Juno

Rhea and Eric's plans for their trip to Normandy in the spring included a full day tour, escorted by a sought-after personal guide, of the two American D-Day beaches, Omaha (the really famous one) and Utah.  There were three other beach landings that day in history, Gold and Sword by the British sandwiched around Juno by the Canadians, quaintly referred to by local guides as the "Commonwealth" beaches.  (Omaha Beach.)

My two friends indicated an interest to their British guide in touring those beaches the subsequent day, and he gave them the names of other guides who might accommodate them on short notice (personal tours are locked up months in advance, especially since this year is the 75th anniversary of the landings).  These guides when contacted all lauded my friends as being the rare Americans who showed interest in the British and Canadian beaches, or even knowledge of the fact that there were other beaches involved in D-Day beyond Omaha and Utah.  (Juno Beach.)

My friends locked in the second personal tour.  There's so much to do and so many places to see in Normandy, where the fighting raged all summer in 1944 before the Americans broke out of the bocage country at the end of August and unlocked the German defensive containment of the Allied lodgment on the Cotentin Peninsula, that an overview, with an emphasis in depth on the British and Canadian beaches is warranted, even for Americans.  (Utah Beach.)

Meanwhile, I pondered the invite to come along extended by my two friends.  As Eric the journalist put it to me--If not now, when?  (Sword Beach.)