NI Photowalk: Pegasus Bridge

Our first stop in France was the Pegasus Bridge and its nearby museum.

This bridge was captured by British glider forces early in the morning of June 6, 1944.  The regiment was called the Pegasus Regiment, so the bridge has taken its name from the unit.

The bridge that crosses the canal today is a replica of the original.  The original had to be replaced in order to handle the weight of modern traffic.

This was one of two essential bridges for the Allies to capture in order for the troops to get off the beaches and move inland.  These small victories allowed the British and Canadian troops to begin moving toward Caen.

All of Normandy seems like one big museum.  There are pieces of artillery all over the place, and it seems like every building has some piece of the story connected to the war.

Before visiting the museum, we did stop at this cafe for lunch, the same house some of the British soldiers ate at on D-Day.

The original bridge sat in a field for awhile, and then the museum bought it from the country of France for 1 Euro.  

You can still see bullet holes in the steel of the bridge.

They have replaced the road bed with steel - it was originally oak, and they extended the bridge before replacing it.

The country side is still pretty much like it was the day of the landings.

The Museum included a replica of a glider plane.  They were made of wood and landed in farmer's fields.  The farmers would salvage what they could, and then burn the rest.

The stripes were painted on the wings of Allied planes so that ground forces would know the difference between Allied planes and Axis planes.

The tires on the replica are original.  These a farmer had taken and used on his tractor.  He sold them back to the Museum.

Extra supplies would be stored in these compartments in the wings.

A motored plane would tug the glider, and then release the cable.  It became illegal for pilots to cut the tow cable early.

The photographer in me enjoyed the exhibit on the military press corps that covered the invasion.

I want to collect cameras.

Brigadier James Hill

A memorial to the Pegasus Regiment

This is an example of the temporary bridges that the Allied Engineers built to handle to amount of traffic that was streaming into France after the initial invasion.

NI Day 13: The Longest Day

12:30 AM Paris (6:30 PM Newport) hang up from talking to Mom, change clothes, go to bed
2:00 AM (8:00 PM Newport) C wakes me up to tell me that she thinks her reaction to something at lunch is getting worse, try to calm her down, text her Mom, decide I need to be completely packed in case she decides she needs to go the hospital
3:30 AM (9:30 PM) decide to try to sleep again
5:00 AM (11:00 PM) alarm goes off, hit snooze for thirty minutes, shower and get ready for breakfast
6:00 AM (12:00 AM) go wake up C, eat breakfast
7:00 AM (1:00 AM) go wake up C again, finish packing
8:00 AM (2:00 AM) depart for the airport, snooze a little on the bus
10:30 AM (4:30 AM) arrive at airport, stand in line to check in, stand in line for passport control, stand in line for security, find gate, try to spend the last of my Euros on chocolates and a soda
12:00 PM (6:00 AM) plane takes off in time, attempt to watch movies and sleep, eat airplane food, had this pretzel bread with turkey and Gouda that was really good, watched The Book Thief, had a middle seat
9:30 PM (3:30 PM) land, go through passport control, realize our luggage went to a different building than we did (our fault), our group in the other building collects our bags and sends them over, check-in for Knoxville flight, go through customs, go through security
11:15 PM (5:15 PM) through security, C is on the phone with her Dad, I'm on the phone with her Mom, there are flight delays everywhere because of thunderstorms but ours is currently on schedule, C slept through one meal and skipped the second on the plane, go to our terminal, eat a Fuddruckers burger with another team that has a late flight, eat too much, brush my teeth
1:00 AM (7:00 PM) arrive at our gate, everything still in schedule, work on blog
2:00 AM (8:00 PM) flight delayed from 9:55 PM till 11:04 PM
3:00 AM (9:00 PM) flight delayed till 12:04 AM, begin investigating other options to get home because of limited flights on July 4
4:00 AM (10:00 PM) flight delayed till 1:00 AM, C napping, finish blog, go buy water just in case we are stuck overnight, go to charge phone
4:44 AM (10:44 PM) receive word the inbound flight was canceled, brace for worse, new departure time 11:00 PM
5:00 AM (11:00 PM) flight delayed to 11:45 PM and gate changed across the corridor, have a nice conversation with a girl who took the train from NYC to DC, took her six hours instead of three, and a man who lives in Churchill
5:39 AM (11:39 PM) board plane
7:30 AM (1:30 AM) plane lands in Knoxville, along with our luggage, find out there is a picture of me at Point du Hoc taken by a friend in NJ's daughter, the daughter doesn't know me
9:00 AM (3:00 AM) arrive in Newport, love on Neyland the cat
9:30 AM (3:30 AM) fall asleep in my own bed, in clean night clothes, with the cat snuggled up close
3:00 PM (9:00 AM) wake up

