| Normandy We spent three days in Bayeux, a small town near the coast of Normandy while visiting the battlefield site where U.S. soldiers stormed ashore to liberate Europe in World War II. The background on this page is the chapel at the Normandy American Cemetery |
| Nearly 10,000 Americans are buried at the Normandy American Cemetery. The battlefield is remarkably untouched with many bomb craters and the remains of German bunkers and gun emplacements. On one of the monuments is a plaque dedicated to the 6th Naval Beach Battalion, a unit of which Jeff Collier's father was a medical officer on D-Day. |
| I am standing in a bomb crater. |
| Our first few nights in France were spent in a small hotel in Bayeux. Here is a view from our window. This hotel was built in 1734. It was fun conversing with the staff using our best "French." This cathedral is typical of many in France. Great beauty and awesome construction is the only way to describe them. That the French did not neglect to erect such monuments is a great credit to their historic faith. |
| The little town of Honfleur draws painters and artists to sketch its picturesque harbor. The sidewalk cafe here is typical of French towns and Paris as well. If you didn't know what you were eating for an entree, at least you could count on a great dessert! |