Pointe Du Hoc Normandy, France

Pointe Du Hoc is situated between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east, and it was at this location the Germans had built six casemates to house a battery of captured French 155mm guns. These guns had been a threat to Allied landings on both beaches, risking heavy casualties in the landing forces.

The U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion was therefore given the task of destroying the strongpoint early on D-Day. The plan called for the three companies of Rangers to land by sea at the foot of the cliffs, scale them using ropes, ladders, and grapples under enemy fire, and engage the enemy at the top of the cliff. This was to be carried out before the main landings.

The efforts the Rangers on the Omaha Beach landing averted a disastrous failure there, since they carried the assault beyond the beach, into the overlooking bluffs and outflanked the German defenses. At the end of the 2-day action, the initial Ranger landing force of 225+ was reduced to about 90 men who could still fight.

Mont St. Michel

We arrived at Mont St. Michel yesterday afternoon and toured the massive abby from the 15th century.
After climbing many stairs most of our group enjoyed the fresh air on the upper deck. The view of the grey sea and sky wasn't so great because of the weather yesterday, but just being up so high was pretty awesome.
I took some pictures of other from our group - and since I know their kids are checking the blog I am posting a couple pix here with a "hello from Mom and Dad" message.
The view of the abby lit up at night was very spectacular - and able to be seen from the parking lot of our hotel.

On the Road in France

On our way between Tours and Mont St. Michel we stopped in the little village of Saumur for a little coffee and toilet break.
An interesting frame shop window.
I didn't have internet access over the past day, so I apologize for the delay in posting.

French Gargoyles

In our travels through France we have seen several structures with gargoyles.

A gargoyle is a carved stone character with a spout designed to allow water coming from a roof to spill away from the side of a building.

Here is a tower from the Chateau d'Amboise with gargoyles surrounding the top.

The term gargoyle originates from the French gargouille, originally "throat" or "gullet" and similar words derived from the root gar, "to swallow", which represented the gurgling sound of water.

Most gargoyles are grotesques, which are strange, fantastic, ugly and or bizarre - just like this guy.

Road to Tours

We drove from Lyon to Tours yesterday and then dinner at a local restaurant. The countryside was beautiful with the pastures and chalets up on the hills.
While a group of us were walking through the public square we saw a fire on a balcony and alerted the people below - we saved the city of Tours from the great fire of 2008.

Lyon, France

We arrived in Lyon, France in the evening yesterday and had a quick tour of the old part of the city. After that dinner we enjoyed the lights around the main square.

French Alps

Yesterday we drove from Nice to Lyon through the southern Alps in France.
We stopped in the little town of Castellane, which is famous for it's church on the mountain.
Along the way we had a moment when we had to stop because there were some runaway donkeys on the road.