Since an undergraduate class, the first time Clare saw the fortress on an island that turned into a castle surrounded by sand, she wanted to visit it. Growing up in Southern California, she thought she understood tides. Here, however, the difference between high and low tides can be up to 50 feet, and the intertidal area is extremely flat, even flatter than other beaches we have recently explored.

Luckily, low tide was at 9:00 AM. We left our AirBnB early to have breakfast on the island.

Looking around at high tide, it’s difficult to imagine this solid rock island becoming part of the continent. As the day progressed and the tide went out, it did.

The trams from the parking lot disembark tourists on the bridge. The trams never need to turn around as they can be driven from either end! When we arrived, near high tide, the lowermost entrances were flooded, so we had to climb up a ramp initially.

After climbing up many staircases, we reached the west terrace of the abbey. It is here only because a fire destroyed the west end of the church in 1776.

Years before, humans built a road to the fortress, which blocked the flow of water. Both Marc and Joëlle remember visiting here as children and driving right out to the base of this fortress. Later, in 2014, engineers changed the road into a bridge to allow water to flow around the island and prevent the build-up of mud and sand..

We enjoyed exploring every part of the island-castle-fortress.

A group of musicians were performing for school children in a multi-story hall as we left the abbey.

We enjoyed an unusual lunch in a fancy restaurant on Main Street, La Mère Poulard, famous for its omelettes.

Soon after lunch, the tide was low enough for us to venture outside the castle walls for a view of a small adjacent chapel.

Getting down to the sand on the side near the small chapel was adventurous but worthwhile. We scrambled over some rocks, walked on the muddy sands, to find our way to the little chapel.

We walked back on the bridge past the first tram stop to see a dam constructed to release a lot of water at once in an effort to minimize sand deposition around the site. Brian turned back many times for photos.

In the evening, Marc and Joëlle went to the river to see the tidal bore (mascaret in French), a wave-like surge that occurs at high tide when the tide opposes the natural flow of the river into the sea, affecting areas for miles. The tidal differential varies, as does the height of the wave when it occurs, technically twice a day. Our friends were able to take a video and pictures of the surge, the wave about a foot or two high.

We left Jérome and his lovely home to stay at an AirBnB in Pontaubault. We are heading mostly north to some beaches and harbors, then heading south along the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula to Pontaubault where we will stay for three nights in an AirBnB. This day was for relaxation while traveling.

The smallest harbor in France, Port Racine, was originally built by a pirate. It is on a small peninsula west of Cherbourg. We parked nearby and walked all around there.

Little cabins are rented by boaters to store equipment. The small harbor has ropes for the boats to tie into.

Next, we arrived at Jobourg Cliff for views of this part of the English Channel. We walked around the peninsula for a bit.

In the region of Hague, we followed a tourist route to stay close to beaches on small roads. In the town of Siouville, we found a place for lunch.

Next, we visited the gardens around the home of Christian Dior, open to the public. The beautiful gardens are well kept. This much larger town is Granville.

We walked along the promenade then to to the local church, which was not open to enter due to disrepair. The stairs to the church are called “The Stairs of St Paul”.

Today, with Jèrome and Cèdric, we visited more D-Day sites. The first area was Arromanches, where British soldiers and engineers built a harbor in six days. Incredible! The Germans had blocked all the natural harbors, so this was the only way to get the large numbers of men and matériel to shore efficiently.

The modern D-Day Landing Museum was fantastic, with many videos and educational displays centered on the construction of the artificial harbor.

After lunch we drove to a more intact gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer

Next, Valerie showed us some favorite sites in Bayeux

Bayeux Cathedral

The following text is from a sign near the water features:

Two thousand years ago, the town of Bayeux was established on the western bank of the river Aure, now running through the city from the south to the north. From Gallo-Roman times to the beginning of the 20th century, a vast number of craft industries have grown up along its banks.

First, there was fishing. Part of the river, upstream of the lock gates, was thus set aside as a fishing reserve for the Bishop’s exclusive use.

Those craft industries requiring vast amounts of water were also concentrated along the banks: dyers, tanners, laundries. The wash-house that can be seen from the d’Ornano car park, on the opposite river bank, still bears witness to these activities.

Finally, water was used as an energy source as hydraulic power for the various mills: flour mills, tannin mills or even colza oil mills.

In the Middle Ages, some of the mills, such as the one facing us, belonged to the Bishop of Bayeux who derived considerable income from them.

The river has greatly influenced the city’s development. Stone bridges have been built at the main crossing points, notably here where the Aure was transformed into a canal as early as the 13th century to pass under the former Hôtel-Dieu hospital.

We also visited the large German cemetery at La Cambe where 21,000 soldiers are buried, many unidentified.

We then proceeded back to Ste-Mère Eglise.

The church was closed, but we went back the next morning to see the inside.

We stayed in Chef de Pont for three nights at Marc’s brother’s place —a wonderful, gracious host. The first night, Thursday, we met not only Jérome, but his daughter Léa and son Cédric, when we shared dinner. Cédric and Jérome will join our adventures for a few days.

The first place we visited this day was a wetland area inland from Utah Beach. As a possible defense against invasion, the Germans partially flooded this area to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula. This would have slowed invading Allies landing at Utah Beach and isolated the port at Cherbourg. It is now park land.

In Colleville-sur-Mer, we visited the American cemetery and the Big Red One museum. Traffic and parking were difficult!

The American cemetery on the terrace above Omaha Beach contains the graves of almost 10,000 men! The land is U.S. territory,

The Big Red One Museum, referring to the U.S. Army First Division, has many artifacts from the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach. These objects were collected by Pierre over decades. Brian’s great uncle George A. Taylor, led the 16th infantry as a Colonel. Pierre gave us a personal tour as he was excited to meet relatives of soldiers who fought in the landings.

The artist, Anilore Banon writes:

I created this sculpture to honour the courage of these men, sons, husbands and fathers who endangered and often sacrificed their life in the hope of restauring their fredom to the French people.

The sculpture THE BRAVE is made of three elements:

The Wings of Hope

So that the spirit that carried these men on June 6th, 1944 continues to inspire us, reminding us that together it is always possible to change the future.

Rise, Freedom!

So that the example of those who rose against barbarism helps us remain standing up against all forms of inhumanity.

The Wings of Fraternity

So that this surge of brotherhood always reminds us of our responsibility towards others as well as ourselves.

On June 6, 1944, these men were more than soldiers, they were our brothers.