Day five: A powerful history lesson

I started the day with my bike upside down and a tool in my hand. I began with a very minor problem with my gears and in the process of 30 minutes had made it significantly worse. Still it felt good to have oil all over my hands. It made me feel like the real deal.

Today I cycled round the D-Day beaches, something I know I have studied in depth but ashamedly remember very little about.

I started at Bayeux Cathedral (where my bike spent some more time upside down) and rode out to the coast through small towns, each with their own World War II memorial listing the people from the village that were killed.

I stopped first at Omaha beach for a 2,50 euro coke (at least some people benefited from the war). Omaha was the code name used for one of several beaches the allied forces landed upon on D-Day – the definitive moment that tilted the war in the allies favour.

Looking out over the coast, it was hard to believe a war was once fought there. It’s now a haven for water sports. But the sheer scale of the coastline makes you think what a super human effort it must have been to land there, and the amount of people that it would’ve involved.

A peaceful tribute

On the top of a hill overlooking Omaha beach is the American World War II cemetery. This place is breathtaking. Overlooking the sea are 10,000 virtually identical graves set out in symmetrical lines. It is so peaceful and despite the amount of people there, it is silent apart from the noise of the breeze and the crashing waves in the distance.

The cemetery is accompanied by a visitor centre where personal accounts are used to tell the D-Day story. I spent over two hours there – it was powerful stuff.

The cemetery is obviously a popular destination for Americans too. I could only recall seeing a handful of Americans on my trip so far, but there were literally hundreds at the cemetery that day. It was typically patriotic too, with Barack Obama’s portrait hung over the reception and JFK airport level security as you entered.

Superhuman effort

From the cemetery I stopped off in a little town for some classic French banquette with ham and cheese before climbing up to the seaside town of Arromanches.

Arromanches was the place the allied forces built a mobile port to support the D-Day landings, the remains of which is still visible from the shore. The allies needed to do this as the Germany destroyed the other ports knowing that this would drain the allied forces of supplies.

To combat this, huge numbers of people worked through atrocious weather to build huge metal causeways out to docking stations in the middle of the channel. These docking stations were loaded with supplies by boats coming from the British side of the sea. These supplies were then picked up by trucks driving from the French beaches up and down the causeways.

It was an unbelievable story and the museum on the shore told it really well. After visiting the museum, I had a walk along the beach and up to the sea.

A more serene cemetery

From Arromanches, there was one more poignant stop. Ten km away in the middle of nowhere, with literally miles of fields in every direction, was the first cemetery created following D-Day.

It was for British and Commonwealth troops and unlike the majesty and size of the American cemetery, is small and understated but no less beautiful or peaceful.

It was then 10 km back to Bayeux for another McDonalds. Although not my most exciting post, this was probably my favourite day so far. And I covered over 80km.