A week for us to remember…

Week 2 – Juno Beach to Sainte-Mère-Église – 95 miles

Saturday 11th of May 2024

Juno Beach to Bayeux – 32 miles

It’s a bright clear blue sky this morning, and we have learned that most of the UK had a light show in the sky courtesy of a solar storm, the biggest in decades, providing some spectacular colourful skies. For us, it’s a stunning morning, not a cloud in the sky and already it’s quite warm. Day two of wearing shorts. How long will it last? We are joined by Karen for a cup of tea and to put together a plan for the day. We are off to Bayeux and stopping there for three nights. Karen has a rather splendid hotel and we are staying at the municipal campsite near town. We have been there there before. It’s a very good site and has everything we need, so we are looking forward to it.

Our main stop of the day is the American Cemetery of Normandy.

There are nearly 10,000 men buried here in beautiful grounds that are maintained all year round, they are immaculate. It’s not too far away but the drive is a bit twisty, taking us through small villages and bendy roads, so the drive will be about 40 minutes.

Just as we are about to get fed up with the drive we finally arrive at the cemetery and get parked up. The first thing that we have noticed is that to park here it’s free of charge, however in the British one that we went to yesterday, we had to pay for parking. Typical.

We have a walk around the cemetery which looks spectacular with its rows and rows of white crosses all perfectly in line. Again a very sobering day. So many young men gave their lives, each one marked by a white marble cross.

We meet Karen inside and take our time strolling around the cemetery and making our way back to the exit. Once at Jess, we have an impromptu lunch, very simple of bread, cheese, and sardines, which are delicious. The cemetery is now packed. We need to see these places before 1 pm and there are so many to see. We decide, however, to get to Bayeux. On the way, we will go to a shop, which by chance is next to the campsite. Karen gets checked into the hotel and spends some time by the pool while we get Jess stripped and cleaned out for her weekly clean.

Soon we have her ship shape and spend the afternoon in our back garden.

We have a small space but enough room for us. The rest of the day is spent chatting and reading. It’s perfect. Tonight Karen will be joining us at Jess for dinner. What shall we have?

At 7 pm Karen appears and as usual is well turned out. We are always in our scruff, but Karen has turned up in a different outfit every night. Fabulous. Tonight we are having a tomato, mozzarella with basil salad, followed by ravioli roulette, two types mixed up. Fabulous.

This is all helped along with a Sancerre and a Pouilly Fume wine. Even more fabulous. After a short break, Hayley puts together some orange slices sprinkled with Cinnamon. Fantastic. A lovely evening in the setting sun next to Jess and good company, food, and wine. That’s what this is all about.

We have a guest washer-upper tonight. Karen has volunteered to potter off and wash up the dinner stuff. Thanks, Karen.

The sun is setting and the air is starting to chill. Karen has left her car with us in the camp car park and like all good self-sufficient travellers has a fold-up bike in her boot. Within seconds it’s all folded out and ready to go. See you later…!

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Sunday 12th of May 2024 – Bayeux day 2

We slept well last night and woke up to a warm sunny morning. We have a long lazy breakfast, just for a change. Karen is calling on us at 11 this morning and we are going to Omaha Beach – the American Beach during the D-Day landings. This morning Karen has had a good walk around the town and shared these fantastic pictures of the local shop fronts that have paintings on their windows in commemoration of the 80th anniversary.

It’s hot already in the car as we do the 30-minute drive to Pointe du Hoc. Once parked up we enter a small modern building that is showing a short video about what went on here, namely the scaling of the cliffs by the US Rangers to get to the heavily fortified German bunkers at the top. And they are fortified. So much concrete and steel!

It’s getting hotter as we walk around this large site, which is full of bomb craters. It’s a relief to walk into some of the bunkers which are nice and cool! We think we have spent enough time here and head back to the car. Next, we are going to Omaha Beach – the American beach during the D-Day landings.

A short drive later we get parked up and head for a small cafe with a view out to sea and have a light lunch before heading along the beach to the town which is a good 30-minute walk. We set off, but the town is not getting closer.

If we have to do 30 minutes walking there, then of course we have to do the same coming back. Del is quick to point this out, the girls agree and we turn around and get back in the car for the 3-minute drive to the town.

We stop at The Braves sculpture. An impressive piece of art right on the beach. People walk around it, photograph it, even Del gets up close only to be told that “to respect those that died please do not go within 3 meters of the sculpture“.

It appears that nobody read that, even Del. Still, we stop and admire the sculpture and think again about what went on here.

