Normandy

The freedom fought for here is worth defending every day.

We started the day at the Normandy Memorial and Museum in Caen.  The exhibitions were excellent, as was the lunch that followed. 

We stopped at Bayeaux on the way to the beaches.  The tapestry is amazingly preserved (but was not allowed to be photographed).  It's a bit of historical irony that two maritime invasions, in opposite directions across the Channel and centuries apart, are remembered so near to each other.  Here are some other pictures of Bayeaux:

The weather was absolutely gorgeous when we reached the American cemetery at Omaha beach.  It almost didn't seem fair, except that those buried here fully deserved this peaceful day. 

 We looked over the cliff towards the beach, then drove further to where we could walk to it.  People were enjoying the sun, sand and surf.  The only fortifications were a sand castle;  the only cries were an unhappy baby.

 AFS got off the ground as a student exchange organization in the ashes of the Second World War. It's been a successful part of the fabric of groups that has helped peace grow in Europe, and throughout the world.