Normandy

Action.

We are going camping in Normandy.  Our grand scheme is to start in Etretat, about 3 hours northwest of Bondoufle.  Then we will drive through Honfluer down to Bayeux and find a campground around there.  Tomorrow we will explore the D-Day Beaches and Mont St. Michel, camp again and then spend the final morning in St. Malo before heading back to Bondoufle.  The car is loaded with gear and food.  As the GPS guides us through the traffic circles and onto the highway, raindrops begin to slap the windshield and slide down to the car hood.  Not a promising start.  Helene had told us before we left that we should take a raincheck on the camping and stay in Paris.

Pringles duck face

Excited for our European roadtrip

But, just as we arrive in Etretat, the blue sky peeks through the clouds and the sun begins to gleam, burning the greyness away.  We spend a couple hours exploring the coastline of the old fishing village - the tops of the white chalk cliffs, the stoney beach, and the cavern coves.

Andrew on top of the cliffs

Double arches

Chalk cliffs

Etretat

Then we hit the road again and enjoy a beautiful sunset as we drive south to Bayeux, skipping over Honfluer because it is already so late.

It is amazing how many times a sunset
changes in a single hour

I don't know why we are surprised when we arrive at the campground after midnight and it is closed.  Eventually we end up parking in a hotel parking lot and spending the night in the car.  Half-way through the night, we wake up long enough to pull the sleeping bags out because it is so cold.  By morning, the windows are completely misted over by our sleeping breaths.  And so our first night of camping is a failure.

Campout in the car

An Aside - Growing up, my family used to sleep in the car in hotel parking lots all the time! My parents would drive until they got tired and then start looking for hotels.  If we couldn't find anything available, then we just parked and slept.  Usually, my brother and I would already be asleep at this point, so we wouldn't know until morning.  So, I thought it was funny that Andrew was a little paranoid about the whole thing until I mentioned that I had done it before.  I think he was afraid we would get caught.  But, what is the worst that could happen?  They could ask us to leave, I suppose, but then we could just drive to another parking lot...

We spend the day walking around the D-Day landing beaches - Arromanches, Omaha Beach, and Pont du Hoc.  The weather is beautiful today.  At Omaha Beach, we ponder the memorial museum and then climb down to the shoreline.  It is a huge beach and I am struck with how daunting it must have been to land there and have to cross such a stretch of exposed sand, fully knowing that you might not reach the other side and watching your comrades falling dead around.  There is no place to hide.

Bunkers and poppies near Arromanches

Some of the original artillery was still intact

Omaha Beach
The landing infantry men had to
cross 200 yards or more of open
beach; over 3000 casualities
by day's end

Pont du Hoc
The 100 foot cliffs were scaled by Rangers
of whom more than half were killed
or seriously injured

Flowers growing among the twisted rebar
of the destroyed bunkers at Pont du Hoc

The American cemetery above the beach is also awe-inspiring.  So many people are burried there, but not over the years and centuries.  Instead, it was mostly filled in just a couple weeks.

A flower honoring a dead soldier

The nameless dead

A token of honor and remembrance

Keeping in mind last night's poor timing, we leave for Mont St. Michel with plenty of time to find a campsite.  As we approach the castle on the rock in the middle of the water, the rain returns and the crisp outlines in the distance are quickly concealed.

Hoping to beat any oncoming downpour, we unpack our camping gear quickly, only to discover that Andrew has packed the wrong tent...and only half of it - the poles and ropes are missing.  We don't relish the idea of another night in the car, so we drive the 4 hours back to Bondoufle - rain pattering the glass, oncomiong headlights sparkling in the water droplets and music directing us through the night.

Cut.