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We took the Paris Vision tour to Normandy and the D-Day beaches.
Our first stop was Pointe du Hoc Ranger Memorial.
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The area looks much as it did in 1944 on D-Day with large craters
from bombs.
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This is the actual Pointe du Hoc.
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Here is the memorial to the US Rangers that were here during the
D-Day invasion.
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There was an observation deck...
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...but the giant craters in the ground were what impressed me.
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There are still remains of German fortifications and bunkers at
Pointe du Hoc.
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Our next stop was Omaha Beach, one of the D-Day landing beaches.
This is one of the memorials there.
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Omaha Beach is now just a wide beach, with summer houses and tourist
places built near it.
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There were quite a few people just out enjoying the summer day.
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Just after Omaha Beach, we stopped ouside of a D-Day museum to
see a tank...
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...and a D-Day landing craft
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Next was a stop at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer,
France.
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It was moving to see the rows and rows of white crosses and stars
of David in such a historic place.
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We also visited a place where the German guns were still in the
bunkers after all this time!
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Next was Arromanches to see the remains of Port Winston, an articifial
port built by the Allies.
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Our final stop was Pegasus Bridge, the first place liberated by
the Allies on D-Day. This is a replacement bridge (the former one
was worn out) but it is modeled on the original. We got to see the
original at the Pegasus Bridge museum.
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At the museum, they had just received what was left of one of the
wooden gliders used to liberate the Pegasus bridge.
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The last thing we saw at the museum before heading back to Paris
was a Bailey bridge, a portable, temporary bridge.
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