Le Mans New Years Eve and Normandy Day 6
Today was quite the jam-packed day. We started off earlier than normal. We had breakfast at 7h15, devotion at 7h30, and lift-off at 8h05. We knew the drive to Normandy would be a long one so we wanted to make sure to have time to do what we thought was essential. We drove three hours through Caen, driving on their tollway and cross-country to see “real†France. We continued to our first stop, Juno Beach - the Canadian landing point. As today was December 31st, tomorrow most everything will be closed up and closed for most if not all of January. Not many tourists come the beach in January. Go figure! Juno beach was a great site... well maintained, clean, and beautiful. We walked the boardwalk, looked at a bunker, gun turret, dunes, beach, and the local fruit of the sea at the market. We arrived shortly after 11 a.m. but didn’t end up leaving until 1:15 p.m. There was a lot of miscommunication between our two groups but after some driving and lots of walking we managed to rejoin forces and disembark. Our next stop was Arromanches. First we stopped on the bluffs overlooking the village. We didn’t think we had time for the 360º theater because of our first stop. Drats! I did want to see that but Luke wasn’t cooperating. He was hungry. Who would have thought? The bluff has a beautiful view overlooking the bay. Arromanches was renamed Port Winston in honor of Winston Churchill’s idea to use this site for an artificial bay. After taking the beaches north and south, the British marched inland on the flanks to take this bay. Churchill had 113 soccer field-sized concrete blocks floated into the bay and created a sea wall to protect the bay, complemented by floating barges. The fake bay is somewhat intact and is quite the site. I can only imagine hundreds of thousands of troops landing here and marching to Paris and later Germany to Berlin. We got a snack of baguettes at one of the few open vendors. Luke received his much needed nourishment from Mama. Our next stop was at the next point to visit a German gun battery. Here we found four bunkers, three with guns or gun mechanics intact. These were large guns, perhaps 80 mm and had a range of miles. They were located maybe a mile from shore and could take out ships from its vantage. There was a lookout at the bluff but we didn’t have time to walk out. I wonder how they communicated firing orders from the lookout to the bunker? Our next stop was the American Cemetery. It is difficult to comprehend to imagine thousands of Americans losing their life for world order on one day, June 6th, 1944. The sight of four quadrants for maybe 2,000 crosses helps visualize and understand the scope. Seeing the wall with thousands of names of missing bodies is a shocking experience. (especially considering only 6 additional have been found since the Cemetery’s creation in 1956.) The place conveyed a sense of awe and reverence that is difficult to communicate. The sculpture of the man looking to the heavens with “my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord†at its base helped calm the senses. The tolling bells playing “I know that my Redeemer Lives†and “the Battle Hymn of the Republic†helped. The tight layout of the crosses, prerfectly arranged, grass perfectly trimmed around each, clean, flags flying, and ultimately silent with only the sound of the ocean helped settle the senses. Yet such a visit only can begin to convey the cost of freedom. I believe every citizen must visit such a place in order to truly comprehend what it is they have and understand the cost of freedom. The threats of tyrants are real. We do well to critically consider their threat and not ignore the safety of the world because of false claims of “that’s Europe’s problem.†The majority of French visitors attests to their appretiation of the lives lost for their freedom. Well, enough soapbox for now. Our next stop was Omaha beach, the landing site for the Americans. This the the beach of “Saving Private Ryan.†The beach doesn’t look like the film anymore but I tried to stand there at the water’s edge and imagine what it would be like to have the Nazis taking pot shots at me from the bluffs and bodies falling all around me, or the nausea of the landing crafts, or reading Eisenhower’s not of encouragement. The beach is now beautiful. The iron crosses are gone and so are the bodies. The memory lives on. Our last stop as nightfall was quickly approaching was Pont du Hoc where fifty Rangers took the point extending far enough into the Channel to see from Utah beach perhaps to Juno beach aided by binoculars. This site is littered with I guess a hundred or more bomb or shell craters. With terrific accuracy, the Allied forces destroyed much of the German bunkers and guns here, leaving the Rangers to scale the 100 foot or so bluffs with repelling gear and ladders borrowed from London fire departments. I understand this action was in the film “the Longest Day†which I’ll have to go watch now that I have seen the sights. We really would have liked more time here but by the time we left it was nearly pitch black. We left around 17h30 reasonably expecting to arrive back perhaps 30 minutes or so late. Unfortunately, the new storm front hit us and gave us rain all the way back. Despite the nearly automatic windshield wiper blades adjusting speed depending on the intensity of the rainfall (very cool!), we hadn’t counted on heavier traffic, more frequent stops for toilette and blood sugar needs, 20 km/h lower speed limit in the rain, and backtracking our Normandy tour. When this was all said and done, we arrived back to our chateau in Trange at a little before 10 p.m. The New Years dinner was supposed to begin at 20h00. Ouch! Our hosts had graciously delayed their dinner for our arrival by playing cards and dancing. They were glad for our safe return. They and the Americans who remained in Le Mans for the day feared an accident with the weather. Our lack of cellphone ability did not help (something is goofy here with reception or making/receiving calls). New Years Eve dinner was another magnificent meal with a surprise of blood sausage, hors d’euvres, super-tasty venison, beef, and veal, anise liquor, Alsace Riesling, some sweet wine that hand everybody in good spirits (some loud and obnoxious), cheese course and desert of course! Midway through the first course was 24h00, the New Year. We had hats and buzzer whistle things like in America. One difference though was everyone receiving was little air cannon things and a load of round candy that fits in these tubes. Then at the stroke of midnight, everyone was firing the light candy at each other. Our New Years celebrations miss this violent element! To my knowledge only cousin Angela sustained any injuries with Kyle hitting her right in the eye. It was loads of fun. I had an interesting discussion with Angela about the European family. At least in this case, there were strong bonds around the dinner table, sharing in spirits, and the giving the time to talk. Our family meals, even on holidays rarely exceed maybe 1.5 hours. In our time here in France, we’ve had countless meals of three or more hours. In my exegetical courses at Seminary we often discuss the Biblical concept of table fellowship, especially in reference to the Lord’s Supper. Here in the old country I think they can better comprehend what it means to sit and have dinner. We have only a limited understanding of what the Bible means when it says to come to the table and eat. We think only of the food and not the cultural weight that it carries. To come to dinner is to be united as friends... even transcending the limits of language and etiquette. These two families... the Haak and the Flauss families are not simply joined by the marriage of Angela and Grégory but by the bonds of fellowship. Its not easily explained but I think everyone here can acknowledge what has happened. Anne and Luke went to bed probably around 00h30 and I talked until maybe 02h00. Sleep was not difficult even over vintage Madonna playing downstairs. Ah... what a day! Pictures: France Normandy and New Years - Day 4
