One Day in Normandy, Part 5: Juno Beach

Before going straight to Juno Beach, Henri thought we had enough time to make a stop at the medieval Château de Creully. We did not have enough time go to inside, but it was so nice to have a bit of a break from the intensity of the beaches. Château de Creully was originally built at the beginning of the 10th century. It expanded over centuries of use, mainly as a defensive fortress. During the Hundred Years War it frequently changed hands between the French and the English.

Starting on June 7, 1944, the BBC used one of the towers as a transmitter to report on the Battle of Normandy.

While the castle itself was quite beautiful, my favorite part was standing on the back terrace and looking out over the landscape. I’m not sure how much more fantastically pastoral you can get. Do you think the owner of this place would let me hang out, drink tea, and eat pastries at their place for a while?

We lingered around for a little and then made our way to Juno Beach in Courseulles-sur-Mer.

The beach was mostly deserted except for the four of us. By now it was late in the afternoon, the temperature was cooling and it was starting to sprinkle off and on, as if the grey clouds were taunting us.

Juno felt less dramatic than some of the other beaches we saw that day—there are no jagged cliffs jutting out or huge Mulberry harbors strewn across the sand.

But none of that diminished the experience. There were many signs and pictures explaining what happened that day and I was grateful to see them. I think they gave us a better understanding of the D-Day landings than all the other beaches combined (at least from what I saw/stumbled upon).

On D-Day it was the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade’s missions to establish a bridgehead on Juno, contact the British 3rd Infantry Division on Sword, and join with the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division at Gold. From there, they were to capture the Carpiquet airfield and the Caen-Bayeux railway.

Battling a delayed start, rough seas, strong winds, and a barrage from the Germans, the Canadians successfully took Juno and began to move inland. They captured Carpiquet about a month later.

The 3rd Canadian Division sustained 340 casualties, 574 wounded, and 47 taken prisoner.

Here's a Canadian newsreel reporting on the Canadian involvement in D-Day.

After spending some time wandering around, we decided to take a quick look at the Juno Beach Centre. We did not have enough time to actually go through the exhibits, though. This was a theme of the day: not quite being able to see everything we wanted to see.

Juno Beach Centre

I fell in love with the monument, a bronze sculpture entitled “Remembrance and Renewal.” I later learned that the artist, Colin Gibson, is from the tiny (no stop lights!) town I used to live in. Small world.

I also loved seeing this inukshuk. If you haven’t seen one before, it is set of stones laid out in an iconic humanoid shape that serves as a landmark, place marker, or communication tool. The Inuit originally used them in Northern Canada and the Arctic for navigation, safe routes, hunting spots, memorials, etc. They have since spread throughout Canada and I’ve seen them a lot in people’s yards or on their mantles. You might have seen one or two during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It was all a beautiful reminder of remembrance and home.

We all wanted to stay longer and actually see the museum, but Henri was insistent that we had to leave because we might miss the bunker. I was starting to get a little tired of the rushing and was wondering what was so great about this bunker museum anyway.

When we finally got there, however, Henri was right—as usual—and the bunker ended up being an ideal way to end the day. It was a highlight of the trip. But you will have to wait, because that’s for the next post.

One Day in Normandy, Part 4: Gold Beach

After Pointe du Hoc, Henri took us on another speedy drive through Normandy’s villages and countryside toward Sword Beach. The weather was starting to turn grey and rain threatened, but it didn’t seem to take away anything from the ride. Normandy wore the weather well. What I think makes this area special is how much of it still retains that pastoral, romantic feel despite the World War II influence. It’s the green pastures, the tall, grey stone walls, the narrow roads, the castles and beautiful manors that seemingly appear out of nowhere or around a corner. When things start to feel too heavy, it’s nice to find comfort in the beauty of the land.

We also passed by this Colleville-sur-Mer's church. It was destroyed during the war and then completely rebuilt afterwards by the town.

By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Arromanches-les-Bains and Gold Beach, I was really hungry. It was way past my lunch time and I tend to become a little grumpy when I don’t eat. Ok, I become a bit of a monster. Since the town is so close to the beach, I demanded that we eat.

We decided walk around Arromanches and picked a small restaurant/bar to see if they had anything to eat at such a late hour. Luckily, Henri sweet-talked them into serving us some ham and cheese baguettes to go.

