My priority for France was getting Derek to the D-Day beaches in Normandy. I actually think everyone should see them and hear the stories of unity and sacrifice so others can be free.
Back in January, I signed us up for an all day D-Day tour. It was a small group tour, max of seven. We caught the first train in the morning from Paris to Caen where we met our guide. They dropped us back off at the train station 9 hours later so we could catch the last train to Paris. It was the one tour that our consultant at Rick Steve’s said we had to do. She was spot on.
Our tour started at the local war museum in Caen set on top of an old German bunker used as a head quarters.
We arrived at the parking lot, where we were greeted by all the flags of the countries that came together to create the Allies. I love that about Normandy. It focuses on everyone’s part in freeing Europe.
Here we spent 2 hours learning about the events leading up to D-Day. How the treaties signed at the end of World War I were all in the favor of France and England. And how Germany and Japan basically got screwed at the end of World War I.
After the war, Germany fell into economic crisis along with the US and a bunch of other countries while Stalin was taking hold in Russia. Hitler, who was a soldier in World War I, began to aspire for politics. The Nazi party was formed out of the workers, the common people. Events transpired and by the early 1930’s, Hitler was Prime Minister of Germany and basically took over. Arrested all the members of Parliament that were not in the Nazi party and replaced them with those that were.
Soon after that, Hitler started breaking the treaties signed after World War I. France and Britain did nothing. Everyone was still suffering from the aftermath of the first world war. Hitler took Austria and then Czechoslovakia. Still nothing was done. France was more scared of Stalin than Hitler.
When Hitler was ready, he quickly took Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and France. He immediately built the Atlantic Wall which ran from the top of Norway to Spain. The wall was in the form of concrete bunker with guns on turrets so they could rotate, protecting both sides of the beach. The beaches were lined with mines and barbed wire. There was no spot left unprotected on the English Channel.
Hitler over-protected all the port cities since that was the logical spot for an invasion from the British. He left southern France unoccupied. His army was running thin and Italy was working on taking over North Africa. The Americans were still not in the war. We had our own problems with the Great Depression. Then Pearl Harbor happened, and we were in.
It took 2 years to plan D-Day. The Allied Forces made up of American, Canadian, and British soldiers were heavily supported with intel from the French Resistance which was underground prior to D-Day. The Allied Forces also included many soldiers from countries Hitler had already taken. Soldiers that were able to retreat to England before Hitler took hold of their land.
The first thing done in the planning of D-Day was to establish a landing spot. The logical landing would be a port during high tide. They wanted to plan something not logical.
The Allies decided on Normandy, which was a very long section of beaches with no ports, they would have less defenses. (Some how the Canadian’s got left off this map. They landed on Juno.)
The problem of no port would be solved by pre-fabricating pontoons manufactured in England. Two ports were build by the British the year leading up to D-Day. They were then dragged across the English Channel right behind the landing units.
In the end, the Allies had two fully functional ports on D-Day plus 9 days. They had partial ports on D-Day plus 1. It was critical to have a faster way to unload men, tanks, truck, and supplies.
Here is some of the pontoon port which still floats in the English Channel.
Here is a sample of the metal structure that was mounted to a pontoon and assembled to make unloading docks strong enough to support tanks.
The Allies also decided on low tide which would expose the mines and barbed wire on the beaches. However, the disadvantage of low tide was the longer period of time for the soldiers to reach the shore.
Derek and my tour of Omaha beach was during low tide so we got to see just how far the troops had to go.
The year leading up to D-Day, there were several diversionary landings. Three landings in North Africa to force Hitler to spread his troops south. One landing on a port city, north of Normandy. This landing was done by a Canadian unit that lost 80% of their men. There was even a fake military unit equip with dummy tanks and bunkers built in England on the narrowest part of the English Channel.
