Departed Bayeux, slowly headed for Amsterdam with a few minor detours. First stop Maisy near Omaha beach where there are kilometres of WW2 German trenches & gun emplacements. We walked down heaps of trenches & clamoured through many underground bunkers & munition stores. Many of the structure are still intact & many had been blown to pieces during the fighting. Besides us, there was hardly anyone looking at this stuff. I guess there is just so much still there, right up the Atlantic coast. The fact that it was 34 degrees may also have kept people away. We were talking to a lady who said a few months ago there was 2 metres of snow lying here. It was hard for us to imagine.
Next stop, Omaha beach, site of the blood soaked allied D day landing. Now a place for people to swim & sun bake. Overnight Abbeville France.
Today we went through Wissant, France, on the beach just south of Calais. We paddled in the water trying to see the white cliffs of Dover. They were just visible as a shadow through the haze of English pollution
(I guess it can't always be clear). As soon as we crossed the border & hit the great roads of Belgium & the Netherlands we covered distance very fast. We realised just how crappy French roads really are.
In fact we covered Belgium from south to north in under 2 hours including the lunch stop.
Good digs in Amsterdam & it looks the nicest European city we have seen to date. It feels great to be here.
As I write this my sister Roz & husband Byron are in the air over the atlantic & will land in Amsterdam early in the morning. It will be good to catch up with her tomorrow.
Next stop, Omaha beach, site of the blood soaked allied D day landing. Now a place for people to swim & sun bake. Overnight Abbeville France.
Today we went through Wissant, France, on the beach just south of Calais. We paddled in the water trying to see the white cliffs of Dover. They were just visible as a shadow through the haze of English pollution
(I guess it can't always be clear). As soon as we crossed the border & hit the great roads of Belgium & the Netherlands we covered distance very fast. We realised just how crappy French roads really are.
In fact we covered Belgium from south to north in under 2 hours including the lunch stop.
Good digs in Amsterdam & it looks the nicest European city we have seen to date. It feels great to be here.
As I write this my sister Roz & husband Byron are in the air over the atlantic & will land in Amsterdam early in the morning. It will be good to catch up with her tomorrow.
Entering a German underground bunker
This door leads into many underground rooms still in perfect condition. Notice the chunks taken out of the sloping roof from direct shell strikes during the fighting.
Testing the temperature of the Atlantic on Omaha beach.
One of very many guns still in place. These fired several miles into Omaha beach during the landing.
The monument at the point of the first landing at Omaha beach.
The comemorative stone above the beach sculpture.
On the beach at Wissant.
Omaha beach
Entrance to underground bunker.