Today's steps 7126

NI Day 12: I Hate Paris

C and a few of her new friends and another teacher decided to go to 8 AM mass at Notre Dame.  I did not want to get up at 6 AM in order to make it to mass, so I told them I would see them later in the day.  I have been to Notre Dame during Sunday morning mass anyway on my previous trip to Paris in 1997.

So, I slept a little later, had a quick breakfast in gage hotel, and just rested and worked on my blog until time to get ready for our formal reception to wrap up our program.  The reception was held at a building between the American a Embassy and the French President's Residence.  We didn't have any special guests, but the meal was very good.  We had cantaloupe for an appetizer, a chicken stuffed with mushrooms and some kind of potato-apple cake and a small bundle of green beans wrapped in bacon.  One of the adults at our table was a little baffled by the bacon and green beans, but I pointed out in the south we throw bacon or pork in our green beans while they are cooking.  Dessert was a strawberry bread pudding thing that was most yummy.

The NHD Director made a few comments and then presented each student with a plaque.  The students then called up their teachers to receive a plaque as well.  It was a nice ending to the program.  We returned to the hotel for a quick clothing change and left with the other teacher, C, and her friends.

Down the street from our hotel, we passed a memorial for the Jews rounded up and held in the velodrome for two days in 1942.

We went back to the Eiffel Tower for daylight photos and to explore the possibility of going up.  I fussed at the kids a little about paying attention, about keeping up, and about being aware of their surroundings.  I do think they finally learned why by the end of the day, but I'm jumping ahead.  We waded into the crowd for pics, but the line was very long for going into the tower so we decided to skip that.

We crossed the street and walked down to the bank along the Seine River where we took a river cruise.  It was warm, and we ended up sitting on the wrong side of the boat for a lot of the big sites.  Even though I had slept in, it was so peaceful and relaxing, I kept dozing off.

We stopped for a snack.  I had lemon ice cream, and it was tart.  The others had icees or crepes.  We then boarded the Metro to go to the Louvre, and that's when they realized why we were concerned.  As we were making a transfer, a group of twenty something's made a commotion, and then too off running.  We then heard some one yelling stop! Stop!  We paused on the step and turned to watch as a woman handed off her baby to another woman and took off running.  Yes, we had just witnessed a mugging.

The Paris subway system is a labyrinth anyway, and the infrastructure has not been updated.  If I never have to walk up and down a set of steps in my life, it won't bother me.  It is also the most crowded subway system I have ever had to ride on.  Give me the London tube or The Washington Metro any day.

We made it to the Louvre and raced to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Hammurabi's Code.  I appreciate art, but I don't enjoy it necessarily, especially in a crowded museum.  I really don't know how anyone appreciates the Mona Lisa in the madness of the Louvre.

We did some trinket shopping.  I got Kayla a t-shirt because that's what she asked for, some magnets, and a pin.

We entered the maze again, this time aiming for Sacre Coeur, or the Sacred Heart in Mont Matre.  We wanted to take the funicular to the top, and were walking down the street looking for it.  I saw the stairs of death, which earned me a free ride in an ambulance in 1997, and would probably kill me today.  I knew the funicular was near, though, and we located it fairly quickly.  We rode to the top and took in the view.  The rest of my group went up the steps to visit the church and I sat on the steps to enjoy the atmosphere.

I bought a bottle of water, though people kept offering to sell me a Heiniken, and watched a street entertainer juggle a soccer ball.  He would climb a lamp post and keep it going.  It was quite impressive.  I have a rule that if I stop to enjoy a street performer, I give him money, so I did.  At one point, a woman came down the steps and stopped beside me, and was yelling across me at someone.  It made me very nervous.  Paris just doesn't feel like a safe city.  I know wherever you are, you have to be wary of pick pockets, but I was constantly on edge in Paris.

