Fallen Heroes

 

For the next 6 days we step back in time and trace the footsteps of the soldiers who fought in the D Day landings as we make our way down the coast of France. We shall be visiting the famous beaches of Sword, Juno, Gold, and of course the legendary Utah and Omaha Beaches.

 

During our time here we will get an insight into the hard fought battles that took place over a 50 mile stretch of French coastline on Tuesday 6th June 1944. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in world history with over 160,000 troops, 195,000 Allied naval and merchant personnel and 5000 ships involved in the landings. On our visit to these beaches  we get an insight of what those soldiers faced on that memorable day. Without being to sombre, we shall visit various war graves kept in immaculate condition where we can say a quick prayer and remember the Fallen Heroes of all nationalities.

 

We shall also be visiting The Bayeux War Cemetery and its memorials which includes the largest British Cemetery dating from the Second World War with over 4600 graves of British & German soldiers, most of whom fell in the invasion of Normandy. Moving even further back in time, whilst here in this ancient and historic city, we have the opportunity to see the world famous Bayeux Tapestry which tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England.

 

On our last free day we shall be visiting Dunkirk where French and British forces were cut off from the rest of the French Army by the advancing Germans and retreated to the port of Dunkirk. See where the "Miracle of Dunkirk" as Winston Churchill said, took place where over 338, 000 stranded men were evacuted by a remarkable feat when 900 vessels crossed the Channel and took them to safety. A visit to Ypres to the the world war I site and the remains of the V1 launch weapons site in Hazebrouck will be a fitting end to our trip before returning back to our base in Belgium 

  

 

Using Calais as our crossing for this tour, you will make your way to the port where you will be greeted by your Europa Tour guide. Ensure you allow plenty of time to register before taking the morning crossing to calais. We shall travel south using mainly faster roads to the city of Ouistreham, very close to D Day beaches which shall be our base for the next four nights.

 

Free Day: As we are using Ouistreham as our base, feel free to unpack and relax. Our base here is an ideal location to which we can visit the many places of interest in and around this area with Sword beach only a few miles away.

 

Two options for you today, if you would like a day off the bikes then we can arrange, by prior notice, for a planned day trip with a local tour specialist which will take you to the most significant areas of the American military action that took place on the 6th June and thereafter, including St Marie Eglise, Utah Beach, Pointe Du Hoc, Omaha Beach and The American National Cemetery. The trip last approx 8.5 hours and costs 85 euro.  

 

Or join us on today's ride where we shall take a leisurely route using mainly D roads to Saint Marie du mont where the Utah Beach is located. We shall visit the American Battle monument and the nearby sand dunes which they landed before making the short ride to La Cambe to the German Military War Grave where the remains of over 21,000 german soldiers, sailors and airmen are buried. Then onto Colleville-Sur-Mer, where the American War Cemetery sits overlooking the Omaha Beach landing site.

 

Although quite a sombre experience, it is an overwhelming site, the fields of crosses and memorials really put into perspective the losses suffered during battle. Having paid our respects we shall return back to our hotel following the coast line of the D Day beach landings passing the Gold,Juno and Sword beaches.

 

Free Day: On today's ride we shall be visiting the City of Bayeux, not only is this the home of the Bayeux Tapestry which depicts the story of the Norman Conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066, it also is the keeper of the second largest War Cemetery in France where most of the British and Commonwealth soldiers are buried. We shall take a leisurely route through some of the local French Villages using mainly local and national roads before arriving at Bayeux. Here we will spend some time at the war cemetery together, and then a free afternoon to explore this wonderful place before meeting up for our ride back to our hotel.     

 

Free Day: Another planned ride out is the order of the day as we head to the charismatic port town of Dieppe, famous for its scallops, the "Chateaux de Dieppe" and home to the Canadian War Cemetery we will have lots to occupy us for the day before we retrace our steps back. 

 

Leaving Ouistreham behind us now as we make our way North where our next hotel awaits us. Set in the Belgium countryside we head for the town of Poperinge in the province of West Flanders which puts us in a great location to explore the sites around Ypres and the western front. 

 

Only a short ride away, we shall be visiting Dunkirk on our ride out today where over 300,000 men were evacuated from the beaches. In his famous speech Winston Churchill ordered any ship, boat or vessel large or small to pick up the stranded soldiers which resulted in 900 vessels crossing the English Channel to rescue these brave men. After the success of the mission Codenamed Operation Dynamo, Winston Churchill later called this the Miracle Of Dunkirk, although 40,000 Allied soldiers were captured or forced to make their own way home through a variety of routes.

 

On our route back we shall also be stopping at Ypres world war 1 site, and Hazebrouck where the remains of the V1 (Flying Bomb) weapons site is located.

 

Our time together has now ended and hopefully you will have enjoyed your holiday and experienced what the region of Normandy has to offer. We have time today for a leisurely breakfast, to exchange numbers etc, before boarding the bikes for the final time before making our short trip to Calais to catch our morning ferry.

 

D Day Beaches, 

American Battle Monument

American War cemetery, Omaha

Canadian War cemetery

La Cambe German Military Cemetery

City of Bayeux

Dieppe

Dunkirk

V1 weapons site

Ypres