Normandy Day 3

Hello! (from Katie)

So for the third day in Caen, we had a nice day of mourning. A lot of grey. But I had a kiwi this morning for breakfast so that was a positive moment to start everything off. Had to postulate for a few minutes on how to go about eating it, but together (Rachael, me, and the other Katie) we were able to figure it out. This was also Katie’s first taste of a kiwi and the expression on her face said that her life was changed forever.

Anyway, back to the sad.

Our first stop of the day was at the Caen Normandy Memorial, a large building split down the middle with a glass corridor between the two, and a phrase carved into the building: “la douleur m’a brisée, la fraternité m’a relevée, de ma blessure a jailli un fleuve de liberté.” Translated (looked this up, because I definitely did not understand how it translated in my head) it says, “Grief broke me, Brotherhood raised me up, from my wounds sprung a river of liberty.”

Follow about two hours in the museum, relearning lots of horrific details about World War 2. We started reading the plaques in French, but the group ended up picking up speed, so Rachael and I switched to reading the English sessions. And then a while later after that, we just had to look at the pictures, because we were mentally and emotionally drained. Although there was this awesome picture of a group of women during the liberation in France, where every single one of them had these expressions of absolute glee. It was refreshing.

After the museum, we went to a German cemetery, St. Laurent, honoring the fallen soldiers.  They had plaques and a giant mound with statues topping it. It was sobering to look out over the field, seeing each of those markers in place of two lives lost. It would have been a massive crowd if the people were standing in place. Later Rachael reflected on the millions of lives lost to stop one man and his corrupted influence. While the stories of those who resisted and fought were heartening, it was also disheartening to think of all the steps that could have been taken to reduce the cost of war, or evade it entirely. If only they knew what those mildly disturbing events would lead up to. Hindsight in a grand scale.

We had lunch near the D-Day beaches in little town, where the sun disappeared and it started sprinkling. By the time we got to Point du Hoc, one of the German defensive positions lost to the Allies in the Normandy Invasion , it was pouring. We did a quick trot over the grounds, stopping at the first bomb hole in I think a mixture of shock and awe. The depth of it and the width is something a camera has a hard time capturing, perhaps because in our minds we know the full implications. We were walking by, and I couldn’t help but think, what must this ground have looked like during that July a handful of decades back. Just another stretch of unmarked land before the soldiers arrived.

The bunker offered us protection from the rain. Our tour guide pointed out the blackened wooden beams on the ceiling from the Rangers who decided that if bombing the bunker wouldn’t work, they would turn it into a giant furnace…They used the air pipes, hooked up their flame throwers, waited a bit for the gas to run, and flipped the switch. There was no body count because of the intensity of heat, just ashes.

By the time we boarded the bus again, we were all soaked. Still emotionally holding on though and maintaining our energy. By the time we got to our last stop of the day though, I was at the end of my limit. The American Normandy Memorial and Cemetary. It included another small museum walk through and video, which went through a few letters and stories. Outside was the cemetery, marked with Latin crosses and stars of David. Several markers were unmarked, one of which Rachael chose to leave her flower. There was also a reflecting pool, an MIA wall that listed all the names of the men who were never found. (There were bronze markers next to men’s names that they’d later discovered and buried in the cemetery). One of the quotes stated that the difference between conquering and assisting was that at the end of the battle, the only land desired was enough of a plot to bury the dead with dignity. Several of the people in the video commented on the beauty of the place as a fitting memorial and a place that people could find peace after such horrific trauma.

Two statues at the end of the cemetery depicted America and France, to represent the heroism of the American troops who came so far to protect people they had never seen, and the gratitude of France for their liberation.

Eventually Rachael and I wandered back to the bus (again, we were the last to finish our meandering). Not long after, we arrived at our hotel, our last night in Caen. After a while relaxing from the day and trying to dry completely off (my toes have only just warmed up to a normal temperature) we went out again to find dinner. Only, it’s Sunday, and in France they take Sunday seriously as a day of rest. Most of the places don’t open or have shorter hours. We eventually found a subway which was an interesting experience in and of itself.

Walked inside the building and hovered for a while, because we realized we couldn’t remember the exact words for the ingredients that go in a sub. Eventually we tottered over and tried to place our order, but our hesitation marked us as English speaking. One lady was sympathetic and seemed to appreciate our attempts, but the other I’m fairly certain just wanted us to scoot on out of there, and switched to English. In the end, we all ended up a little confused, because they also did things a little differently than the suway back home. Got our bread and our meet and cheese and then the other lady summoned us to pay, then we went back for vegetables. Or maybe that was just part of the hurry up and get out mentality. Perhaps if we visit another subway in Paris, we will find out. Lettuce is salade, by the way. We all completely spaced on that one. The bread was good though and the cookies reminded me of home, so in the end we dubbed it a success.

Tomorrow we venture onward to Paris and meeting our homestay families. The nerves begin again.

Until tomorrow!