Mont Saint Michel Abbey
We all enjoyed our visit our visit to Mont Saint Michel Abbey, it was originally built by the Benedictines possible beginning as early as the 8th century. It has had many additions over the centuries, featuring both Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. The Abbey is built on a peninsula, traditionally it was inaccessible at high tide, you can now access it by a long road bridge built above the level of the tide. We took a bus over access bridge, as we were not organized enough to book a mandatory tour, the guide to walk over the sand is dangerous because of quicksand. The Abbey reminded us all of the Babar Story we loved when the kids were little, it also reminded Aiden of Helms Deep from Lord of the Rings. Below the Abbey is a small village, with many tourist stores. We climbed steep walls to get fantastic views of the surrounding area. The Abbey itself was like a maze, we all enjoyed the Gothic architecture, the amazing views, and the huge striking fireplaces. Learning a bit about its history was fascinating and the lovely gelato we had despite the cold weather was great, thanks Sophie!
Juno Beach Memorial
Our visit to the Juno Beach Memorial Center increased our respect for the courage of the Canadian troops. We recognize the important role that Canada and Canada’s military played in WWII and D-Day. Some striking things that we came to understand; After WW I Canada had a very small army, the loss of soldiers in the first WWI and devastation of the Great Depression contributed to this. When Canada joined the war, the army, Airforce, and Navy had to be built up, in a very short amount of time, a reasonable military was built. Given the German bombing that was happening in the British airspace Canada served an important role in training the allies Airforce. Over 100 training bases were built across the country. Alastair point out that Moose Jaw was a huge Air Force training base in WW II. The tragedy of Operation Jubilee (August 19th,1942), the disastrous Dieppe beach raid and unsuccessful attempt invasion of the French coastline, stands out as a major loss to Canada, with many lives lost and a huge number of casualties. Thankfully some important lessons learned contributed to the success of the later D-day invasion. There was some special acknowledgement of the role indigenous soldiers played in the war, but also the racism they experienced, including not receiving any veterans’ benefits for many years. Aiden and Sophie enjoyed the kid’s activity, searching the museum to find answers to questions. They surprised the young Canadian staff member when they could answer all her questions about why the poppy is such an important symbol of remembrance. Outside of the museum, pillars of thousands of small plaques honoured different members of the military, including our friends the Frangou’s great grandfather. Our walk on Juno Beach was meaningful and Sophie found a lovely scallop shell to help remember it.
Overlord and Normandy Victory Museum
The Overlord Museum, outlined the entire back planning for D-day and the Allies work to win the war. The museum has numerous different dioramas and many army vehicles which help us truly understand the extent of the planning and the devastation of the war. The amount of reading was a little bit overwhelming for everyone, particularly the kids. It did provide amazing history, including some very interesting tactics that have been used by the allies. Britain made numerous inflatable tanks and dropped reflective decoys to suggest to the Germans that they were going to launch their counterattack from different parts of England and Holland. We also visited Normandy Victory Museum. It outlined what happened in France in the hundred days following D-Day, making it very clear how long the war continued, with many casualties and many lost lives. This museum also had a lot of dioramas models and artefacts from the time. It showed us something about civilian life, which was interesting. Alastair was most fascinated with the enigma machine. Sophie greatly appreciated the exhibit on women in the war and their contributions. I had re-read Kristen Hannah’s book the Nightingale, which was based on one of the women described in the exhibit, a Belgium, women who have been part of the resistance and helped evacuate downed airmen over the Pyrenees Mountain range to safety. Re-reading this book in the days before visiting Normandy really helped everything come to life in the museum. We all felt visiting these museums really everything much more alive to all of us, helping deepen our understanding of history, filling us with gratitude for the sacrifice our soldiers made for our freedom.
