Normandy Invasion Itinerary: The Landing Beaches and the Fabric of Bayeux

I received the blessing of the Francophile chief to write about my favorite part of France, and I set off. Although I had done it many times, I didn’t keep any photographs, I didn’t measure distances, and most importantly: as you’ll see right away, I wasn’t up to date. We set out at the end of October, in a team of three: the noncommissioned officer Dolly, the platoon sergeant Karen, and the platoon sergeant, me.

Dolly was chosen from our seven dogs as a tribute to our leader Zvi. She Maltese like himKaren was elected because I am not allowed to drive her Land Rover. I was elected because I am the voter.

We did the route in three days. Including leaving our house, stopping at Porte de Roche, halfway between Nantes and Rennes and back. You could do it from Paris or from Nantes, one of the fields you’ll probably land at, in the same amount of time. But you could definitely do it in four, five, six or even seven days, and you still wouldn’t see everything.

As I promised: We will find a lost kiss, we will sing “Anemones, Anemones”, the winged horse will soar above us, the flutes will move through us, flags will flutter in the wind, and – We shall pass with flying colors.

The route is also suitable for families with children. We saw many of them. But I added an attraction especially for them: an amusement park near Caen. Because of the park, I start the route description from Caen. But first you have to get there.

The town where I live

If we ignore Marseille and Venice, which are far to the south, you will likely land in Paris or Nantes.Paris Closer to Caen: 237 km, 2:30 hrs. But Nantes Not much further: 291 km, 2:50 hours. There are two good reasons to choose Nantes airport. The second reason is that in November Transavia began operating a direct line from Ben Gurion Airport to Nantes, twice a week, Sundays and Wednesdays. The cost varies, but is always less than half the cost of a flight to and from Paris.

The first reason is that you can stop after sixty kilometers from Nantes north, with a slight deviation to the west, and bring me some warm pitas. The wine is on me. There are also bed and breakfast options, in a 12th-century chateau, at a special price for Israeli Francophiles.

But you really don't have to. You'll get wine anyway.

Anyway, both options are good, I marked a route from both to Caen:

Our house in the hamlet of Port-de-Roche is marked with a blue dot on the left of the main road N137 from Nantes to Rennes. Get off at the interchange marked Grand Fougeray, and continue west on the D56 for about ten kilometers, cross the Villen River, cross the train tracks, and honk in front of the iron gate of the castle. Or call 0505-211079.

Are we on our way? We are.

Festyland Park

We, anyway, set out. In the morning, on the N137, we bypassed Rennes and continued north towards Caen. On the ring road that surrounds Caen, I noticed on the right what looked like an amusement park with lots of facilities: tube slides, a giant swing, a roller coaster and more. I checked the internet, and indeed it is a park called Festyland. Its address: Route de Caumont, 14760 Bretteville-sur-Odon
Location on the following map:

They have Website, including in English: It's worth checking when it's open.

Cannes' War Museum and the Statue That Didn't Stand Up to Feminism

Note that on the map I uploaded, there is another marker, on the upper right: Memorial de Caen. That's where I intended to go, and I did, but I was very disappointed. I was there about three years ago. It's a museum dedicated to the horrors of war and the pleasures of peace. In my opinion, it was a waste of time, but the place is packed with visitors from all over the world, so I must be wrong. Anyway, there's one thing I really wanted to go back there for. Outside, right in front of the museum, stands a huge statue, about eight meters tall.

Here, this is what it looks like, as I remembered it:

This is, of course, a replica of the famous photograph of the sailor kissing a compassionate nurse in Times Square, on Victory Over Japan Day, a photograph that earned photographer Alfred Eisenstadt worldwide fame:

Here, I thought to myself and swallowed so I wouldn't choke. Although I'm not a sailor, and I didn't fight in Japan, I can kiss too. There, at the feet of the giant statue, I'll wait, and probably some nurse will come who would be happy for a surprise kiss. For historical documentation only, of course. When we approached the site, I shared the plan with Karen, who was the one who was tasked with taking the photos. I don't think she was thrilled with the idea, because she said calmly that she would be happy to photograph the event, but I have to take into account that I'll continue on foot from there, because it wouldn't occur to her to put perverts in her Land Rover.

