Normandy 4

Onward

The beach

The bunker


The barricades

The museum for the German fallen.

Cemetery crosses from early years. The current memorial gardens were not made until years later.

The crosses…row on row. This is the German cemetery. 

Eighteen years old. What a waste. 

Sometimes two soldiers were buried together, one identified, and the other unknown, or only a family name. 

These two are still remembered by someone.

One known, one unknown. Heartbreaking. 

But they are honored.

To be continued… in a different place.

Normandy 3

Onward

The old churches are repositories also of war memories.

This one commemorates the landing of a parachutist on the church tower. “He survived.”






And the poppies call to mind the ones who didn’t. 



All the area shops commemorate the events of the wars. And some, like this, call for peace. 

The graves call for remembrance. This one is from the First Great Tragedy. 


This is from Afghanistan, three young men, KIA. So sad. 





What these beaches saw…..


To be continued…

Normandy 2

Rouen and to The Beaches

We were sent lots of pictures of military vehicles, armaments, and things I can’t identify but which look deadly. This representative example is enough, I think. When one thinks of the horrors of that war, the really bad reasons for it, and the enormous waste of lives and wealth, it is sickening. Let’s resolve that when someone calls for the next war - which some are doing now - that none of our people go. Then if some warmonger wants a fight, he can head out with his own pitchfork and halbert and see how he does. Maybe minding one’s one business and not being greedy would look appealing. 

A hastily built bunker to defend the beach. 


A terrible place to face oncoming troops and a terrible thing to face when oncoming. And for no good reason. 


“In Flanders fields - and Norman fields - the poppies grow,

Between the crosses row on row….

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie,

In Norman fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe,

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Norman fields.”

Then the real trick is to determine the real foes, and fight them. It’s not some neighbor country‘s boys. 

It’s those who foment wars for their own gain, sending others to do their dirty and dangerous work. 

Let’s fight them. But not with cannon and bunkers on beaches. 

Heartbreaking 

Everywhere this year the memories surface.

And who thinks of the mothers who lost so much?

Just imagine that day here. Horrors.

The earth tries to heal the scars. 

And then dinner….

This is what one eats on the coast, I guess.

I wouldn’t. 

To be continued….

Normandy

Trip

With this being the 80th anniversary year of D-Day landing, one of our family (not me and Better Half)  wanted to go see the area and sights. So he and wife joined a bus tour to hear all about it. Evidently the guide was French and his German was terrible, so they didn’t learn all that much, but they saw a lot. I thought you might like to see, too. 

First to the beautiful medieval city of Rouen. 

This cathedral gets noted in all good art history courses.

For obvious reasons

Very early on a Sunday morning. The town is overrun otherwise with unassimilated foreigners. 

To be continued…

More Cathedral

St. Gallen

This continues from last post, on our tour of the Cathedral. We looked at each Bible story on the confessionals.

We noted that each pew end, on both sides was unique and hand carved. 

We saw the contemporary baptismal font, that got its requisite octogonal-ness (eight being traditional and the Biblical number of re-generation) from the reflection of the dome ceiling above. 

And we did some minimal walking, to save sore feet….

…to get to dinner at the old post coach stop

Liver and Rösti

Not liver. Polenta and veal.

Fishes and taters

Waiting for tables

Note the date of the building, 1552

The Reformed church is on the opposite corner.