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Day 110, 22 October 2012. Saint Lo - Bayeux village and Cathedral - Aromanche Beach - Batterie de Longues - American War Cemetery, Omaha Beach - Port-en-Bessin - Point D'hoc - Home! Our first full day in Normandy was quite overwhelming. To see so many places so vital in history and to the outcome of WWII in Europe was an education for me and James. We started out in Bayeux and visited the glorious Cathedral and the crypt dating back to the Romans. This gorgeous little town had many original buildings including a half-timbered house dating from the 14th century. From Bayeux it was on to Aromanche and the beach with the artificial Mulberry B harbour. At the Batterie de Longues in a spooky fog we saw the German gun emplacements and imagined the fear in the sailors off shore as they were shelled from these indestructible concrete terrors. Lee gave us a personalised tour of the American War Cemetery above the D-Day landing site of Omaha Beach. With over 9000 graves and a wall of the missing numbering over 1000, this was nevertheless a beautiful, peaceful and gracious place to visit. Running our hands over the marble crosses and reading the names and ages of so many dead - brother next to brother, father next to son - brought a tear to my eye. We continued on to visit Port-en-Bessin where William the Conquerer is said to have prepared his boats for the attack on England and which is now France's 7th port. It is also a dry harbour, something we had never seen before. When the tide flows out through the gates, boats are left in the mud, not to float again until the tide is high. Final stop of the day was Point d'Hoc where the Ranger contingent came ashore in 1944 and a monument stands to their bravery. The site is overgrown in many parts but the moonlike craters are still obvious where bombs landed. Including one site where an ammunition bunker was hit. The concrete roof collapsed and munitions exploded all around. It is possible (and we did) to pick up shards of gunpowder flakes out of the muddy earth and light them. Now that is holding history in one's hands 68 years after the fact. A long and memorable day.
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