Driving to The Loire Valley

We left our Normandy cottage and headed towards the Loire Valley, stopping at Chateau d’Usse, the supposed castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty.  Unfortunately the princess in our group wasn’t impressed overly impressed with our sightseeing and spent most of the tour crying.  

Chateaux d'Usse is rumored to have inspired Sleeping Beauty

Since we were in the neighborhood we thought we’d visit Chateau de Langeais, which had some of the rooms decorated in the original 15^th-century style.  We learned that the tapestries were not only used as wall hangings for decoration but also to insulate the rooms and later learned that they were sometimes laid on the floor as carpets, so were quite versatile!  We enjoyed learning about the marriage of Charles VIII and 11-year-old Anne of Brittany (who had been previously married), which united France and Brittany.  The grounds of this chateau were also interesting as the gardens were beautiful and there were old walls to climb and a treehouse!

Incredible dining room at Chateau de Langeais

Figures staging the marriage that united France and Brittany

Peek of the chateau through a whole in a nearby wall

Standing on a drawbridge 

Beautiful view over the Loire River

We arrived Monday evening and realized that our accommodations were actually a guest cottage on the property with the main owner’s home.  It was a quaint, bright and creative setup as the previous owner was an artist, which caused Mom to love it even more.  We’d booked this place hoping to continue some quiet and rest in the French countryside as there were some outdoor activities like ping-pong table, darts, and pool for the kids to be entertained by while we relaxed.

Boys playing ping pong

Upon our arrival around 6pm, we learned that most of the businesses in the area are closed on Mondays as the French view it as part of their weekend.  This meant no restaurants or grocery stores were open for dinner.  Thankfully Mom had overbought at the store in Normandy and because we were traveling by car, we were able to bring the food along with us.  We were grateful for God’s provision and ate a simple dinner and watched a movie before calling it a night.

It rained over night and we woke up Tuesday morning to more flooding, rain, and cool weather.  The local roads and yards were flooded and trees were down, it was truly quite the experience!  Thankfully we’d planned to have a quiet day of school and rest and finally by late afternoon we were able to get to the grocery store nearby (which was 20 minutes one way) for some food.  Dad treated us to a delicious grilled meal (they had a Weber!) and we enjoyed another movie night along with simple luxuries such as blankets and popcorn.

Flooding took down this tree and flooded roads all around us

Family dinner - still such a treat!

Wrapping Up Normandy

It was overcast and cool the rest of our time in the Normandy area.  We spent our time reading, catching up on school and laundry, kicking the soccer ball around, building PlayDoh ice cream cones, going for walks and bike rides, and enjoying quiet family time and having some space to spread out in.  We had fires, rest, and gathered for movie nights around the 15” computer screen where we watched movies about France, art and D-day. Oh, and the kids fought over every stupid thing imaginable.

Dad could be found outside by the fire in his make-shift fire pit!

Our bike ride date to the store for ice cream ended up in a downpour!

Going for walks and bike rides around the countryside

The nearby town had a market on Saturday and so we visited that and had chouquettes and baguettes along with purchasing some local delicacies such as apple juice, sausages, and Camembert.  We enjoyed many home cooked meals and our stay in Normandy was the quiet we’d been looking forward to.

Boys ordering cheese at the fromagerie

Learning to be French

Dad selecting some locally made sausages

Mom was given a flower for Mother's Day

Sunday just happened to be the day that the French celebrate Mother’s Day.  Humorously this was Mom’s 4^th Mother’s Day so far this year!

Our favorite parts from our time in Normandy were:

• Dad: Making fires and our Normandy day tour
• Mom:  Settling down and feeling a bit "settled" as well as the Normandy day tour
• C-oldest: The meadows & fields are so green, when I biked it was so green I had to stop and see if it was real!
• CB: The quiet
• G: Jumping off the roof of the woodhouse
• SJ:  Being with my family

D-DAY Afternoon Tour

We stopped for lunch at St Mere Elise, which we were familiar with from having just watched the movie ‘The Longest Day.’ This small town had been was liberated at 4:30am on the morning of D-Day by a group of paratroopers who landed in the center of the town. 13,000 paratroopers and gliders were dropped into Normandy with the goal of cutting off the peninsula in a three week time period. Heartbreakingly, more than 60% of the paratroopers were mis-dropped and 200 of them were dropped in water areas and went MIA. In addition to paratroopers, the Allies also dropped dummies with firecrackers code named “Rupert” to mislead the enemy.

