France Sep 2011, Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen , 9th Sep

Guess what we did today, yes we continued to tour the D Day sights, on the way we passed a Lidl, and stopped for essential provisions, beer and chocolate mainly.

We started by finding Pegasus Bridge on the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham. The signposts to the bridge were few and far between, we passed and had to double back to find it. The bridge over the canal now, is a wider replacement put there in 1994, the original is outside a museum next to the canal and you have to pay to walk on it.  We parked close to the museum and walked over the new bridge, which is a bigger version of the original.

  

Oevr the bridge we popped into one of the bars there, Les 3 Planeurs, the 3 gliders (mainly to use the facilities) and had a beer, we really should have had one in the bar opposite, as it had more history but it was very busy. It was the first house to be liberated during D-Day and is now Café Gondrée. After our beers (and using the facilities again), we walked back over the bridge to see where the gliders landed early on D Day.

  

We looked around the landing sites, very close to the bridge they must have been great pilots and then back to the car. As we were already well on the way there, we decides to look in on Holgate, the place we usually camp when we are in Normandy. It hasn't changed, we walked along the front and through the shops, I even bought beer. There was a house for sale on the front, if I win the lottery, it's mine.

  

We then headed back over Pegasus Bridge and on to Ouistreham, where we parked for a look round, I hadn't realised the Cean ferry docked here and not Cean. There were a few motorhomes parked, presumably waiting for the ferry and we saw a couple of Aires (overnight parking for motorhome) as well. We wandered over the canal lock gates, had a look at the lighthouse and watched the people fishing.

  

We move further round the front to the other side of the ferry terminal and found nothing interesting but just as we were driving off, we spotted a large concrete building. We parked up again and went for a look, it was, Le Grand Bunker, a German command post for the Atlantic Wall and now a museum. we were too late to look round but there were lots of old artillery pieces around the courtyard.

  

From there we drove along the coast (Sword Beach), stopping at the various memorials along the way, we got as far as Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer (start of Juno Beach), then turned towards Bayeux and the campsite.

  

Back at the campsite the sun was out, so we pulled over at the bar and had a beer outside in the sun.