We trinket shopped some more.  C made an excellent purchase of Oreos.  We rode the funicular back down and found a cafe for supper.  I had spaghetti bolagnaise, or meat and tomato sauce.  We ate quickly, and then hurried back to the hotel to beat curfew by 15 minutes.  We apparently were the only group that stayed out that late.

I had early shift for breakfast, so I decided that the little bit of packing I had left I would do in the morning.

Today's step: 17539

NI Day 11: Remembrance

Everything we had been working toward since being accepted into this program was wrapped up in today's activity.  We boarded the bus and drove to the American Cemetery at Collelvile-ser-Mer where over 9000 bodies of American soldiers who lost their lives in the Normandy invasion are buried.  An additional 1000 plus names are engraved on the wall of the missing.

We first participated in a wreath laying ceremony, which included the National Anthem and Taps.  As someone who tears up at the National Anthem during ball games, I was afraid I was going to be a wreck.  Watching people stop all over the cemetery for the anthem choked me up and gave me chills at the same time.  We then began reading our tributes to our heroes.

At each grave, the student would rub sand from Omaha beach on the stone to make the letters stand out.  They then placed a French and an American flag in the ground.  They read their eulogies, their recounting of the hero's life and service and a tribute to each man.  They laid a rose at the grave when they were finished.  I noticed later that people were stopping and looking at Eston's grave.  Maybe because it was highlighted with the sand.  Today, our heroes were not silent and not forgotten.

After the program, we all revisited our soldiers grave.  I sat on the wall overlooking the sea and ate a little snack, and then C and I visited the chapel.  I wanted to take a picture of the ceiling, because it was incredible.  It was a mosaic commemorating the landings.

I don't think typed words can express what the day, and the program meant to me.  I was humbled.  C and I were discussing how much more reverential the Normandy cemetery felt compared to Arlington, which feels more touristy.

It almost feels sac religious to continue talking about the rest of the day after that.  We boarded the bus, ate lunch, and most of us slept all the way to Paris.  We checked into our hotel, and then I went out with one other adult, C, and three other kids.  We took the Metro to the Louvre and walked around the courtyard.  We had dinner, where we all tried an escargot.  I don't dislike them because they are snails, but there is definitely a lot of garlic in the cooking of them.

We rode the big Ferris wheel outside the Louvre, then walked down the Champs de Elysses to the Arc de Triomphe.  We re boarded the Metro and went to the Eiffel Tower to catch the end of the light show.  We went to the wrong hotel, and got the kids in nearly two hours after curfew.

Today's steps 25538

NI Day 10: And then Eisenhower's ghost came to dinner

Day 3 of back pain.  This is not fun.  Even though the bed is comfortable, I'm beginning to blame it.

We began the day early so we could catch low tide at Omaha Beach.  We got there around 8, and the boys who came ashore would have arrived around 6.  The distance they would have had to run on the hard packed sand us incredible.  Some of the kids tried it and decided they would be dead.  The beach is surrounded by high cliffs that made excellent gun nests for the Germans.  The American bombers were worried about hitting their own men, so they dropped their bombs late, causing little damage to the German forces.  It equalled a disastrous day for the Allies, but they still established a beach head.  The sand was really amazing.  I knew the allies had sent night swimmers to collect samples of sand, and they decided that Omaha was a good choice because it could support the weight of the tanks, but I really didn't understand it till I was walking in the beach and not sinking at all.  We barely left footprints.

We drove from there to Longues-ser-Mer, the location if a German battery.  Along these cliffs, the German had placed four big guns that would be used to take out Allied ships.  A forward command post would have called out coordinates for the gunners to aim at.

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch in the town of Arromanches, which was part of the British sector.  While we were sitting on the sea wall eating, a member of our party started talking to an elderly gentlemen who had come ashore in the artificial harbors built at that beach.  He came in with the British infantry on June 15 and fought till he was wounded.  He said he didn't know where he was wounded at, because they never knew where they were located,  "someone would say, 'you are in the Caen district' and we'd say 'where the hell is Caen.'"  After he left, there was another older gentlemen nearby, and it turned out he had been part of the British navy.  He told his story, too, but I needed an ice cream, a soda, and a bathroom, all of which I found.