We toured the Airborne Museum and wished we’d had more time to experience all of the amazing interactive exhibits.

Church where John Steele's parachute got stuck on the steeple is commemorated today with a statue

SJ's excited to see women helped in Normandy

Boys loved this tuk-tuk turned tank in the movie 'The Longest Day' and were so excited to see it at the museum!

Kids in front of tank with church & parachuter on church in background

One thing that stood out to us, showing how appreciative this area is of the American effort, is that this church had a stained glass window depicting paratroopers along with Mary and the infant Jesus.  This is probably the only church in the world with such a display!

Stained glass window with Mary, Jesus, and Allied Paratroopers

We arrived at Utah Beach and were surprised to discover a flat sandy beach, very different than Omaha. The first troops that descended here on D-Day at 6:30am used Higgins boats that were crammed full with 35 men to a boat. They were seasick, having faced six-foot waves for hours awaiting their arrival, their muscles were cramped, and they were wet and cold from the storm. They waded on shore carrying 60 lbs of gear, to which our oldest son commented how tired he gets after 15 minutes of just carrying his backpack - 1/3 of the weight of their gear! We were told their most common thought was, “Just get me out of this boat,” not, “Let’s go get the Germans!”

Look out - G's in charge of this Higgins boat!

Walking out of the Higgins boat but not really looking ready to attack

Boys pretending to be on a mission

Go get 'em boys!

Unlike Omaha, the Germans didn’t have many bunkers or obstacles in place at Utah; however, more casualties were expected at Utah because the tide was so low and the troops had 300 yards to approach without cover. However, around 8:30am the USS Corry was shot and sank at about the same time a landing craft hit a mine and exploded. One of the first to arrive was Teddy Roosevelt Jr, who was 56 years old and an Assistant Commander who walked needing the assistance of a cane. Upon arriving, he immediately knew they’d landed at the wrong spot but decided it was a better location for the rest of the landings, and this one major decision contributed to the success of that day. A total of 197 GIs were killed at Utah Beach on D-Day.

Utah Beach, quiet and sandy - very different than Omaha Beach

Kids at Utah Beach

The first of 1135 stone markers that mark every km of The Way of Liberty from here to Belgium.
There are 48 stars and the torch of liberty.

Another statue that we could relate to along the way is that of Dick Winters, one of the heroes of HBO’s Band of Brothers. Winters, who was an amazing natural born leader, knew about the statue, but he died before it was complete in 2012. The statue resembles his face and body, but he didn't want to be remembered as a hero & requested that the statue stand for leadership.

Statue honoring the humble Dick Winters made famous from Band of Brothers

As we drove, we learned about different aspects of D-Day that were employed by Allied troops. For example, to check if another soldier was an ally, they would require them to speak a signal word such as, “Flash," "Thunder," or "Your welcome" as these were words Germans couldn't pronounce well. The Allied troops were also given clickers to identify one another in the dark foggy weather where 1 click responded by 2 clicks meant that the responder was an Ally. However, many were killed because they lost their clicker during their jump or because in some cases the sound of a rifle reloading was mistaken for a double click.

We also learned about the land where these battles were fought. For example, the hedgerows, planted all over the Normandy area in the 10th century by the Vikings to protect their crops from wind and help with drainage, actually helped the Germans because troops couldn't see through them and they acted like a maze for GIs just arriving to the area. US cameras were able to show their existence prior to landing, but couldn’t depict their thickness or height, and the troops were caught off guard. In fact, sometimes Normandy is referred to as “The War of the Hedgerows.”  As evidence of just how dense they hedgerows were, many died when landing in the gliders that crashed into the hedgerows at too high of speeds.

We drove through Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont, which was secured mid-afternoon on D-Day. There were bikes everywhere for the Tour de France, which starts this year at Mont Saint Michel on July 2, and rides through this area on the first day, ending at Utah Beach.

Gaining an appreciation for the many unconventional roles played in battle that often don’t receive the glory and honor of those on the field, our final destination was to learn about the roles of two medics in the village of Angoville-Au-Plain. Robert Wright and Ken Moore arrived on D-Day at 10am to be medics for those who landed in German controlled area. They set up inside of a 12th century church and for the two long days that they worked, out of their 80 wounded patients, only 2 lost their lives! They assisted 73 Americans and 7 Germans because of The Geneva Convention. During the two days, this village was bombed twice and changed hands three times! One evening a German soldier walked into the church with his gun and everyone froze unsure of his intentions. The soldier stepped over the bodies and walked to the altar where he knelt and prayed, then turned around and walked out of the church. In another instance a mortar actually crashed through the ceiling but did not explode. Blood stains can be seen on the pews today. This little church is well off the beaten path, but worth a visit if ever in the area.

