We went to Normandy last weekend to visit the memorials and museums and places where the liberation of Europe began during the WW2. In the region of Basse-Normandie, our exploration began. Driving 2.5 hours from Paris was a breeze (slept the whole time) and before I knew it, we were entering the department of Calvados. We stayed in a very lovely hotel in Arromanche – where the British landed and artificial piers were built
I won’t go discussing the whole liberation of France, but I will try to explain clearly how some places were significant through these photographs. This is just the first day of our trip (not including the evening). We were blessed with a bright and sunny weather and a plus 8 degrees celsius temperature.
First off, this is the hotel Normandie – where we stayed for a night and the best room was given to us. It was low season and we were the only guests of the hotel! The view was spectacular. Gold Beach lays in front of us and we watched the sun went up from the 2nd floor (try to count in French – it’s actually the 3rd floor if you count in Philippine manner) of the colombage area.
Hotel Normandie
The British entered Normandy by reaching Gold Beach by ship. This is also where one of the Mulberry harbors (code name for the used for the artificial harbors) had been deployed to offload cargo during the Allied invasion. A complete Mulberry harbor was constructed out of 600,000 tons of concrete between 33 jetties, and had 10 miles (15 km) of floating roadways to land men and vehicles on the beach. The beaches of Normandy don’t have harbors so the allies brought the harbor to the beach. Genius!
Gold Beach
Beautiful Normandy
Built in the first few months of 1944 by the Germans, the naval battery at Longues was equipped with four 150-mm guns and a range-finding post embedded in the cliff face perfect for firing in the Omaha and Gold Beach areas.
Batterie des longues
When the allies began parachuting in Normandy, they did not intend to land on Saint-Mere-Eglise, but due to the Germans shooting at the air crafts, some of the troops were landing here in this area – a big mistake! The village was full of German troops!. One man got his parachute trapped and he was left hanging on a church tower. A German soldier shoot at him and he pretended to be dead. He saw all his friends killed and he lost his hearing because the church bells were too loud for him as he was hanging there for 2-3 hours. See the soldier hanging by the tower? That’s a tribute to the soldier who was trapped there during the D-day.
Saint-Mere-Eglise
From the website http://www.paratrooper-museum.org/about_dmc.html On June 8th, from hedgerow to hedgerow, through field after field, then onto the road and on into town, fierce fighting raged as the Eagle troopers swept into the streets of St. Come-du-Mont. As the first American tank reached this intersection and drove toward Carentan, it was struck in the turret by a German rocket. The tank was disabled and the commander was killed. For several days thereafter, the hull remained abandoned at the intersection, with the dead lieutenant hanging out of the turret. The paratroopers at first referred to ‘the corner with the dead guy in the tank’, but soon shortened it to ‘Dead Man’s Corner’, by which name it will always be remembered.
Dead Man's Corner
Last one for this post is a photograph of several cows. Well, Normandy is famous for its local cheese – Camembert – because they have good cows, healthy cows, and furry cows. 
Cows of Normandy
More photos to come very soon!
