Omaha Beach - Pointe du Hoc in background
Omaha Beach - US Cemetary
Omaha Beach - monument
Arromanches - Debarkment Museum
Transportation for the dayFriday, May 14th
I started the day by checking out of my hotel in Caen, France and walking to the metro station. I rolled my big bag all the way to the metro - it didn't slow me down much at all. I then took the metro to the main train station in Caen where I had an 8:41am train to Bayeux, France.
Bayeux is located very near the coastline of Normandy - approximately 10 miles at its nearest point. I was suprised when I got into town to find that the public buses out of Bayeux only ran to the beaches sparingly. The more I think about it - I'm sure now that the daily tours have taken over the bus travel. Therefore, if you're a visitor, #1 option to travel to Normandy beaches is via car, and #2 option is to take the tours. #3 and beyond are to taxi, take the public buses, or to bike.
I would have taken the tours, I just didn't feel like it today. I wanted to do my own thing. In addition to saving about $60-$80 - I could be more mobile. I didn't feel like I needed as much explanation here - I just wanted to walk. All of the above led me to the tourist information center in Bayeux. I happened to be there when a guy walked in and said he had about 3 hours - he wanted to see Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery - is there a bicycle rental place in town. The lady said: "Yes - right behind us here on the street". The guy was obviously from the US. I went over and said: "Chief, mind if I join you on the bike ride to Omaha Beach?" He said that would be fine.
This guy, Jake, was an officer in the US Navy. He was a graduate from the Univeristy of Illinois in nuclear engineering. He is stationed in Germany and had to get back to his military plane by 2:00pm. He will soon be transferring to the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii once he gets back to the states. He is originally from Indiana. He said, "I don't have much time, but I have to see Omaha Beach before I leave this country" I said: "Let's make it happen"
We get our bikes and head out. Jake says: "I run and bike alot - I'm not too worried about this ride" I'm thinking: "Great, I'm a couple days in to recovering and I have a superstar military officer setting the pace." The ride over was good, but we were getting after it. It was all I had to keep up. Even though the tourist center and some tour books say that a rental bike is an option - I would not recommend this to anyone. (unless you were a big-time biker) The streets you must travel to the beaches are 1 lane each way. Zero shoulder. Cars had to veer around us. If cars were coming in both direction, the car behind us had to stop and wait. There was major traffic. To be honest, it was not the smoothest decision I ever made. It was dangerous. My only saving grace is the fact that I have biked alot in my life (very little in the past 10 years); but nonetheless, I had experience of biking on rodes like this. You had to keep your wheel on the white line on the far right of the road, and not move it under any circumstances. One little veer here or there - you'd be hit by the car trying to pass.
Once arriving at Omaha Beach, my legs were like jelly. I about fell down after getting off the bike - legs trembling. We had rode about 15 miles are so - but quickly. Jake only had about 45 minutes because the ride over took us an hour. I walked around with him and took some pictures. We ran down to the beach and got some shots before he left. A good guy - you gotta feel proud to have your safety in the hands of someone like that representing our military.
I stayed at Omaha another couple hours. Really interesting. I walked along the beach. Eerily calm. I walked around the US cemetary. Names listed with their location in the states. Their was also a visitor center where they had displays and further information. Omaha Beach had the most casualties on D-Day. The Americans had planned to occupy an area 16 miles long and 6 miles deep by the end of June 6th. However, by that evening, a zone just 5 miles long and 1.2 miles deep was held. Omaha was one of the 2 beaches landed on by American soldiers (the other being Utah Beach). There were US flags eveywhere. In the restaurant I ate at, pictures of US presidnents were proudly displayed. Perhaps Europeans are not too fond of US in general, I don't think this is the case here in Normandy. You could find US flags everywhere you went.
After leaving the US Cemetary, I continued on down the rode to another section of Omaha --- Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer. This showed the area where the bridgehead was created for supplies. The bridgehead allowed 500,000 men, 100,000 vehicles, and 1,300,000 tons of various supplies to land in a few months - making Omaha the largest harbor in Europe.
I then got back onto the bike and headed to Gold Beach. I wanted to visit a place called Arromanches. It was a good 15+ miles on the bike. I was pedalling into a major headwind and there were some unfriendly hills on this section of the course. By myself, I trudged along. I only saw about 5 other bikers all day. 3 of which were obviously hard-core bikers. The other 2 were a husband and wife team, who didn't at all look like bikers, but who knows how far they were riding.
Arromaches has the Musee Du Debarquement. It's arguably one of the biggest tour sites along the entire Normandy coastline. I grabbed some pictures here but I really didn't have much time now. I needed to have my bike back to the shop by 6pm. Arromaches was a great spot. The beaches here were way bigger than Omaha Beach. You could see how the soldiers could have had more beach front to get their bearings once landing shore. Omaha - once landed - you were right there on top of the Germans.
I headed back to Bayeux. It was a good day. With a car, I would defintely have travelled the entire Normandy coastline. But, I got to see 2 beaches and the American Cemetary. It was a great experience and helped me appreciate what actually took place that day. I guess if you're 70 years old or older, you may even remember this day. Hopefully there will not be a copy of this any time in the near future.
Got on the 6:40pm train to Paris. I have a hotel in Paris tonight. We'll see about tomorrrow - not sure the plan just yet.
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