Years later it was learned that the church's two patron saints, Damien and Cosmas, are twin saints who are the patron saints of healers. Robert returned here several times later in his life and his ashes are here. It was a heart felt story to which we ended our amazing day.

Stained glass in commemorating the Screaming Eagles

Church in German-controlled area where 2 US medics served 80 patients

What surprised us the most about what we’d seen and learned about D-Day in Normandy:

• Dad- That there were over 13,000 paratroopers
• Mom- Realizing how much time the Germans had in France and the prep they did in anticipation of the attacks.
• Caleb- All of the stuff that the Germans had prepared, and the story of the 2 medics at the last stop, who looked like they were my age… A shell came in and landed on the floor of the church, but didn’t explode – it had to be the hand of God.
• CB – I always thought America won because we had so many troops coming in and the Germans weren't prepared, but reality is that the weather caught the Germans off guard and caused us to drift. In reality the Germany actually seemed to have had better odds of winning had it been sunny/good weather.
• G – It was a lot to take in in 1 day… My takeaway is that we should've lost but God was on our side, and I thought the big cemetery was amazing.

D-DAY Morning Tour

One of the main reasons we opted to spend a week near Normandy was to visit WWII memorials and learn more about what our great heroes accomplished there. Our place was about an hour away, so we rose early, driving west towards the coast. The morning was foggy and wet, which only added to the aura of what we would learn about and experience. Of all of the amazing things we have learned about the world, ourselves and America over the last ten months, nothing will make one quite so proud to be an American as visiting Normandy. We can't get everything we learned down here, but will attempt with two posts. So, here we go....

France has remnants of war scattered all around its land but the most significant to us Americans are the beaches and lands involved in D-Day in June of 1944. During WWII the majority of France was defeated by the Germans in six weeks during the summer of 1940 and was then occupied for four years by the Axis troops. The Germans moved into cities and occupied homes, living with the French people, who were given daily rations and made to wait in line every day for hours for scraps of food, while their housemates ate the best of the land. This alone was an atrocity for people who are quite proud of their food.

D-Day occurred on June 6, 1944 when the Allied troops invaded the Normandy beaches. It is often referred to as ‘The Longest Day’ (which is also a classic movie we watched with the boys), as the first attacks occurred before dawn during a rain storm, and the number of casualties was over 1500 in just the first few minutes. While the Allies were successful in capturing Normandy, it would be another three months until Paris was captured and the Germans surrendered in August of 1944.

The first stop on our D-Day tour was Long Sur Mer, a German occupied village whose title means ‘by the sea,’ or English Channel in this case. During the four years that the Germans occupied France they used 17 million cubic yards of concrete to prepare for what ended up being a few days of battle! In a two-year time period the Axis troops built the Atlantic Wall, 15,000 bunkers covering land from Northern Norway to Southern France and then they just waited for the looming attack. Operation Overload would ultimately incorporate 256,000 troops. 

German bucket at Long Sur Mer

At Long Sur Mer there were 180 mostly second rate, German soldiers – young, old, or crippled, because the best Axis soldiers were stationed close to Russia/Stalin. Each of the four German bunkers at Long Sur Mer had a gun that could shoot up to 13 miles away. The morning of the D-Day attacks 150 shots were fired; however, nothing was hit because they couldn’t see where they were aiming and bombs had blown up the communication wires, which also prevented them from successfully adjusting their aim.

Solemnly, we arrived at Omaha Beach, the four-mile stretch of rocky beach, where the difference in tide can be 20 feet. This strategic location is the point where five roads from the beach led to the main land; however there were German strongholds on both sides of each of these roads. On the morning of D-Day, two U.S. infantries landed here, soaked and freezing after having been sent out ten-miles away, with a three-hour boat ride in the rough stormy waters to reach this destination. They were met by 1,000 German soldiers, who defending the beach, had taken advantage of the crescent shape of it, and aimed their tanks east and west to shoot across the beach. The Germans had built obstacles with mines at the top and placed them along the beach so that the incoming boats wouldn’t be able to see them at high tide and therefore would be blown up. Aware of this, American troops arrived at low tide, 200 yards from land, and with no coverage. As the attack was underway, the many pebbles on the beach caused the bomb damage to be more extreme as not only did shrapnel fly, but so did the rocks, increasing the significance of damage.

