Pointe du H O C

From Etretat, we drove two hours down the coast to the Invasion Beaches.

The plan was to check into our cheap rental apartment {$117 for the night for all six of us is a huge bargain}, then see what we could see with what time we had left in the afternoon.

Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach were the three main sites we chose to visit and focus on.


The villages and French countryside on the coast made for an eye-opening drive from Etretat.

With so much destruction, signs of war times were everywhere.

Even after many trips to France, we were still surprised to find that the reception to our rental place was closed for lunch when we arrived. 

Most of France closes from noon until two o'clock for lunch. This reception was closed from noon until four o'clock. That is after opening at 9:00 and closing at 7pm. That is a six-hour day.

Nice hours, right?

We would have to wait to get our key, so we decided to go up the coast about fifteen minutes to Pointe du Hoc- one of the most important landmarks along the Normandy Coast.

This point of land was the Germans most heavily armed position along the D-Day beaches with guns capable of firing 12 miles to the east and west. 

Omaha Beach is 11 miles to the east. Utah Beach is seven miles to the west.

The Allies had to run the Germans off this cliff in order for the American landings to succeed.

They bombed it heavily dropping over 1,500 tons of bombs on this one cliff top making it the most intensely bombarded site of the D-Day targets.

It is one thing to read about the war and the bombings. 

It is another entirely different education in history to walk in the craters, through the bunkers and along the coast.

Seeing the barbed-wire lined paths and re-bar blown apart in the concrete brings the war to life.
It is a place we will never forget visiting.

After a sobering afternoon, we headed back to the apartment {now open to our delight} and settled in. Rooms were picked and the car was unloaded for the one night we were staying in Grandcamp Maisy.

The littles were excited for some time in the pool and Grandma heated up our big pot of delicious salmon chowder prepared before leaving Germany. Along with fresh French bread {because you have to buy bread when in France} it was the perfect meal at the end of our long day.

In our travels, we have become fans of renting places with a kitchen in order to heat up dinner we can make and freeze at home. It is much cheaper and easier than eating out on the road with boys who are already tired of traveling.

Usually, we do chili, white chili, pulled pork or a roast for French dips- all freeze well and are yummy heated up. We will add our salmon chowder to our list- it was wonderful and appropriate on this visit to the French coast.

Since Justin and Ty were little, all the boys ever want to do is get back to the hotel and swim.
A pool is obviously another huge priority at any place we stay.

Luckily, this pool was heated and comfortable even being the end of September. 
Up next on our quick three-day trip were visits to the Utah and Omaha beaches.