Mini Review Of Normandy D-Day Beaches from Le Havre

The first port day on our trans-Atlantic cruise aboard the Brilliance of the Seas was at Le Havre, France. Many passengers were headed for Paris, but DH and I had a tour to the D-Day beaches.

I arranged a private tour with Normandy D-Day tours and Guillaume Marie for 4 couples. It was the best excursion on our 14 day cruise and one of the best tours we have ever had. This mini review is about the places we visited. But Guillaume was so good I need to give him a small plug.. [Check him out on Trip Advisor]

We drove over the bridge of the Seine River and Headed to Normandy. [for those of you that rent cars to visit the beaches be aware that there is a toll on this bridge]

We drove through Caen and Bayeaux to get to the D-Day beaches.

End of post # 1

Our first stop was at the artificial port at Arromanches. The allies needed to have a safe harbor to bring in additional material/men for the war effort. So, they created one at Arromanches. It was called Port Winston. You can still see the remains of the port.

This church was nearby:

We stopped at the Battery at Longues [batterie De Longues] near Longues-sur-Mer.

These batteries are scattered among the farmers’ fields all along the coast of France. They were built to withstand anything—so, there is really no way to get rid of them. This farmer donated the path/battery to the town and hopes tourists stick to the path. There were 4 guns in concrete casements at this particular location. It is located between the Gold and Omaha beaches.

You can see the damage from shells:

You can see the damage from shells:

This is the view from inside:

We had lunch in Port-en-Bessin. It is a very small port village near Omaha beach.

You can see left over military places/items across the entire area.

We ate at the Café DuPont. We laughed when our guide translated at the menu. We could have a baguette with butter, a baguette with cheese and butter or a baguette with ham, cheese and butter. LOL-- We went for the works.

We walked along the beach at Omaha Beach. It is hard to believe what happened here in the summer of 1944. It looks so peaceful today.

The bluffs were very high here. It is easy to see why it was so hard to take this position.

You can see the monuments on the top of the bluffs.

This is the Visitor Center at the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-Mer.

We were looking forward to visiting the American Cemetery because my DH’s Great Uncle [grandfather’s brother] is buried in the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach.

If you are the direct descendant of someone buried there, the cemetery will help you honor their memory with a small ceremony at the grave.

Here is a picture of PFC George Sutphin.

The first step was to sign the family book at the cemetery.

Next they took us to the grave site in a golf cart. This is his grave stone. You can see it is very hard to read his name and information.

The cemetery provides you wet sand from Omaha Beach. Here DH is rubbing the sand into the etching on the grave stone. It makes the words stand out.

One of the cemetery attendants cleaned the stone with a sponge.

Then they honored George by placing US and French flags on his grave.

You can see what a difference the sand made in being able to read the grave stone.

It was a very moving visit to the cemetery. There are so many white crosses and Stars of David. Our guide said only 40% of the casualties are buried here. Families were given the choice to have the remains returned to the US.

This statue looks over the white crosses. It is called Youth Rising.

A close up view:

This is the grave site of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. It is one of the most famous grave sites. Notice that his grave stone is outlined in gold. This is because he received the Congressional Medal of Honor.

We drove through many small French villages in Normandy. Although I used to know their names—I have forgotten. . . . sorry

Guillaume showed us the street that was named after Bedford, Virginia. Bedford had the highest per capita D-Day loses of anywhere in the US. [FYI--The National D-Day Memorial is located there today. http://www.dday.org/ ]

We visited the memorial to the American National Guard.

It was nearby our last stop-- the beach head for the 2nd Infantry Division. This was on the far end of Omaha Beach. [DH’s great uncle served with this unit.] Our guide shared lots of great information.

Our tour was 10 hours long, but we felt like we really got to see the beaches.

If anyone has any additions or corrections to my mini review please feel free to add them. . . . DH and I hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did.

Then it was time to head back to Le Havre

Thank you for sharing. We visit Normandy next spring. Our father was at Normandy.

Thank you for sharing. We visit Normandy next spring. Our father was at Normandy.

Is he buried at the American cemetery?

Thank you for sharing that. It brought back memories of our own tour of the D-Day sites. I was not aware of the gravesite ceremony for descendants and particularly appreciated your information and photos.

Thank you for sharing that. It brought back memories of our own tour of the D-Day sites. I was not aware of the gravesite ceremony for descendants and particularly appreciated your information and photos.

Thank you--I am glad you enjoyed it. Please add anything you feel I left out. :)

Thank you for posting your excellent photos. How wonderful that you were able to honor your relative buried at Omaha Beach.

Did you visit Pont d'Hoc during your tour? Those are the enormous cliffs scaled by Army Rangers who found that the large guns there had been hidden by moving them back. Two of the Rangers found them and spiked every one.

I am proud to say that one of those two, Leonard Lomell, was from my hometown in NJ and his daughter one of childhood friends. He never said a word about his WWII experiences, but I found out when the 50th anniversary of D-Day was celebrated in 1994 and his family was the subject of one of the chapters in Tom Brokaw's book regarding The Greatest Generation.

I found that area, so unchanged and with so many shell craters, one of the the most evocative during our three-day visit to the Normandy beaches a few years ago.

Thank you for posting your excellent photos. How wonderful that you were able to honor your relative buried at Omaha Beach.

