After crossing the Channel tunnel into France and taking another train west out of Paris, we finally arrived at Caen, France.  Caen is the largest town in the Normandy region on France.  We located our rental car and hotel and then headed over to the Memorial Museum.

After the museum, we ate some pizza and went to bed.  The next morning we first drove to Pointe Du Hoc.  Pointe Du Hoc is a sharp peninsula separating Utah and Omaha beaches.  The German’s fortified this position with heavy artillery and this was captured by Army Rangers in the early hours of D-Day.

After this, we drove to Omaha beach and tried to imagine 5,000 navy vessels off the coast with German artillery firing at the boats and landing crews; right now it seems like a pleasant beach.

We then drove to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial where we witnessed the 172 acres of graves for the American’s that died in Europe during WWII.

We ended our tour with some intact German 120mm guns that fired on the Battleships on D-Day.  After that, we hurried back to Caen to drop off the rental car and catch our train back to Paris.  We’ll be in Paris for the next three days and have a ton of sights to see.