Monday, May 11, 2015

American Cemetery in Normandy, France

Have you ever gotten to visit the American Cemetery in Normandy?  Jon has been several times, but I had yet to make the trip.  We set aside a weekend in May to visit this area of France that has been so important to Americans and it did not disappoint.  The visitor's center at the cemetery is beautiful and well done.  There is a short introductory video when you first walk in and also a longer version (16 minutes) that you can watch as well.  Be ready when you watch these movies, they are well done and tragic. 
Garrett and Addie watching the first film.

I feel like there have been several movies and tv series done about D-Day so that I feel like I know a lot about the over all campaign.  I even feel like I have heard a lot of the more interesting stories.  This visitor's center brought to light many more amazing stories of bravery and courage.  I was inspired by this story of a female spy that was involved with D-Day.


And then it was time to visit the actual cemetery.


It is always challenging to visit places like this. 


Inside the chapel on the grounds.


From here we drove through Carentan and then on to Sainte-Mere-Eglise.  Sainte-Mere-Eglise is where about 20 paratroopers landed on the evening before DDay.  It is known as the first town liberated. We did not visit the museum there, but it did look like a good time.  We walked through the church, checked out a couple of Army/Navy surplus stores, got a snack and then headed out.  It was a nice place to stop and there are quite a few things to do there if you have the time.


Here are the kiddos enjoying their afternoon snack before we loaded back into the car.




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