We set off for the D-Day beach area later than intended. It is peaceful here and cool enough at night that John is catching up on sleep. Katherine had opted out, in order to repack, then blob out, with the promise of a beach trip when we got back.

=charles-de-glopper-memorial.jpg]We went first to St Maree Eglise which has both the historic church and a museum that we have been to before. We still stopped to admire the famous window in the church and also see the statue of paratrooper on the roof entangled on the spire, supposedly on the wrong side I learned on the previous trip 

There was also a cache here which was nice to find for the memory. There were a few people in the area driving army jeeps which seem to be the new thing to hire to drive around the beaches.  We went into the outside area of the museum but not in as we had spent a lot of time here last time.

Our next destination was Juno Beach. It is the furthest East of the beaches and the one we had not visited last time, so it fitted in well today. On the way we stopped at 4 roadside memorials, three of which had caches. The first was the smallest, and a commemoration for Charles de Glopper, who won a Medal of Honour for sacrificing himself in order that his platoon could escape, when they were virtually surrounded. Then there were two linked to the ‘Screaming Eagles’ airborne division. The last was to the Danish sailors who had helped at D-Day after being unable to return home after the Occupation.

We arrived at Juno Beach ready for food, so ate at the Roosevelt Restaurant. It is in a historic building. It was originally a fisherman’s hut, sheltered in a sand dune. From 1942 to June 1944 it was used as an office by the Germans and there was a nearby bunker which we could see from outside, and which is now a museum. From June 1944 to November 1944 it was a communications centre for the US Navy controlling the traffic between the fleet and the front.

It cost a bit more to eat outside but we were happy to pay. The restaurant inside was full of various forms of memorabilia which we took a few photos of while we were there. The only incongruous feature noted by John was amongst all the US memorabilia was a cricket bat!! Otherwise it was nice to sit, eat, and people-watch. There were a steady number walking around the area and a number of American accents in the restaurant.

We then went to the various memorials. John overheard a guide telling a couple that the metal landing craft on display was a mock up. They were in fact made of plywood, and the machine guns on the mock up were incorrectly placed at the rear!!

We had always intended to go the museum here, and found it had an interesting background. Much of the work to set it up was done by a local French civilian who was injured in a gun battle between the GI’s and a German group occupying his farm. Only quick work by a US army surgeon saved his life. Also a lot of money was raised by the sons of an American airman (Major David Dewhurst) who died in 1948. They were too young to remember him. The sons only found out about their fathers amazing war record by accident when they visited the area and saw his picture. He led the final bombing run on the German strongholds moments before the Allied landing at Utah Beach.

The film we saw first was good. We were sent in quickly to be at the English version but it proved to be in French. That made little difference. The museum also has an original B 26 Marauder in its own hangar and a Higgins Boat landing craft.

After this visit we went to the beach to find a cache and returned to the car by going past an artificial tree. As we closed in on the tree we found various leaves had sayings on them in a mix of languages. One pair were very resonant. Remembrance is the cornerstone of the fight for peace.

We then drove back to the BnB where Katherine was sitting in the sun in the backyard. We ‘chilled’ for a while then headed for a beach, that was really part of the long beach we went to last night, but further along the coast. There was an area here called the Dunes of Lindberg and a reasonable amount of free parking close to the shore.

I paddled, then looked after gear while Katherine and John went in for a swim, although Alex had said she leaves stuff on the beach without worrying. Then John and I did a walk in the dunes with some caches in mind. Two we aborted the search for quickly as they had not been found recently but the other 2 ‘traditionals’ we found. They were nice hides, but one was a challenge to extract because it had been pushed too high inside a metal fence post. Then we found Katherine at the beach, and went home for cool drinks.

I logged the caches we found, but we had been reminded that the wifi is not unlimited here when we booked, and when we arrived, so we felt unable to update our blog or upload photos. We still sorted some ready for our next stop at Blois in the Loire Valley.

At 8pm we went even further up the coast to a café I had seen reasonable reviews of, in La Plage. Sadly, when we pulled up it was not really by the beach, and was very casual. We were acknowledged as we sat down, then watched the man we assumed was the owner getting stressed as he tried to sort out tables, and ignored us. After about 15-20 minutes he then asked us what drinks we wanted. We asked for a menu at which time we were told it was very late and we could only have drinks. We were less than impressed, to the extent that John and Katherine were keen that I write a negative review about them. I did that when we got to Blois, and it is the first time I have said a place is terrible.

We instead ate at what proved to be a family restaurant that we had seen on our way, but with nice staff. We saw the sun go down, and headed home, after taking a few photos of the beached boats. We keep not seeing water where the map says there is water.