Day: May 9, 2025

Bazouges-la-Pérouse to Vierville-sur-Mer

It was a beautiful sunny day today. Before leaving Château de la Ballue this morning we took another walk through the gardens but this time we used their printed guide to the gardens and saw things we had completely missed on our first walk. We also got to enjoy everything in the sun light.

We completely missed these topiary chickens on our first walk through the gardens. This area is called the chicken coop.
This area is called the regular garden.

About 11 we left the chateau and drove north to the coast of Normandy. Tonight we staying at Hotel du Casino, overlooking Omaha beach, one of the beaches the Americans landed on on D-day.

Omaha Beach and the Bedford Boys monument this picture was taken near low tide
The Bedford Boys monument and the National Guard monument. This picture was taken from our hotel room at close to high tide. The beach is essentially gone. The D-day invasion was done at low tide to make hazards visible. But that also meant the soldiers had to cover a lot of open beach to get to the shore.

Mid afternoon we had a very nice lunch in the hotel bar.

Lunch, Croque Normandie. Duke had seafood soup.

Later we went to Pointe du Hoc. U.S. Rangers scaled the cliffs here to disable the heavily fortified gun battery.

Pointe du Hoc gun battery overlooking the cliffs