We ate and then walked around Gold Beach with its Mulberry “B” harbor.

There is a museum, the D-Day Museum Arromanches that, unfortunately, we did not have time to go into, but I read it is definitely worth a visit. The website is also great for learning more about the landings. They even have some webcams.

Gold Beach stretches 5 miles. On D-Day, it was the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division’s goal to establish a beachhead, deploy the Mulberry harbor, cut off the road to Caen at Bayeux, and meet up with both the Americans and Canadians.

While bombardments earlier in the day destroyed much of the German firepower, high tides submerged explosives and other barriers on the beach. The effect of the tide kept the engineers from dismantling mines and other blocks which, thus, resulted in the decision not to launch the amphibious vehicles before the troops.

The monument states:

Here at Arromanches, from June 6 1944, close behind the assault troops, a great floating harbour code-named 'Mulberry B' was assembled and operated by men of the Royal Engineers (Transportation) under the command of Brigadier A.E.M. Walter CBE, Royal Engineers.

The concept of a floating harbour, inspired personally by Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, stimulated the design and construction of the Mulberry Harbours by engineering companies large and small throughout the United Kingdom. After marshalling in mid-channel by the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, 'Mulberry B' was towed to this Normandy beach.

Having survived the Great Storm of 19 to 23 June, 'Mulberry B' remained the major supply port to the Allied Armies until the port of Antwerp was re-opened on 28 November 1944 thus far exceeding its planned life.

Without 'Mulberry B,' the liberation of Europe would not have been possible. The deeds of those who created, launched, and planted 'Mulberry B' remain unsurpassed in the annals of British Military Engineering.

This monument commemorates the participation throughout the European Theatre of Operations, of Beach, Port, Railway, Inland Water Transport and Movement Control units of the Royal Engineers.

Despite the setbacks, the operation was largely successful. A total of 25,000 men landed with 400 casualties. The 50th Infantry Division established control six miles inland and linked up with Juno Beach, which happened to be our next stop.

As somewhat of a tangent, while searching for some good Gold Beach videos to put up, I found these two videos from Sword Beach vets. The two men in them, Peter and Len, are wonderful. The videos are just too beautiful and important not to see and share.

A little end note: Please excuse the late post, I won some kind of terrible lottery and acquired strep and a cold at the same time. Needless to say, I’ve been out of commission for a couple of days. Half of my face is still leaking, but I am starting to feel better. I have two more Normandy posts to go: Juno and a bunker museum.

The 2012 Canadian International Auto Show, Part 2

Are you ready for more car pictures? Yes? Great! Not so much? Hmm. You might want to skip this post, then.

So after seeing the Pagani, I figured we reached the pinnacle of greatness at this show and the rest would just be gravy.

First up today, the Lamborghinis. A Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale:

Then, the amazing Aventador, the Murciélago's replacement. It does 0 to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds. Yeah.

 I found this video of the production oddly mesmerizing.

After the Auto Exotica room, we took a quick peek at the north building.

My favorites here were the ridiculous but fun Hot Wheels Camaro. Check out the paint job.

They had the tiny Hot Wheels version as well.

Pretty close, huh?

Right next to the green monster Camaro was the Corvette Stingray concept.

It reminds me of a movie but I can't put my finger on what movie.

Ooh I just loved the rear. Seriously, look at that. Crazy.

At this point we were running out of time (and my phone battery was dying), so we made our way to the Triumph exhibition. These are the ones that really caught my eye.

The 1935 Gloria Southern Cross

The 1948 Triumph Roadster complete with a Dickey Seat.

Such a beautiful color and the dash looked amazing.

A completely original 1974 TR6. It has had just two owners. There are only has 8521 miles on it. It is probably the lowest original mileage TR6. . .ahem, best Jeremy Clarkson voice. . .in the world.

I loved this cover and the badges on some of the cars.

A TR2 with globe hubcaps.

And, finally, a couple of lovely vintage racing cars.

There you have it, a few of my favorites from the 2012 Canadian International Auto Show. Even though I spent over 3 hours there, I didn't even scratch the surface of everything I could have seen.

Did you see anything you'd like to take for a spin?