 

Did you visit Pont d'Hoc during your tour? Those are the enormous cliffs scaled by Army Rangers who found that the large guns there had been hidden by moving them back. Two of the Rangers found them and spiked every one.

 

I am proud to say that one of those two, Leonard Lomell, was from my hometown in NJ and his daughter one of childhood friends. He never said a word about his WWII experiences, but I found out when the 50th anniversary of D-Day was celebrated in 1994 and his family was the subject of one of the chapters in Tom Brokaw's book regarding The Greatest Generation.

 

I found that area, so unchanged and with so many shell craters, one of the the most evocative during our three-day visit to the Normandy beaches a few years ago.

That was on my list of places I wanted to visit. However, we did not have time. [we asked the guide about there]

That is an easier stop if you go from Cherbourg or are not coming from Le Havre.

Did you visit Pont d'Hoc during your tour? Those are the enormous cliffs scaled by Army Rangers who found that the large guns there had been hidden by moving them back. Two of the Rangers found them and spiked every one.

Given the OP's well-spent time at the American Cemetery, I'm not surprised she and her DH were not able to include Pointe du Hoc in their visit.

We did manage to see it in our day from Le Havre with Overlord Tours, and it was definitely one of the highlights. Staring down at the nearly vertical cliff that the Rangers climbed up really brought home the fact that it was practically a suicide mission.

I also found it amazing to stand in the German bunker right there on the edge of the cliffs, and imagine the Allied armada appearing out of the mist on the morning of June 6 ....

I thought our entire tour was incredible.

Turtles--Thank you for the picture. [yes--it is hard to fit in everything--we will have to save Pont d' Hoc for next time]

If you have other pictures please post them for all to enjoy. I wanted my mini- review to be informational rather than all about me.

I want to post a statement about the ship’s tour to this area and let anyone who took one of these tours add their comments.

I joined our cruise roll call too late to get in on the first tours created by various passengers. So, I organized tours at 2 port stops. I did extensive research before I selected my guides/tours. We thought our guide was the best—but, we heard several other tours were excellent, too. [My goal was never to influence anyone’s choice of guide.]

Before I went with a private guide I wanted to see if it would be just as good if I joined the ship tour. [ I knew it would be more expensive.] I had to read and infer the times/stops on the ship’s tour from their vague description. It stated the trip each way was approx. 2.5 hrs. It appeared the first stop was the museum/memorial at Caen [arriving around 10:30 am or so] and passengers would eat a lunch buffet there. I saw on the Caen museum website they have 2 sittings for groups 11:45 and 1:30. If we assumed they ate on the first sitting, I could not see how they could board the bus again to leave before 12:45 to 1:00pm. This would only leave 2-2.5 hrs for the Normandy beaches. In addition, Omaha Beach is a good 30-45 minutes from Caen and Pointe du Hoc is farther. So, most of that time would be spent in the bus—with mostly photo stops and a longer visit at the American Cemetery and museum.

Look at the locations on the map below:

http://images.france-for-visitors.com/images/supersize/invasion-beaches-france-map.jpg

This may be what many passengers want, particularly if they have mobility issues. [We had a participant that used a cane. He stayed in the van at a couple of stops and was VERY tired by the end.] However, I felt the ship tour was more about museums and very little time at the actual sites.

If you had a good time on the ship’s tour that is great—I am just trying to provide information that took me quite some digging to locate.

Thanks you so much for your detailed travel log of the tour of the D-Day beaches. The pictures were great and the information you shared answered some lingering questions for us. We all really enjoyed your experience.

We are traveling with friends- "Seacrystal"- to France then on to Southampton England for an August 1 departure for Princess Northern Europe cruise.

Hi DragonOfTheSeas,

Your pictures really brought the Normandy beaches to life! I was just wondering if Guillaume Marie met you at the port or did you have to drive to Caen to meet him? We would be interested in contacting him but just needed to know the contact point.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Hi DragonOfTheSeas,

 

Your pictures really brought the Normandy beaches to life! I was just wondering if Guillaume Marie met you at the port or did you have to drive to Caen to meet him? We would be interested in contacting him but just needed to know the contact point.

 

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

He met us at the port. The 4 couples on our tour met in the centrum and we exited the ship together. There were 6-8 small tour vans and I walked in that direction and he stepped forward and asked if I was looking for him. He did not know what I looked like--but, I guess I looked like "someone on a mission." LOL

I asked him later how long it took him to get to the port. [since he had told us he lived in Normandy near the beaches] He said around 2 hrs. :eek:

We left at 8:00 am and he returned us to the port around 5:50 pm.

He is an excellent guide. I hope you have a good tour.

He met us at the port. The 4 couples on our tour met in the centrum and we exited the ship together. There were 6-8 small tour vans and I walked in that direction and he stepped forward and asked if I was looking for him. He did not know what I looked like--but, I guess I looked like "someone on a mission." LOL

 

I asked him later how long it took him to get to the port. [since he had told us he lived in Normandy near the beaches] He said around 2 hrs. :eek:

 

We left at 8:00 am and he returned us to the port around 5:50 pm.

 

He is an excellent guide. I hope you have a good tour.

Thank you so much for all the detail!:D I hope we are not too late to reserve him for our Normandy date.

Thank you so much for all the detail!:D I hope we are not too late to reserve him for our Normandy date.

I wish you luck. :D