A typical female response to a male romance of the kind that is disappearing. However, when we arrived, the statue was gone. We circled the museum three times, and the statue, like Malta – Yuck. Apparently the museum management understood that there was no place to perpetuate sexual violence in a place dedicated to peace, Karen suggested venomously. Nonsense, it must have been stolen or renovated, I responded, but I quickly checked the website the kiss statue + sexual violence, and to my surprise I found that indeed, immediately after the statue was erected, in 2014, as part of preparations for the 70th anniversary of the victory, French feminist organizations protested to the museum management, demanding that the disgrace be removed. It is a matter of worship and encouragement of male sexual violence, they claimed.

Well, that's why there is no statue!!! You are completely out of your minds, I summed up my position on the victorious feminine force to Karen.

I decided to double-check the stupidity of the French feminists who removed the statue. Then it turned out to me that there was indeed a forest, but there were no bears. The French feminists did protest, and their protest grew when they found out that the statue, which is one of a series of similar works sculpted by the sculptor Seward Johnson, is called “Unconditional Surrender,” meaning that it does not just contain sexual violence, but a touch of sadomasochism. However, the museum director, a man, of course, after politely listening to the complaints of the women’s delegation, informed them unequivocally that they should not be fooled, the unconditional surrender belongs to Japan and not to the one being kissed, she actually liked the kiss, and the statue will remain in place.

Oh, and why is he gone now? Pishita, he was just loaned out. Marais“In France for one year, in honor of the 70th anniversary of the victory, I stumbled upon it by chance in 2015, and after it ended, the statue flew back to the United States.

Recommended hotels in Cannes

If you wanted to live in Cannes, here are some good options (written by the Francophile):

Hôtel La Fontaine Caen Centre

Number of stars: **

A really inexpensive hotel located in the center of town Cannes. Received a very high score on Booking.com.

Hôtel balladins Caen Memorial

Number of stars: ***

An inexpensive and solid hotel located about a fifteen-minute walk from the memorial monument in Cannes.

Ace Hôtel Caen Nord Memorial

Number of stars: ***

Another lovely hotel not far from the Memorial. Its advantage is that it accepts animals, which can be very helpful if you are traveling with your dog.

Royal Hotel Caen Center

Number of stars: ****

A four-star hotel in a very central location.

Didn't find a hotel you like? You are welcome to click on theLink this To find more hotels.

Pegasus Bridge and the Anemones

I uploaded our next destination, Pegasus Bridge, to Weez, and in honor of it, I played Shoshana Damari's "Anemones, Anemones" on YouTube. Here, listen to it too:

What is the connection between the anemones and the Pegasus Bridge? Before I began researching for this article, I didn’t know either. In fact, I was always amazed by the stories that British paratroopers were deeply offended when street children sang the song to them, and once the military commander of Tel Aviv even issued a closure order against the “Li-La-Lo” theater, where the song was played. But as part of the research, I came across the book History of the British 6th Airborne Division, by historian RD Wilson, and from it I understood that the British soldiers wearing red berets were offended because they interpreted the nickname “anemones” that was attached to them, as if, like the anemones, their heads were red and their hearts were black…

So after we found the missing kiss, and we move on to the connection between the anemones and the winged horse. A winged horse is known in Greek mythology as “Pegasus.” The original Pegasus was the son of the sea god Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa, and on his back the hero Bellerophon rode, killed the monster Chimera, and also defeated the Amazons, the first feminists, in battle. But then the hero’s horseman got pissed on his head, and he decided to take off to Olympus. To this the humble Pegasus refused, threw Bellerophon off his back, but ascended to Olympus himself, where he lives to this day in peace, Olympian of course, but gives birth, with a love that is not exactly Platonic, from time to time, to herds of winged horses.

