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Normandy, March 2002
the Somme
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I'm fuzzy on whether the Somme qualifies as part of Normandy, but in any case the theme of the trip was old wars. The Somme, of course, represents all that was bad about WWI. Picture 1 is of one of the hundreds of (British) Commonwealth graveyards; Commonwealth soldiers were buried where they had fallen. It seemed that most of the graves we saw were of Australians or New Zealanders; there were also a few Germans buried in the same graveyards. Pictures 2 and 3 are of us in preserved battle trenches at the Canadian monument. As you can see, it was terribly cold and rainy. There are no special effects in these pictures -- it's all natural light, so you can see that it looked pretty foreboding.
Rouen Cathedral
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During our war tour, a reminder of what's beautiful. The Rouen Cathedral was the subject of several of Claude Monet's paintings. Julie's in pictures #4 and #7 -- note the light from the stained glass on the pillar and floor in #7.
Rouen by Night
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Rouen was pretty pleasant. On the right is a memorial to Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake on the square where we took the pictures.
Omaha Beach
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The famous beach from the D-Day invasions. Pictures 16-18 are of a German bunker, obviously destroyed.
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Picture 20: the official U.S. cemetery at the D-Day beaches.
Picture 21: The cathedral at Sainte Mere Eglise, made famous by a paratrooper landing on the spire and playing dead for many hours.
Pictures 22 and 23: some harmless-looking aggressors hiding in another German bunker
La Hague
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La Hague was a cape near Cherbourg, where we were based. Lots of quiet villages. A vigilant but somewhat harmless-looking dog came to challenge us in pictures 24 and 25 when we stopped in his hamlet. Picture 27 is of a rather nice residence in La Hague.
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