The next stop is the Overlord museum, which is back towards the American Cemetery. We are starting to flag a bit now. It’s so hot and humid, but we push through and go into the museum which is reasonably priced, and once in is very interesting. It tells the whole story of WW2 and the rise of Hitler and his massive war machine.

There are mock-up scenes using real equipment that have been gathered by a Frenchman who came up with the idea of the museum but sadly died before it opened. It’s a very interesting museum, one of many in the area, but this one should go on your list if you are ever in these parts.

At 4 pm we decide that we have had enough and set off back for home. Karen to her hotel, Del and Hayley back to Jess, where we sit in the sun, guzzling water. We will all meet at 6:15 tonight for dinner in the town of Bayeux.

Dinner tonight is in a small hotel restaurant which is packed! The last time we were here was September 2 years ago when it was almost empty, so it was a surprise to see not only the inside but the outside just packed. Fortunately, Karen was able to get a table for us and guarded it until we arrived.

All very nice and pleasant. Hayley was dissappointed that it was not the same as her last visit. Karen enjoyed it, Del loved it. He had everything raw! Six oysters and steak tartar. Delicious.

We end the day at Karen’s hotel with a glass or two of Sancerre with some good conversation.

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Monday 13th of May 2024 – Bayeux day 3

The weather has changed, and quite a lot. It’s grey this morning and today we are expecting rain later. We shall see.

Today we are meeting Karen in town and we will set off to see the Bayeux Tapersty.

On the way we pop into a ‘Salon de the’ for…, tea. Karen has a coffee and a pastry. The shop is lovely with a beautiful terrace on the top floor. It sells the most spectacular looking cakes, again a French speciality. Their cakes are the best.

Tea drinking done, we head for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. 12 euros later we have the English translation headphones on and we are off. For Karen it’s the first time, for Del and Hayley it’s the third! We love it here. We are all feeling a little tired and a bit worse for wear after last night.

Next, we are setting off in Karen’s BMW for the D-Day Experience.

The D-Day Experience is considered to be one of the best museums on the subject. There is a cinema, a museum and an aircraft simulator. It is also the location of Dead Man’s Corner, which is a road junction where an American soldier was left sitting dead in his tank by the Germans.

The cinema is in 3D and is brilliant. It tells the story of the D-Day landings in excellent detail and is easy to follow, an excellent job.

The house at Dead Man’s Corner is a museum and is also a very interesting location. It was used as a German paratrooper command post, so the rooms in the house have all been recreated. At the back of the building is a shop that sells original artefacts from spent bullet cases, medals, flags and clothes. A fascinating shop.

The main museum is just as good with excellent recreations and displays.

For the aircraft simulation, you attend a briefing by an American commander using 3D projection explaining what the mission will be, after which you are led into an original Douglas C47 Skytrain troop carrier called Stoy Hora, it’s an aircraft that has been mounted on hydraulic jacks and a lift. Inside the plane, the windows have been replaced by monitors showing what’s going on outside.

It’s very effective as we simulate a lift off from Exeter, flying through storm clouds whilst being shot at and eventually making an emergency landing in France. Very effective.

By now we have had enough and do the 30 minute drive back home. We separate and just relax for an hour or two. The rain is now heavy and constant, but it breaks just enough for us to walk into town to meet up with Karen before 7 for dinner. We have found a smashing resturant and have the best meal out of the trip so far. Fabulous.

It’s our last night wth Karen. Tomorow she has to drive back to Le Havre, a good couple of hours away for an 9pm ferry back home. She will be joining us for a last breakfast tomorrow.

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Tuesday 14th of May 2024 – Bayeux day 4

At 10am sharp there is a tap at the van door. It’s Karen who is joining us for her breakfast, our last one together. Del is up and running with tea, toast and scrambled eggs, oh, and he’s running back and forward doing the laundry!

A mixed bag of weather today. With the sun out it’s nice and warm, but we do keep getting sharp little showers now and then. Well, we are in Normandy and Normandy is famous for being wet. There is also a breeze which is building.

After breakfast, we all pile into Karen’s car and head for the Bayeux War Cemetery, which is mainly a burial ground for British soldiers. Like all the other cemeteries here there is a headstone for each of the fallen but this one has more colour.

The base of each gravestone has small shrubs and colourful flowers. It’s all quite nice and of course very neat. Here there are not only British service men, but there are also other nationalities, Polish, Czech, Russian and some Germans.

