the cliffs just west of Omaha Beach. There are so many craters in the earth from where we bombed the Germans. Some of the German bunkers are still in pretty good shape here. Then we went to Omaha Beach where there are 2 impressive sculptures, one in the surf and one on the shore. It is such a moving experience being here, especially with all of the veterans. Our next stop was Colleville sur mer where the American Cemetery is but the crowds were unreal. Tour busses everywhere. There was no parking for a mile. So we decided to go back tomorrow on Monday since many people are just here for the weekend. On to Porte-en-Bessin, a cute little fishing village on the English channel although today it was so crowded with no where to park. We abandoned that plan too. So we went back to Bayeux and had lunch at a little café and waited for the parade to start. We met a man named Etienne at the café having lunch and he was with the Obama entourage for his visit yesterday to Normandy. This man was in charge of all the transportation for the Obama group while here. He works at the American Embassy in Paris. We exchanged phone numbers and he wants to get together with us while we are in Paris for drinks and to show us around. WOW!!!! We have met the most gracious people on this trip.
After lunch we watched some of the parade. It was a reenactment of the liberation parade through Bayeux in 1944. It was fantastic!
On to the Bayeux tapestry which was hand stitched in the 11th century telling the story of the Battle of Hastings with William the Conqueror. It is over 200 feet long. I now know everything I could possibly want to know about the battle of Hastings!!
Dan is pretty sick of eating in restaurants so we picked up sandwiches and cookies on the way home for dinner in our suite tonight. Oh and of course, a bottle of wine.
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