And what does this Pegasus have to do with the Anemones? That’s also simple. We’ve already said that “Anemones” was the mocking nickname for British paratroopers in Mandatory Israel, because they wore red berets. But the truth is, these paratroopers weren’t paratroopers at all, even though they may have taken a parachute course. They were soldiers of the British 6th Airborne Division, which flew in gliders. The symbol of this division was Pegasus, the winged horse.

Why exactly was Pegasus chosen as the symbol of the Airborne Division? Is it because it is located on Olympus? Is it because it throws its riders off? Is it because its soldiers have the strength of a horse? We have the questions, they have the answers. Actually, maybe we do too, because the same winged horse also appears on the unit badge and the fighter pin of our UAV unit, “Sky Rider.” The mandate passed to us, the British continent of humor remained.

And what about this article and the British 6th Airborne Division and the Pegasus Simla? This too is simple: the starting point of our tour today is at the Pegasus Bridge, so named because the soldiers of this division captured it the night before the big landing, and the Simla stands to this day, with absolutely justified pride, right in front of the bridge.

The Normandy landings

A little history. On the night before the big landing, June 6, 23,400 American, British and Canadian fighters were parachuted or glided behind German lines, with the aim of capturing key points in preparation for the landing of the main forces.

The eastern end of the landing line was the Orne River, with a canal running parallel to it. The bridges over the river and canal were a threat, as they allowed mobile German reinforcements to attack the landing forces. They were also a vital asset, as they would allow Allied troops to advance eastwards and capture the port of Le Havre, whose docks would allow the unloading of heavy weapons that would be difficult to land on a shallow beach. The mission of capturing a deep-water port was so important that signs proclaiming/encouraging “Harbour Now!” remained at several points along the landing beach route.

Three gliders towed by Dakota aircraft took off at eleven o’clock at night from England. Over the English Channel, the aircraft released the gliders, and they descended silently to their destination: the Pine Bridges. Among them was a company of the British 6th Airborne Division, commanded by Major John Howard. One glider crashed into a barbed wire fence, the second broke in two in a lake, the third, in which the battalion commander was, landed safely.

The bridges were defended by 50 soldiers from a German infantry division, most of them French, Polish and Russian conscripts, old, tired, unmotivated and poorly equipped. Not far away was an elite armored division of the Waffen SS, which could have significantly strengthened the defense of the bridges, but it was not allowed to move without an order from Hitler himself, he was asleep, and no one was allowed to wake him.

The bridges were captured relatively easily. The bridge over the canal is still called the “Pegasus Bridge,” although the original bridge has been moved and is in an open-air museum between the canal and the river. The current bridge is an exact reconstruction of the original. The street leading to the museum is called “John Howard Street,” after the company commander, who was later killed.

The Scottish Pied Piper

We crossed the bridge. Now for the Scottish piper. As he was briefing his troops and preparing them to defend the bridge, John heard the sound of a bagpipe approaching. The piper was Bill Malin, a Scottish soldier in the 1st Commando Brigade, who was the personal piper to Lord Lobat, the commander of the brigade that had just landed on Sword Beach. The piper was armed, apart from his bagpipe, only with a knife, but he wore a kilt, which he had received for the invasion from his father, who had worn it in the First World War.

The Scottish vanguard force mounted the bridge. The soldiers marched in threes, their weapons on their shoulders, led by the Lord and the piper. The Germans opened fire, 12 Scots were killed, the rest realized they were at war and not on a parade, dispersed the procession, took their weapons off their shoulders, put on helmets and began to fight. Only the bagpipes continued to play as before, Bill the piper walking upright and advancing along with the charging forces.

It still stands upright today, right where it landed, at the eastern end of Sword Beach:

I greeted him. He's coming.