After our pleasant walk, we head back to the car. The next stop is a wine warehouse, that is located right outside our campsite. Karen is on a mission to stock up and there’s no better, more convenient place than this. Del & Hayley also buy a bottle of two and some very colourful tins of sardines… Nice.

We help Karen load her boxes of wines into the car and we all set off for the supermarket to do a small stock up then back to Jess for a small lunch before Karen sets off for home.

Just before 3 pm, Karen is loaded up, fed and watered and we are waving her off. Her ferry is from Le Havre at 9 pm local time, but she intends to stop along the way to visit Caen and anywhere else that she might find along the way.

It has been very nice having Karen share our first week and a bit. Great company, lively conversation, some deep, some not so, but always entertaining. Very good company indeed. We have eaten and sometimes drank a lot, but we are in France and they do do a good feed and drink here, and we are not here for very long!

Safe travels Karen, and see you back home on the island… xx

Hayley and Del spend the rest of the afternoon, dodging the showers of rain and doing more of the laundry. The decision has been made to stay another day and cycle to the Normandy museum. There is still lots to do here and with 9 days left before home another day won’t do us any harm, and it’s very nice here.

The evening is a nice dinner in.

Tonight Hayley signs up to the Open University OpenLearn and starts a 12 hour course on the ‘Science of Nuclear Energy’. Well you have to have a hobby!

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Wednesday 15th of May 2024 – Bayeux Day 5

Having done 5 days now here in Bayeux, we have finally run out of fresh water, and because we are now staying another day, we also have been asked to go to another pitch. We will fill up with fresh water and dump the grey when our space becomes available. It’s a sunny morning, and dry. Breakfast is bacon sandwiches and coffee. There is an empty place at the table this morning…

We have to wait for our space to become vacant before we can do anything today, it’s already 10am, and the spot that we are going into is still occupied and they are still asleep in there…

After a while, Hayley can’t wait any longer, as there is no indication of the people in the pitch getting up, and we don’t want to see our last day in Bayeux being eaten away. She sets off for the camp office and returns quite quickly with a new pitch number. We pack up and empty the grey water, fill up with fresh and install ourselves in our new spot. It’s bigger than the last one, with the sun at the back of the van for most of the day.

We unhook the bikes from the back of Jess and set off towards the Battle of Normandy Museum.

Located not too far from the Bayeux War Cemetery, the museum can be identified by a couple of tanks outside. For the price of the ticket, 14 euros you get entrance to the museum and to the Bayeux Tapestry, which we have already seen this week.

The museum is excellent. If D-Day wasn’t bad enough, and we have seen lots of stuff about that, what happened afterwards in Normandy was also pretty dreadful, and went on for some time after D-Day. This museum is all about what happened in Normandy after D-Day. Lots to look at, lots to read all very interesting stuff.

Back on the bikes, we make our way across town to the cathedral. A massive imposing building, but beautiful. Inside it’s very grand and on a large scale. The ceilings seem to go on forever.

We are not religious, but we do like these cathedrals, the building of them so many hundreds of years ago is quite something.

After a good look and walk around the cathedral we decide that if we have a ticket to the Bayeux Tapestry then why not use it…? We love the tapestry, it’s one of our favourite artefacts which is made all the more amusing as we both hated it at school… After a short walk, we are in a very short queue to see it. Since our last visit with Karen a few days ago, Hayley has done a bit more swotting up on the details of what “the rag” is all about and shares the details with Del before going in. It never fails to amuse us and hold our attention. A 70m strip of linen embroidered by women nearly 950 years ago that tells a story about a couple of blokes that have a fight, one of which gets it in the eye! Amazing.

If you would like a quick, easy-to-follow run-through of the story, have a look here. It’s very good.

We are hungry now and after a walk around the lovely streets of Bayeux, we find a smart little restaurant to have a simple early dinner. It’s fantastic, very simple, but so tasty and very enjoyable. The heavens have opened and it pours down for a short period. Satisfied with our day we make our way back to the bikes.

We get but a few meters out of the restaurant and we are suddenly showered, heavily, with what feels like a bucket of water being poured on us, only to find out that it’s bird poo…!!!! Hayley takes the direct hit. She is covered in the stuff from her head to her shoes. She looks like someone has thrown a bucket of paint at her. We couldn’t see the offending bird as it made its escape unaware of the damage below, but whatever it was it was huge…

We get back to the bikes smelling like an old birdcage, it stinks as we cycle back to camp to strip off and shower. Hayley hand-washes the coats and bike bag. Del also has got a light coating. It’s everywhere…is there something about it being lucky…? The amount that has hit poor Hayley, she should go and buy a dozen lottery tickets… sharpish.

