Day 6, June 14, 2026: Rest day and tour of Normandy Battle Sites
Today was a rest day, so did not bicycle. But we were not idle. Rather than bicycling, our leaders brought us (by taxi) to three historic sites.
The first site was the German batteries at Longues-sur-mer. A little background is in order here to explain the significance of this site. Germany invaded France in May of 1940. D-Day was June 6 of 1944. Starting in 1942 Germany began preparing what they called the “Atlantic Wall.” The “wall” was a line of fortifications along the Atlantic coast from Norway to Spain to defend Germany from attacks from the United Kingdom.
Although the Germans expected an invasion at Calais, France, the nearest point to England, they also fortified the Normandy Beach area. In the particular spot we visited, the Germans had built four concrete “pill boxes” with cannons overlooking the Atlantic. To make matters even tougher for the Allies, these pill boxes were on top of cliffs about 180’ above the seashore.
We should all be greatly impressed at the bravery and courage of soldiers as they disembarked from ships into withering cannon and gunfire. Amazingly, highly trained rangers ascended these cliffs and overpowered the Germans in the pill boxes. By the end of the day on June 6, 1944, the Allies were on top of the cliffs at Normandy.
Next, we went to the Bayeux War Cemetery. It was an American Cemetery, the largest cemetery in France. It contains 4,144 Americans who sacrificed their lives—just at that particular invasion site. It was a sad and sobering site.
After returning to our hotel, I walked about a mile to the Normandie Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy—a museum exclusively devoted to the Battle of Normandy and the Allies journey to the Rhine throughout the summer of 1944. It was a very informative museum, well-worth the visit.
Even though it was a quiet, down-day, I still walked about 12,000 steps and I am ready for the ride tomorrow to more Normandy invasion sites.
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