Today we checked out of
Château de Bouceel
and said farewell to Regis,
The Count de Roquefeuil
and ventured out for a full day
of exploring the D-Day sites.
We passed a beautiful apple orchard
and stopped to take a few photos...
Then we headed to the village of Sainte-Mère-Église
where we stopped at another biscuit factory...
Mike's favorite because of the
cookies shaped like parachutes!
The town played a significant part in the WWII Normandy
landings because this village stood right in the middle
of route N13, which the Germans would have most likely
used on any significant counterattack on the troops
landing on Utah and Omaha Beaches.
In the early morning of 6 June 1944 mixed units of the
US 82nd Airborne and US 101st Airborne Divisions
occupied the town in Mission Boston, giving it the claim
to be one of the first towns liberated in the invasion.
Read more history HERE
We continued on to Utah and Omaha Beaches and
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.
I really don't have adequate words to convey
the depth of emotion that overcomes you.
We then headed to the town of Arromanches
to see the artificial port...a MUST see.
The following was taken from the above website...
The port was meant to be temporary,
lasting maybe three months.
It served for some five months.
The Arromanches Mulberry Harbour
became known as Port Winston,
after British wartime leader Winston Churchill,
who was closely involved in its conception.
A staggering 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles
and 4 million tons of supplies arrived
via Port Winston.
Photo from Wikipedia
The town is quite charming as well,
with several shops and restaurants.
After our very full day we finally settled
in for the night at Château d'Auteuil,
a beautiful chateau originally
built in the late 16 century.
~ Day 4 to follow ~
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