John Howard's glider rests peacefully in the museum on the street that bears his name:

Normandy landing beaches

From here on, the D514 coastal road will lead us along the entire landing beaches: from Sword to Juno, from there to Gold, continuing to Omaha and ending in Utah.
The sights are quite similar. Lots of flags of the US, England and Canada, not only on monuments, but also on the doors of ordinary residential buildings. I understand this as a lasting gratitude to young people who left their homes in countries that were no longer threatened, and came to a country that was not theirs, to liberate it for its inhabitants who could not do it themselves. A bit bombastic, I know, but the landing beaches are a place where the heart rules.

All along the way, about eighty kilometers, on every corner, intersection, just in the middle of the street, tanks, cannons, concrete positions, underwater obstacles, bridging equipment and other accessories to bring victory.

Here are some tastings. (The Francophile Chief! Don't filter! ):

Two of hundreds of thousands of underwater obstacles

Arromanches-les-Bains

The scene is a little different in Arromanches les Bains. There, parts of the floating port that the Allies towed here from England across the Channel, shortly after the landing, remained in the sea, so that they could unload relatively heavy equipment and weapons, until a deep-water port could be captured.

In Arromanches we stayed at a hotel. La Marine Located right on the coastline, and the room has a sea view (not all of them, insist on one facing the sea, the price is the same), this is important because the tides here are wonderful.

Address: Quai du Canada, 14117 Arromanches-les-Bains.

There is no parking nearby, and you can't get to the hotel entrance by car. But 50 meters away is a large parking lot for the Floating Port Museum. Not bad. But the price is expensive: 98 euros per night. There are reasonable rooms for half the price nearby. We wanted the high and low tides, so we paid. What's more, you're not allowed to eat in the hotel. A meal without wine - about 100 euros for a couple. Breakfast is only 12 euros per person, but that's not much. Hearing the sea come back after the peak of the low tide is something you don't forget. The roar is growing.

Vodka is also at a low:

The times of high tide and low tide vary, probably depending on the state of the moon. Generally, it is twice a day and twice a night, that is, every six hours. You can check the correct times for each day online. Click here tide.info And you will receive:

Now that the nightlife in Arumanah is who knows what, and you're in the room, you can't escape hearing A short historical lecture on the Normandy invasionI know, Google has it too, but I memorized Stephen Ambrose’s book “Day of Invasion” (Zamora Bitan Publishing, 564 pages), and everyone I know has already heard me lecture at least three times, so I’m left with you. A captive audience.

But… anyone who wants to skip can do so and continue on to the next part of the trip.

Recommended hotels in Arromanches les Bains

If you wanted to stay in Arromanches les Bains and the hotel that Danny recommended didn't have rooms, then here are a few more options:

Hotel-Restaurant Le Mulberry

Number of stars: **

An inexpensive two-star hotel but recommended.

Hotel L'ideal le Mountbatten

Number of stars: ***

A simple and nice hotel located not far from the landing beaches and offering rooms at reasonable prices.

Relais du Silence Les Villas d'Arromanches

Number of stars: ***

A charming hotel located in a beautiful 19th century villa. The hotel is located just a few hundred meters from the landing beaches.

If you still haven't found a hotel you like in Arromanches, I recommend clicking on theNext link That will provide you with more hotels and apartments in the area.

BAYEAUX carpet

Good morning, Aromess! Good morning to those who followed me on the landing!
Good morning also to those who skipped the article 🙂

Today we took a short break from the landing beaches, and moved inland, to Bayeux. You said “Bayeux” – you said “Bayeux Tapestry”.

You can put Bayeux in the box, and among the options you'll see Musee de la Taphsserie de Bayeux. This is the museum we went to.

We’ll talk about the carpet right away, but first some practical tips. It’s easy to miss the entrance to the museum, because even though the voicemail announces “You’ve arrived at your destination,” you can’t see either the destination or the museum. It’s on the road, but a narrow alley leads to the entrance. There’s no parking next to it anyway. You have to continue along the street, all the way to the huge cathedral. It’s impossible to miss. There you turn right, and after about a hundred meters there are parking lots on the left.

