Normandy Road Trip: Bayeux and Omaha Beach

Kevin's driving skills are doing a great job of getting us around in France.  I would like to claim that I have equally strong navigational skills but that would be misleading, since we are relying heavily on a GPS/map app Kevin downloaded to his phone.  So far it has only steered us wrong one time...but it does keep telling us that the speed limit on small country roads is the same as the highway.  We couldn't go that fast even if we wanted to, thanks to the numerous French camper vans on the roads.  Did I mention yet that August is when all of France seems to go on vacation?

The little town of Bayeux is famous for the Bayeux Tapestry - a long scroll of embroidered fabric dating to the 11th century.  In cartoon-like scenes it tells the story of William of Normandy's conquest of England in 1066.  It's irreverent, I know...but there is a scene where some knights are wading pants-less through a river and I couldn't help but think of the animated credits of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".  I can just imagine some old woman ("Man!  And I'm 37; I'm not old."), giggling uncontrollably as she spent hours embroidering these semi-nude knights.

The scenic Eure river runs right through the center of town, bordered by willow trees and beaucoup de geraniums.

Bayeux is also a great jumping-off point for exploring the D-Day beaches.  (Interestingly, in French "D-Day" translates to "Jour-J".)  We can tell we are in Normandy due to the proliferation of American (and British and Canadian) flags.  This was the window decor on someone's home in town:

British, Canadian, American and French flags

There is a moving memorial next to Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer.  Some of the placards and flowers along the base were "thank yous" from French schoolchildren.

The American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer is where we really grasped the consequences of the war.  This cemetery overlooking Omaha beach is the final resting place for 9,387 U.S. soldiers.  I had tears in my eyes just seeing row after row of headstones.  Most had the soldier's name, rank, hometown, and date of death inscribed; some had only this solemn inscription: