We subsequently went to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, and walked among the many headstones in quiet reverence.

There was a memorial that explained much about the D-Day landing operation, and the subsequent battles moving inland through Normandy.

There was a view out over Omaha Beach, where you could walk to see some of the German fortifications that the Allied soldiers had to face.

Later in the trip we were in the Calais area, visiting some of my wife's family that still lives there, and they took us to see similar fortifications that the Germans installed in that area.

This is a small private museum installed in and around one of the large gun emplacements.

We didn't go in the museum, but her family took us to another gun emplacement, that the locals know about, that you can enter and explore.

The walls were three to four feet thick in places, and inside there still were some sayings and symbols on the walls.

Bob, I took my kids there in 2009. We stayed in a little yellow hotel on the beach. We took a one day Battlebus tour. Someday I'd like to go back and take a two day tour with them. Very informative.

Thanks so much for the pictures Bob. What a nice tour we get through your camera lens.

This was very interesting. Thanks. My brother went a few years ago and he was overwhelmed by the cemetery. To me, this is one of the most dramatic stories in history. All those men, how they got there, what happened...

Bob, this is so meaningful. I appreciate your telling of your story and posting your beautiful pictures - thank you!

Thank you for sharing this with us all. I love history and to see the photos you hare is a good and meaningful lreminder...

Thank you for posting these lovely photos, Bob, that show locations that most of us will never see. A reminder about a sad time in history.

For anyone visiting the Normandy landing beaches, I highly recommend a short detour (less than 30 minutes) inland to the town of Bayeux, to see the Bayeux Tapestry.

Few Americans know that for a significant period of time, the King of England was....French! The Tapestry is a massive embroidery that tells the tale of a Duke from Normandy who crossed the channel with his army, killed the English King Harold in battle, and installed himself as the new king. The language of the English court and royalty remained French (the Norman version) for several hundred years, which is why there are so many words of French origin in modern English.

Actually we stayed in Bayeux for one night. I forget the reason but we were unable to see the tapestry while there. I think it was already closed for the day when we arrived, and then was not open the next day, when we planned to see the landing beaches and continue further north to Calais.

I do remember that for most of the trip we were staying with various relatives of my wife. Several days with her grandmother near Versailles, followed by a couple of days with cousins of her father on a horse farm near Normandy, followed by a day at Mont St Michel, a day at the Normandy beaches, before heading to the Calais area to stay with cousins of her mother. But we needed to book a room in Bayeux for a night between Mont St Michel and Normandy.

We arrived late in the day in Bayeux, found the "Hotel" we had reserved, only to find that they were more of a hostel, and that they didn't actually have a room for us there, and were asking us to go to there other facility three miles out of town. Um, no. Don't think so.

I ended up finding a much nicer hotel right on the central square of Bayeux, that is visible in the background of this picture, with the maroon awnings.

These are some more pictures from our afternoon in Bayeux.

Wow! looks so beautiful.