AubrysInFrance: Bike Trip - Day 8 to St Lô

Saturday morning, we headed off in the car for a flying visit to Mont-Saint-Michel. You can no longer take any kind of vehicle anywhere near the island. The are acres of parking that cost 14 euros per car, which gets a you free shuttle bus to a drop-off point about ¼ mile from the walls. We rode the packed bus out, hopped off, looked at the town, took a few pictures, hopped back on the bus, and left. This is one of those places that one needs to spend time walking around. Apparently it costs more money to actually go inside the town walls.

Approaching Mont-St Michel from the Car

Mont St Michel from Causeway

The Fab Four on a Flying Visit

We then headed for first, Ste-Mere-Eglise where the famous parachute landing occurred during the Normandy landings. As it was the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, there was going to be all kinds of events, including a smaller parachute drop near the town from C-47s, the type of aircraft used originally.

We stopped for lunch on the way and arrived at Ste-Mere-Eglise. The town was packed, the town square was full of food booths, there were marching bands, members of the US and French military, a field where there were dozens of restored American military vehicles of the period and lots of French enthusiasts dressed in period uniforms. Also, the town church had a parachute and dummy representing Pvt Steele, the paratrooper whose chute snagged on the steeple, forcing him to precariously hang by his parachute harness for several hours during the fighting.

As the photos below attest, the church is quite beautiful inside.

Pvt Steele Dummy on Church

Church Interior

We then drove to nearby Utah Beach, one of the American landing beaches on D-Day. The French have done a great job with signage and memorials, some examples of which are attached. We all walked around and read the signs and memorials. I walked out onto the beach and tried to imagine what it might have been like. Very emotional.