Omaha Beach, a humbling place to contemplate history

An image of the beach with the German obstacles they'd set up for defense

G running along Omaha Beach

In addition to troops struggling to shore, the Allies sent 32 tanks; however 27 of them sunk. Devastatingly, 1200 tons of B52 bombers hit too far inland & killed civilians & livestock instead of German targets. These conditions caused roughly 100 soldiers to be without any type of protection and at one point in the morning, life expectancy on Omaha Beach was five minutes! The first wave that hit Omaha Beach had a casualty rate of 90%. 4000 American troops were killed, wounded or missing in action at Omaha Beach, and of those 1,500 died. Standing on the beach, imagining all of this taking place and recalling the photos of D-Day that we’ve seen over the years, gives us a deeper appreciation and understanding for why this beach is often referred to as ‘Bloody Omaha,’ where the worst battle of D-Day (and arguably the whole war) took place. We began to feel in a new way that we are witnessing some sacred places today and feel a quiet overwhelming gratitude setting in.

An amphibious tank with inflatable ribbon and 2 propellers in the lower left corner

Our guide then takes us to The American Cemetery of Colleville Sur Mer. Here lies the sacrifice of a nation, ‘The Greatest Generation.’ Remembered here are 9,386 GIs, including four women and one ‘unknown soldier’ (John Anderson-Navy) whose remains were just confirmed and who is being buried the following day (May 28th) in his hometown of Wilmer, MN! Of those who gave their lives in Normandy, 60% were expatriated, their bodies returned to the United States, because of their families wishes. American taxes pay to maintain this site, which is always managed by an American, and repatriation and family visits to this site were paid by the US into the 1980’s. There is fog looming over the cemetery, which we all comment seems to be fitting and add to the weight of these lives sacrificed for our freedom.

Boys in front of the 22 ft statue representing 'The Spirit of the American Youth Rising from the Waves'

The many who lost their lives fighting in Normandy

Marker for an unknown soldier

Mosaic in The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that depicts America blessing her
sons as they depart by sea & air, while a grateful France
bestows a laurel wreath upon the American dead

Boys at the graves of the Nyland brothers, who inspired the story told in Saving Private Ryan

As we drove we saw a small monument marking the first American cemetery in France for WWII.  However, this cemetery did not follow US standards as it was right across the road from the beach where our soldiers landed, causing it to be one of the first things they would see when coming to land, and it is not allowed to have a grave in sight of the US soldiers during battle.

Marker for the 1st American cemetery in France

There are significant monuments and statues all around this area. One that we visited is the Ever Forward statue.  This statue is in memory of the GIs who came from Bedford, Virginia. They were called the blue and grey because in the civil war they fought against each other but now they fought together as Allied troops.  An astounding 35 young men volunteered from Bedford, VA, a very small town, and all were in Company A.  All of these Bedford soldiers were in the first wave to arrive at the beaches and within minutes 19 were killed and only 14 ever returned home. Bedford is the city with the heaviest percentage casualties on D-Day. Our guide told us that the telegrams all came to Bedford on the same day and delivering them was the worst thing the postman had to do.

Ever Forward statue

Notice that the far figure in the statue has his inflatable under his gear and around his waist. This is significant as it was supposed to be worn higher up so that when inflated the weight of equipment didn't weigh down the GI’s top half & cause him to drown. Unfortunately, the reality is that this was the cause of many GI deaths as was the scene of this statue with one man dragging a fellow soldier.

Photos of the 2 sets of brothers from VA who fought here.  The brothers at the top of the photo were both killed.
The brothers in the middle/bottom are twins & wouldn't shake hands one last time on the boat as they decided they'd do it on land... the brother on the left didn't make it.

Our last stop before lunch was Pointe DuHoc. This famous site with cliffs 100 feet high and a large rock jutting into the waters is the scene of many artists work, including Monet. The Germans were stationed here with six French guns from WWI and the US heavily bombed this location before D-Day. Point DuHoc was a strategic location because from this cliff one could see Omaha Beach to the right and Utah Beach to the left. On D-Day 225 American rangers were given 30 minutes to scale the cliffs, destroy the ammunition and secure the road. However, because of the weather conditions, some landed at the wrong spot and it cost them 40 minutes and a bombed tank. When the GIs arrived at the Point DuHoc cliffs they tried to fire up their grappling hooks but the ropes were wet, making them too heavy, so they had to change them up.  Amazingly within 5 minutes they were up the cliffs! The Germans weren’t prepared because they didn’t think anyone was crazy enough to actually land here. It was literally a suicide mission. However, there was no ammo to be found and destroyed. Reinforcements didn’t arrive for two days and by then only 80 Allied troops remained. It was one of the most daring mission accomplished on D-Day and to see this location in person raised the hair on the back of our necks.

