Hotel Reine Mathilde Bayeux

... many. My French guide made the comment as we explored Normandy... "I may have been speaking German now to you if it were not for those that fought here." Their sacrifice affects many, and touches many... as my guide gave us the details of the American Cemetery, the Australian man next to me had to excuse himself. There is not much else to say, but, Thank you.

... her with Cliff. The German soldier
who had spared Cliff's life and then surrendered had never been
found, but Cliff said to Yvette once more, “Remember: I did not
kill that German.”

Ellwood then walked us over to the
church where a couple of paratroopers were left hanging by their
parachutes. There is a rather tacky dummy complete with parachute
hanging from the steeple, but it's on the wrong side of the church.
Ellwood told us the whole story of John ...

... There's an
audioguide that goes with it so you can walk along the length of the
tapestry and understand what's going on. (Hint: The Duke of Normandy
is more commonly known as William the Conqueror.) Anyway, I was
really pleased to see it.

Yvonne went on to
the cathedral (which is pretty nice from the outside; good
gargoyles), and I went back to the hotel to get my laundry and go
across the street to a laundrette. It took me a while to figure out
how to ...

... 1090;обы подум 72;ть о жизни, о смерт 80;, о судьб 77;, о мире, о войне, о том, чего стоит челов 77;ческа ...

... 1072;газ 80;не. А оно не пошло. И мы думае 84;: бля. А оно отлич 85;о идет с ренкл 86;дом. Оно не винов 72;то ...

... yesterday, was very cool. I am getting a good lesson in history......

Then today we saw where the allied forces built the temporary port, also very cool. Now in McDonalds.....yes I know, but its the only place in town with WIFI. Have decided to head south tomorrow, as it is now sunny outside but was a bit rainy earlier today and just reminded me too much of England weather......

... 18 and 28 with only a few in their 30’s. Such youth! It’s one thing to read that in a history book in high school when you’re only 16, but quite another when you’re in your 30’s and you can appreciate how short life can be cut.

Entering down into these caverns were thick rusted doors in which men placed their faith of security. Looking inside, you could see charred evidence of flame ...

... see memorials, flags and plaques for the brave men and women of other countries. I really enjoyed learning the history of this drop zone as everything I have read or seen always focuses on the American landing at Omaha…what a nice segway.

Next beach is Omaha. Again it is great to hear the history, see the memorials and walk through the various bunkers. This as well as the various ramparts and guns on display give a tiny insight into the virtually insurmountable ...

... machine guns and weapons. 4,000 men died on Omaha - an amazing place today to walk. We went to the American Cemetary again. Zach and I checked out the museum and watched a D Day landing movie. We checked out the artifacts and exhibits. It was freezing today and blowing a massive cold off the north pole - we were freezing. We ventured to Point De Hoc and saw the other gun placements that were in a strategic area between Omaha ...

... a bike race going on called the Paris-Roubaix. It is a one day race that goes through a lot of Picardie, my region. They have to race on cobblestones for a lot of it, and it usually is pretty cold, so it can be a brutal race. It started in Compiegne, which is right next to Noyon, where Suzanne lives. We caught a train and eight, and slowly wandered towards the start of the race. It was set to begin at 10:50, so we had some time to ...