One of our readings was the diary of Marie Louise Osment, who's house had been commandeered by the Germans, then by the British.  The house is private property today, but we went to see it.  As we were standing outside and Dr. Arnesen was talking, the gates slowly opened.  Everyone freaked out and started running.  And older gentlemen came out and offered to let us tour the house, including her room, which is largely unchanged since her death.  We'd had so much good fortune that we joked about unicorns showing up at supper, and said somebody needed to buy a lotto ticket.  We paid our respects at Madame Osment's grave and headed to our next stop,which was an Abbey.

The Abbey had been used as a German headquarters during the occupation, and 21 Canadian soldiers had been captured, tortured, and executed there.  We visited the small memorial and walked around the Abbey courtyard, which no longer functions as an Abbey.  The Abbey Church is a library now.  They had an exhibition on the liberation, but it was not open.  Our luck could only go so far.

We got back to the hotel with some shopping time, and I wanted to add some information to C's Eulogy of our soldier, so we worked on that.  I packed for Paris, and we met the group for dinner at Cafe L'Europe.  I had pizza.  The French were playing in the World Cup and they were watching it in the bar below us, so it was fun listening to the people reacting.  When we got back to the hotel, all the kids worked on their eulogy, and then the adults enjoyed adult company till we all decided to go to bed.

Today's steps 16106

NI Day 9: Cemeteries and Tapestries

My blister now has a blister and my back hurts.  That is my complaining for this rainy day, because I can't even really complain about the rain.  They rearranged our schedule to accommodate the rain, and when wee had to be outside, it barely sprinkled.  While we were eating breakfast, it was pouring the rain.  This old man goes outside with a towel to swim laps.  Don't think that towel is going to do you much good, buddy.

Our first stop was so close to the hotel that I'm surprised we didn't walk.  It was the British Cemetery.  It was an interesting experience to see how other countries honor their fallen.  Families could put special phrases at the bottom of the stones.  The cemetary also included German dead, but their stones were a different color and laid out a little differently.  Across from the cemetary is a memorial to the British missing with the inscription "we, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conquerer's native land."  I wonder if they would have chosen that quote if the memorial was anywhere besides Bayeux.

Near the cemetery is the Bayeux Military Museum, which presents the liberation from the French perspective.  There were some neat photos of the British landings that I had not seen.  There was a short video, and even though I didn't want to, I kept finding myself nodding off.  We have gone hard on this trip.  I may celebrate the entire day of July 4 in bed.

We stopped in Saint Lo, a town essentially destroyed by the air bombings.  It is so different from Bayeux in architecture because if the age if the building.  We visited the cathedral, which has been reconstructed around the remains of the original building.  Nice surprise stop.

We ate lunch on our way to Bocage, or hedgerow country.  Rather than build fences, French farmers for centuries have lines their fields with cleared rock and allowed hedges to grow, which then created a nightmare for the soldiers fighting field to field.  It was ideal for defense.  One of the teachers is a Marine who fought in Afghanistan, and he likened it to urban warfare​, where you have to clear building to building.

Our final official stop of the day was the German Cemetary.  Most of the graves held two soldiers, many of them unknown and a good portion of them under age 20.  The stones were flat to the ground.  I wondered if they had vandalizing issues at this cemetary.  It's odd for me to think about the loser having a memorial in the territory, but it is appropriate.  I have found myself wondering frequently how World War II is taught in Germany today.

When we returned to Bayeux, we walked past the cathedral to the Tapestry Museum.  I remember Joan Britt talking about the tapestry when I was in world history and letting us watch the opening of Robin Hood which used the Tapestry as a background.  The tapestry is actually embroidery, is nearly 70 meters long, and is composed of 9 panels that have been sewn together.  The narration walked us through what was going on in each scene, from Harold's capture and pledge to support William, Edwards death and Harold's betrayal, to William conquering Harold at Hastings.  It was neat to see it in person.  Dr. Arnesen insisted we go into the Museum about the Tapestry and I realized that I am museumed out.  I did buy a fold out of the Tapestry.

Tonight was our night off, so we first had an ice cream (mint chocolate), and then we walked a block and went into a cafe for a drink (lemonade for me), and then we walked two blocks for supper.  I had onion soup, which was much better than Fox and Hounds, if you can believe it, and a kebab with steak, some kind of poultry, and lamb.  The lamb was cooked perfectly, which meant the beef and chicken were overcooked.  Another teacher ordered mussels and they were excellent.  I had a caramel creme for dessert.

When we got back to the room, I headed straight for my room and conked out for the night.

Today's steps 17618.