Please note that payment, as in most parking lots in France, is made through automatic machines, some of which require the license plate number for some reason. It is most effective to have a picture of the license plate number on your mobile phone, otherwise you will have to stop paying in the middle and return to the car to read the number. The machine also has a menu in English, but you can always get help from locals.

Let's return to the carpet. It is an embroidered carpet about 70 meters long and about half a meter wide. It was embroidered in England, shortly after its conquest by William the Conqueror. It depicts scenes depicting the events that led to the landing of the Normans in England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings, 1066 AD.
It is commonly called “the first comic book,” because the images are indeed arranged along a timeline, like in comics.

The pictures are vividly and detailed, and provide a great deal of information about medieval life.
It is mandatory to take an audio guide. It has the option of guidance in Hebrew. In the meantime, before you arrive at the museum, you can see an animation of the carpet in the following video:

From here to the cathedral. I know, you've seen one - you've seen them all. But this one is really impressive, and you paid for parking anyway, so why not go in?
The stained glass windows are of course wonderful.

Further down the street where the parking lots are, about two hundred meters from them, there is a small shop offering antiques, second-hand items, and souvenirs from World War II, accompanied by certificates confirming their authenticity:

Before leaving Bayeux, it is worth stopping at the cemetery dedicated to the British war dead, who fell during and shortly after the invasion.

4,651 fallen soldiers are buried there, of whom 4,146 were British Empire soldiers and 501 were enemy soldiers.
The inscription on the monument at the site is interesting, engraved with the names of 1801 soldiers who fell in France by the end of August 1944, and whose burial place is unknown.

The inscription on the upper stone beam says:

NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS

Translation: “We, who were once conquered by William, have now liberated the conqueror’s homeland.”
Isn't that exciting? Yes, it moved me.

Return to the landing beaches, the village of Longues-sur-mer

We headed to a German artillery battery, the only one that was preserved intact, with its guns inside the concrete bunkers, whose walls no bomb had even managed to scratch.

It is located near the village of Longues-sur-mer and if you type it in Wise, you will immediately also get Baterrie de Longues-sur-mer, which is exactly the battery.

The appearance is impressive:

There are 4 guns, originally naval guns, 152 mm in diameter, each in its own bunker. About a hundred meters apart, with a forward observation post, on the cliff, from which they could fire the guns, although I am sure they had pre-prepared reference points. The battery, by the way, was completed a few weeks before the landing. You can enter the bunkers and be impressed by their power. The opening at the back is not only for the entry and exit of the gun crew, but also for ejecting the firing plate out.
Due to the long range of the guns, they posed a threat to both Gold Beach and Omaha Beach.

What actually happened was that the guns were not damaged, but heavy shelling broke the spirit of the crews, and although they continued to fire from time to time, they did not cause any real damage until the site was captured by the British the next day.

Port en Bassub Huppain

Long day, time to rest.
A short drive, about five kilometers, to the village of Port-en-Bassub-Huppain.

Along the way, by the way, many signs point to small cider breweries, which sell local produce, various types of cider, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, including Calvados.
We entered one, the owner was just filling bottles in the machine. He didn't look pleased:

Dolly, who was left in the car, doesn't look happy either:

What to do… Not everyone is happy today. I am happy.

There are many hotels in Port-en-Basin. Go down to the small port, right in front of the pier there are several hotels. We chose one with the same name as last night, La Marine. It's probably a chain. But it's cheaper. 60 euros per night. It's right on the pier. Opposite it, on the very pier, there's a shed selling fish that apparently just came from the sea. Great demand.

The man on the left is opening oysters instead and handing them out to shoppers.

Good night, there is no lecture tonight.
***

Omaha Beach

Good morning, Port-en-Bassin!!!
The third day of the tour, for us it is the last day.
Today is dedicated to Omaha Beach. A drive of about 10 km, and we are at the American cemetery. From there to the beach, and from there to the museum.