Damage from US bombings at Point DuHoc prior to D-Day

Point DuHoc, portrayed by many artists and location where US troops landed & scaled cliffs

We also learned a bit about the French resistance, which Eisenhower said amounted to the help equivalent to 4 divisions. They passed along crucial information to troops which which helped counter attacks and infiltration of the German strong holds. Our guide joked that in reality the French were 10% resistance, 10% helped Germans & 80% claimed to be resistance once the war ended. It's interesting to note that as we drove around this area we saw as many American flags as French. There's a deep felt pride here for what America did and it's humbling to contemplate and hear story after story of heroics, planning, and dealing with mishaps, which after all are part of every large operation. A lot of things went wrong on D-Day, many which stacked the deck against the Allies, but ultimately our fallen heroes tenacity and preparation won the day. 

Mont Saint Michel

Honestly, it’s thanks to the World Showcase at Epcot that we know about Mont Saint Michel and have this on our list of places to visit.  We didn’t know much about it other than what we’d seen in the France movie at Epcot, but as we drove through the fields, all of a sudden this magnificent castle seemed to penetrate the sky out of nowhere.  Apparently the best time to visit Mont Saint Michel is during high tide and while we were in the area, because of the phase of the moon at the end of the month, the tide wasn’t high.  We arrived early in the morning just in case we could catch a glimpse of the magic, not fully understanding the high tide phenomenon.  After walking across a bridge and oohing and ahhh-ing, we read a sign that warned people that if their vehicle was parked in that area, that it would be underwater later in the day. 

Not a sign you see everyday!

Because of high tide and the dam that they built to help control the water around Mont Saint Michel, at certain points of the day the entire castle rises up completely surrounded by water!

Looking across the field to Mont Saint Michel

Family in front of Mont Saint Michel

We toured the castle, learning its rich history of having been a stronghold turned monastery turned prison and ultimately reverted back to a monastery.  Then after stopping for crepes, we ventured out along the cliffs where the water had receded and the kids had fun exploring and jumping around.  Mom and G dared to follow some of the guided groups out onto the quick-sand-like beach that had been covered in higher tides.  They were able to get t a glimpse of the castle from a different perspective and get dirty, plus it was just fun to say they did it on the one time in their lives that they will probably ever visit this place.

Steps up to the castle

Inside Mont Saint Michel

Image of an angel poking the skull of the bishop after having to repeatedly tell him to build a church on the site

SJ in front of wheel used to pull items up into the castle

Castle wall

Boys climbing around the boulders at the base of Mont Saint Michel

G literally sinking in the quick sand

Mom & G walking through the quick sand area

Mom & G getting dirty

G in front of Mont Saint Michel

Since it was mid-afternoon and we had no place to be, we stopped in Bayeaux and saw the Bayeaux Tapestry, the oldest known comic strip of sorts.  This embroidered piece of art is over 205 feet long and depicts the rise to power of William the Conqueror as he took control of England.  There are 58 detailed scenes including everything from Halley’s Comet, an appearance of Mont Saint Michael, and ending with a brutal scene showing the Battle of Hastings.

During the car ride the children were thrilled to watch Great Courses on some of the topics we were being exposed to.  And lucky for them, even though they didn’t think so at the time, when we weren’t watching those we were listening to Les Miserables and explaining the Victor Hugo's famous story to them.  From Mom and Dad’s perspective it was beautiful and amazing to be doing this while driving through France, but not all agreed.

Needless to say, by the time we arrived at our place Mom and Dad decided a date night (escape-night) was needed.  We went into the nearby village and ate at a restaurant that our hosts had recommended.  The area we are staying in is not a tourist hot spot and so it appeared that we were the only non-locals dining there.  We guessed at what we were ordering, hoping to enjoy some of the famed local cuisine.  We had to stifle our shock and amazement when they set a cold pot of a half eaten something in front of Dad that had white cold lard present on the sides of the meatloaf-like mixture.  The wait staff was good natured and while it wasn’t the gourmet night out we’d hoped for, we were happy to have some time to ourselves while the kids stayed home and studied.

This mystery meat was placed in front of us as seen as part of our appetizer