D-Day respects in tight times
JUNE 6 | A visit to coast can be just as moving without spending a lot
OMAHA BEACH, France -- A silent moment on France's most evocative shore, a thoughtful stroll over once-bloodied Normandy cliffs, a mug of cider with a Frenchman who remembers hearing the D-Day bombers as a scrawny child, hiding in his cellar.
Keeping the memory of the D-Day invasion alive doesn't have to be about costumed, costly tours and pricey museums with mock exhibits. Simply being there, on the wide beaches still rimmed with ruined pillboxes and among the gravestones, might make for a more lasting memory.
(AP)
President Barack Obama will pay homage to D-Day's heroes and its fallen next month, 65 years after their epochal military undertaking helped lead to the Nazis' demise. Just his presence on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, alongside French President Sarkozy, will send a message as strong as any speech: We will not forget.
For more ordinary visitors, straitened economic times don't mean Normandy is off-limits.
Curl up in a guest house in one of the many peaceful seaside towns teeming with history. Picnic on local Pont l'Eveque cheese and some of the finest apples France. Take the train from Paris and climb on the BusVerts, a local bus that takes you to key D-Day sites for around $3 to $6 (2-4 euros).
Stretched across 50 miles of Normandy coastline, the five beaches where the Allies landed on June 6, 1944, percolate with exhibits and experiences around the anniversary.
Renting a car awards the most liberty, but rentals and gas costs in France are high. Another option is the easy two-hour, 15-minute train ride from Paris to Bayeux, a pleasant town famed for an 11th century tapestry weaving the tale of William the Conqueror's conquest of England, and an easy launchpad for the D-Day beaches.
The three Pierres run one of the town's many appealing guest houses, with attic rooms under the rafters overlooking a tranquil lane for about $55 (40 euros).
Or head to the coast, to the Hotel du Casino, perched atop the western shore of Omaha Beach in Vierville-sur-Mer in a location that should cost much more than it does.
On the terrace of the brasserie downstairs, you might run into Martin Duquesne, who was 9 and living with grandparents in Lisieux when the Allies began bombarding German-held positions inland. "Like thunder. Only we knew it wasn't thunder," he recalled.
Now a retired mason, he's full of local lore and advice on which Atlantic shores are best for scallops and skate.
The Hotel du Casino offers both, at a reasonable price. The creperie across the street is a better bargain, and they'll let you wrap up a hearty $4 (3 euro) crepe and eat it outside on the sand.
Walking along the beaches can bring D-Day alive. Investing in one good tour or museum will fill in the details.
The Caen Memorial is the most sweeping and comprehensive. The Memorial Museum of Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer displays weaponry dug up over decades from the sand and hedgerows. Be sure to get a Normandie Pass, which costs just $1.35 (1 euro) and offers discounts at dozens of museums along the coast.
The best free introduction to the invasion is at the Visitor Center at the American Cemetery on Omaha Beach.
Some 215,000 Allied soldiers, and roughly as many Germans, were killed or wounded during D-Day and the ensuing nearly three months it took to secure the Allied capture of Normandy.
Many events and exhibits timed for the D-Day anniversary cost nothing, such as a recreated British military camp at Ver-sur-Mer, with veterans and vehicles on hand, and a live concert of songs from the era.
For those with a bit more to spend, there are two new ways of reliving what is dubbed "the longest day." The Vedettes de Normandie run boat tours offering a view of the shore as the approaching soldiers saw it, though aboard a comfortable tourist cruiser. Or you can paraglide with an instructor to land on clifftops near Utah Beach.
AP