The cemetery is not to be missed. It is a very impressive experience. Words will not suffice here. You must be there.

After the cemetery, I went down to the beach itself. The truth is – there’s nothing to see there. People are wandering on a sandy beach at low tide. Maybe the banality of the sight is what gives it the impression. In front of photos showing the place at the time of landing, people are strolling leisurely.

There is, however, also a monument to the fallen of the First Infantry Division:

This division is called “The First Big Red,” but its nickname is “The First Bloody”…
The monument bears its motto: “No task is too difficult, no sacrifice is too great. Above all – duty!”
I greeted them too, of course.

There is a museum dedicated to the landing here. I marked it on the map. I didn't go in, but I walked around a bit among the tools outside. Nothing particularly different. Whoever goes in – let them report. From here we continued to a place that is part of Omaha Beach, but its story is special. Pointe du Hoc.

Pointe du Hoc

At Pont du Hoc there was a German artillery battery, which included 155 mm guns with a range of 25 kilometers. The battery sat on a cliff 40 meters above the shore.

The capture of the battery and Nitrola was considered essential by the landing planners. Two patrol battalions – the Rangers – were assigned to this. In fact, one battalion ascended the cliff, using ropes fired by rockets that were attached to the cliff top. They also had extension ladders, borrowed from the London Fire Department, and mounted on amphibious trucks, but one of them sank, and the other three slipped on the muddy beach and were unable to approach the cliff. Finally, one got a little closer.

Sergeant William Stevenson climbed to the top of the ladder, with a machine gun. The truck slid over and over, the ladder rocked, 45 degrees in each direction, William would wait for it to swing over the cliff, then fire bursts, and wait for it to come back up again. When the patrolmen reached the top, they were amazed by the sight. It is still amazing today.

Hundreds of craters are scattered over an area of ​​one square kilometer. They are up to 10 meters in diameter, and even today, 74 years later, they are still about two meters deep or more. They are really close to each other. This is the result of the softening shelling of the ships. And what is no less amazing is that between the craters stand the bunkers of the guns, barely scratched.

Particularly impressive is the forward command post, on the edge of the cliff. You can climb to its roof. You can also enter the bunkers. There is also a small visitors center there, but I didn't go inside.
Unfortunately, I have to admit, the heroic operation was unnecessary. The guns were removed from the scene, and as far as I understand, were not fired at all. The patrol fighters found them 500 meters away, and blew up their nests with grenades.

Saint Mer Eglise

From here we continue to Sainte-Marie-Eglise. As you can see on the map, there is Utah Beach on the way. I didn’t go down there, short on time. Whoever goes down – will report. Along the way there are lots of museums, flags and everything we’ve already seen. Most of the way is the N13 motorway, so despite the relatively long distance, it’s a half-hour drive at most.

The village was unremarkable in 1944, but the N13 road ran right next to it, so its capture was necessary to block the arrival of German reinforcements from the Cherbourg area to the landing beaches. Two American paratrooper divisions, the 82nd and the 101st, were parachuted from both sides of the N13 road to capture it. The parachute was a huge failure. The troops were scattered over large areas, mixed up, some parachuted into German positions and were captured. Great chaos. But the village was finally captured.

None of this has anything to do with its publicity. The publicity comes from the movie “The Longest Day,” where there is a fascinating scene of a paratrooper whose parachute gets caught in the church tower in the center of the village, and he is left hanging there, pretending to be dead, his ears deafened by the ringing of the church bells, which alerted the villagers to put out a fire there. After the war, the villagers hurried to hang a paratrooper doll on the tower, and since then they have been making a living: cafes, souvenir shops, restaurants. A nice celebration, all in all, and not harmful.

Here, in Sainte-Marie-Eglise, our tour of the landing beaches ends.
We left here on our way back home. It is possible to continue from here to Mont Saint Michel.

The place is probably familiar to all of you, there's no point in expanding on it.
Thank you to everyone who has walked with me this far, see you in the next article.

Danny Ashkenazi