The Allies needed to use every trick. Hitler had developed superior tanks, weapons, and aircraft. He really had control of both the skies and the ground. The French Resistance was key to supplying the Allies with maps of bunkers and military forces. The Allies used this information to bomb the crap out of the French coast line. The bombings took place for a year leading up to D-Day.
After the battle of Normandy which ended 100 days after D-Day, 80% of Normandy was destroyed. Many civilians were killed inadvertently during the 2 years prior to the end of the battle of Normandy.
Point Du Hoc is the point between Utah and Omaha beach. This area has been left untouched since the war. There are still huge craters where the bombs hit and concrete blocks laying everywhere plus the remains of a hit bunkers.
Point Du Hoc was a strategic point that had to be taken on day one. Guns existed there that could reach both Omaha and Utah beach. It was also the German command point for this area.
The Americans assembled a Special Forces Ranger squad. They were to land on the beach at the point an hour before the D-Day beach landings, scale the wall, and take out the command post. Due to changes of winds and currents on D-Day, they arrived right after the Omaha and Utah beach landings. The Rangers no longer had the element of surprise. They were sitting ducks on the small beach below the walls of Point Du Hoc. 200 Rangers landed on the point. 30 Rangers walked away 3 days later when the point had been completely taken.
This is taken from inside the main bunker on the point.
The Rangers reached the top of the wall late morning of D-Day. At that point, the Germans locked themselves in the bunkers. The Rangers systematically went from bunker to bunker. The destruction is shown on the bunker walls and door jams.
Point Du Hoc was between Utah and Omaha beach. Both landing sites for the Americans. The majority of casualties on D-Day happened on Omaha beach, known as “Blood Omaha” today.
The problem with Omaha was the terrain. After the beach was sand dunes followed by thick brush and black berry bushes, nature’s barbed wire. There were four low spots with roads leaving the beach. These were of course protected by guns built into the hillside. The hillside protected the bunkers from the bombings. The guns were all fully functional.
The French erected a monument where the first wave of Americans landed. It is dedicated to the men who sacrificed their lives to free Europe.
It was here that we were struck by the fact that this was not the Allies war. We were not fighting for our independence. Men were sacrificing their lives to free others.
On D-Day, 156,000 Allies landed on the beaches or were dropped from the skies. The Americans had two airborne units and the British had one. Due to the changes in the winds, the airborne units had their problems and lost over 3000 men. Most of which were Americans.
Our tour ended at the American cemetery above Omaha beach.
The timing was such that we were there for the lowering of the flags and the playing of taps. It was quite moving. I was especially impressed by all the non-Americans respecting the process and standing in silence, honoring the American Soldier.
Upon arriving back in Paris, Derek and I were ready to walk around. I was eagerly awaiting my first street crepe.
We walked for over 2 hours. Visiting the Louve, …
Notre Dame, …
The Arc Du Triumph,…
And, the Eiffel Tower
I love Paris at night.
The next day would be our last full day of the trip. We had been planning to make the Eiffel Tower our last tower climb but they only allow you to climb to the second floor any more.
While visiting Notre Dame, we discovered that you can climb to the top. The real top. 422 steps. This would be our last climb.
We ended up with tickets for 5pm so I took Derek to my favorite Paris tourist activity: watching the traffic from the top of the Arc Du Triumph. It is truly an amazing thing to observe.
Twelve roads come together at, what must be, the largest traffic circle in the world. There are no lines in the traffic circle. The cars can be 10 deep. Everyone moves around the circle in an incredible feat of Parisian trust. And then there are the really stupid tourists who run across the street instead of taking the tunnel under it. If you have never been there, be sure to visit if you are ever in Paris.
It has been 20 years since I was in Paris last. I was surprised to see that they have built themselves a bunch of sky scrapers.
The climb of Notre Dame was perfect. Spiral stone stairs followed by a really fun tower entrance to view the bells.
Then we continued to the top on more spiral stairs. We were greeted by gargoyles and an amazing view.
What a great end to an amazing 7 week adventure.
