After spending a few days in Paris, we decided to get out of the city and booked a tour to visit the Normandy D-Day beaches, museum, and American cemetery. The tour was very informative, yet a rather emotional adventure for the both of us.
Landings on the beaches of Normandy took place over 80km of coastline that are divided into the five separate spots of attack. The beaches each named after the local men that fought on them. American forces landed on Omaha and Utah, British troops landed on Sword and Gold and Canadian forces took Juno beach. I thought it was a neat little part of history learning the reasonings behind the names of the beaches.
The weather was perfect that day! The sun was shining and the wind and sea gave off a gentle calming breeze. I remember walking along the coastline among the wild flowers thinking to myself just how beautiful this place was, how serene the countryside was, and how that very beauty of the surroundings made it quite difficult to imagine or comprehend the acts of war that occurred on the very steps we were talking. However seeing the bullet holes in the ceiling of a remaining bunker at Point du Hoc was evidence enough to quickly snap you back to reality and make realize just where you were.
