The following was written by my late wife Elaine. She wrote a long book, a diary really, from which this is one passage:
On to France
We went by train from London to Dover and saw the famous white cliffs, and rode a hovercraft which skimmed over the water, crossing the English Channel to Boulogne, France, then a train to Paris, and we joined a planned tour at our hotel. We went by coach to the Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame, Basilica of St. Terese at Lisieux, Caen, where we visited two abbeys and the Bayeux Cathedral with its famous tapestry. (Ellen bought a book about this wonderful 142-foot-long tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest of England, stitched by monks in the 1000s).
A huge highlight of our entire trip was the visit to Normandy: the town of Arro Manches, where the Invasion of hit the beaches, still with traces of old rusted war equipment in the water. I’ll always remember the housewives we saw from our tour bus windows on our way to Normandy, walking and carrying long, thin loaves of French bread under their arms, not wrapped, and probably just out of the oven at one of the bakeries we could see from the bus.
In the museum and gift shop there, I bought a Michelin map, a copy of the original maps used by our troops during this invasion, for Charlie Kidd, our good friend who had survived the Invasion of Normandy. He was very touched about the gift of this map, and said it was identical to the detailed map each soldier was given before starting across the channel.
Omaha Beach and its countless white crosses was one of the most powerful scenes – and the quietest – of my life, and Ellen and I still talk about this unforgettable side trip. We learned that France donated a number of acres of land at the beach, where these American soldiers are buried, to the United States. Therefore, a small part of America is located in Normandy, France. (Normandy was the last stop for Hitler’s army before they invaded the Channel Islands, when Grandma Herivel had to leave her home). This day was certainly a sentimental journey for me!
To be continued…
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee (1931 – 2024) built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family