CHAPTER 9. NORMANDY & BRITTANY CONT.

The Honfleur inner harbor has gates that retain its water while the outer harbor at low tide is ten feet lower and boats are setting on the mud. We drive along mostly deserted beach areas with apartments and homes closed for the winter. The beaches are wide and flat at low tide with occasional horseback riders, a fisherman, and a bundled up girl walking a dog. On to Caen for lunch and to the tourist office for reservations in Bayeux and Dol de Bretagne. We are tired, so drive directly to the Bayeux Hotel where the room is on the third floor; with no elevator, we leave the suitcases in the car.

The next morning we notice photographs of Eisenhower and Cronkite on the Normandy beaches, an autographed photo of Carter with thanks for hospitality on his stay here in ‘75, and a thank you letter from Nancy Reagan in ‘82.

We arrive at the Bayeux Tapestry museum when it opens, and rent earphones for an English description of the monumental tapestry of William’s conquest. We see another museum with art, ceramics, and lace; then the cathedral with some memorable windows. Going on to Arromanches, a pretty fishing village, we see remains of the D-Day harbor. At Port en Bressin we eat a picnic lunch at the quay overlooking picturesque fishing boats.

At the impressive and extensive American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach Glenn checks the register for the name of a friend who died on D-Day in Navy service and finds he was not buried overseas. The coast of Normandy still has evidence of the bombing and concrete German defensive positions; Point du Hoc has bomb craters around gun emplacements and a command post. It is easy to see why the coast was so difficult to conquer.