Back at the van, cleaned up, we sit in the early evening sunshine. It’s lovely and quiet, the silence only broken by bird song. Fabulous. We are leaving Bayeux tomorrow and heading for our third D-Day beach, Utah.

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Thursday 16th of May 2024 – Bayeux to Utah Beach 37 miles

Finally, after 5 nights here in Bayeux, we are on the move again. A week today it will be over and we will be back home. It’s a bright sunny morning as we settle into a nice breakfast of soft boiled eggs, toast and coffee before preparing Jess for departure. Del does the washing up while Hayley prepares the inside of the van. It’s amazing how you spread yourself out if you stay for anymore than a couple of days in place. We have enjoyed this past 5 days in Bayeux. We like it here very much, the campsite is beautiful the town is lovely. We have had a good friend with us for most of it… It has just been one of those very nice weeks!

We have filled up with fresh water, dumped the grey water and Del has emptied the toilet. A quick stop at the local supermarket for some basics and we are on our way. Today we are going the furthest west on this trip to Utah Beach, one of the American beaches in the D-Day landings before turning around tomorrow to head slowly for home.

It’s a lovely drive today. No motorways, just French country roads with green fields and trees. Nice.

We soon arrive at the ‘Camping Carpark’ at Utah Beach, and without too much fuss, and an efficiency that frightens us, we are parked up, plugged in, and bikes off the back and away for the gentle flat cycle to Utah beach itself.

We have been here before, but it’s always worth another visit to see the expansive beach and to stand there trying, and failing to imagine how it might have been 80 years ago.

There is a lot to see here and there is a fabulous museum right on the beach. We have been to the museum on our last trip but this time we give it a miss in favour of ice cream and a walk.

Back on the bikes, this time we are looking for a German bunker a few kilometres from where we are. Again we have a look at the beach here before mounting the bikes and heading back to Jess. It’s a lovely afternoon, warm in the sun, so we head back for tea and a read.

A lovely afternoon in the sun, but it does start to cloud over and get cool. It doesn’t stop us though. We have the awning out and put warmer clothes on and stay outside in the fresh air.

We are in a nice place. Out in the country, lots of bird song with horses across the not very busy road. Not bad for a Thursday.

Dinner tonight… Italian, on Jess our Italian van…! It’s a gorgeous night. After a short sharp shower, the sky turns blue and it’s a beautiful fresh evening. While enjoying our dinner a French van turns up next door and has trouble stretching his electricity cable so we offer him to trail it through our ‘terrace’. He is so grateful that he comes over with a gift of a bottle of wine. How sweet!

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Friday 17th of May 2024 – Utah Beach to Sainte-Mère-Église 8 miles

Sadly our journey in the direction of home starts today. We are now heading back slowly towards Calais for the ferry home next Thursday. We still have a few places to go to and check out, so it’s not over yet.

Unusually, we are packed, serviced and on our way by 9:45am! It’s less than 10 miles to today’s destination. We are going to Sainte-Mère-Église (Holy Mother church). A tiny town but very significant. It is where the American Airborne Division first landed on D-Day and was the first French town to be liberated.

The church is very old and charming, some of the windows have been replaced, because of war damage, with new colourful windows commemorating The American Airborne Division. Have a look here for the story of that time. It is also famous for the paratrooper, John Steele who while descending, got his chute caught on the church in the town and had to pretend to be dead for up to two hours before being cut free by the Germans and taken prisoner.

Because of the significance of the American action in the town, there is a museum here, The Airborne Museum.

This museum is excellent, one of the best we have seen. Packed with stuff to read, listen and interact with. The town has a great affection for the Americans, and understandably so, and this amazing museum tells the whole story. A great place to visit.

We spend a good three hours in the museum, you could quite easily spend a lot more time there, but we have seen enough and take a walk around the town. It’s so small it doesn’t take long at all, so we head back to Jess for a lazy afternoon.

The evening is beautiful. Clear blue sky, no wind, just the birds. We have a very light dinner, have showers, and sit out for the rest of the evening, just soaking up the early evening air. It has been a good day. Very enjoyable.

Please note: It may appear to the observant reader, that Hayley is wearing the same top all the time. For the record, she has several stripy tops, and one she has two off. All part of her trying to be “French”. No chance.

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