Normandie & D-Day Anniversary

A while ago we had heard that our President, Barack Obama, was going to be at Omaha Beach in Normandie, France for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landing. We thought it would be exciting to see him speak out here . Unfortunately, we found out it was an "Invitation Only" event and... since we are traveling right now, and we don't have an address that he could send the invite to...it didn't work out. Regardless, we got to participate in the celebration and see our good friends (and Bordeaux flatmates) Elodie and Laurent again!

Utah Beach

Our friends who had volunteered to help with the ceremony.

It was cold!

Part of the ceremony

The Army band that played afterwards, in English.

Fireworks on the 6 D-Day beaches that were sychronized to start and stop at the same time.

Parade of the Harleys through the town of Sainte Mère Eglise.

Stage in front of the church. This town is were the paratroopers first parachuted in to start the liberation of France. They keep a maniquin paratrooper hanging from the roof of the church as hommage to the troops. For more on the story of the city and D-Day, click here.

There was a field in town that was set up like a military camp like it was back in WWII. Here are the pics.

Did you buy tickets to the show?

Old mic for radio.

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A radio with European countries' radio stations.

pin up girl on the side of a plane

Kid in an old time outfit drawing the painting. He was pretty good.

French band playing both French and American hits. They were actually pretty spot on for the American tunes, except for 'Sweet Home Alabama' was pretty hilarious cuz they pronounced all the "a" sounds as "ah" making it "SWEET HOME, Ah-lah-bah-mah" - all stocattoed.

Rock!

The next day, paratroopers from numerous countries dropped out of WWII planes, reinacting the landing. Laurent and I waiting for the paratroopers to drop.

Katie and Elodie do the same. Here they come...

In typical Normandie fashion, rain.

A final stop before our departure was to the American Cemetary at Omaha Beach. I came here back in 2005 the first time I visited France. Crazy to think all that has happened since then!!!

A look out at the beach. This is where the Germans fired down on the Allied troops. Truly unbelievable the bravery they had!

Inside the Cemetary.

A final group photo at the train station. Au revoir nos amis! A tout à l'heure, aux Etats-Unis???