Normandy pictures

Vehicles from the Czech Republic

George at Omaha Beach

George on Omaha Beach - yes that is his donut on the sand.

Normandy

We have finally arrived in Normandy which was our ultimate goal. We are camped with the British Military Trust members in a lovely caravan park at Etreham. Normandy is full of military vehicles in all shapes and sizes namely from US, Czech Republic and the UK to name just a few. There has been lots of picture taking by everyone.

Today we spent wandering through the American Cemetery on the edge of Omaha Beach. It is situated on a very picturesque spot right beside the ocean. In the information section they have continuous movies and lots of written information and pictures to view.

Barack Obama is due to visit on D-Day so preparations are underway and security is tight. There were US marines, French soldiers, sniffer dogs and security guards there already.

We then went to various other museums and sites and then drove down on to the beach at Omaha. There were vehicles on the beach so Jim decided to drive George down also (nothing to do with the fact that the Kiwis had successfully managed it!). The sand is so hard when the tide is out that even when you stand on it there is no impression left (or we have lost lots of weight – somehow I don’t think so with all this French bread!!).

There are lots of interesting vehicles in both the caravan park and driving around the streets. We saw a lot of vehicles from the Czech Republic parked at one spot we visited. Everyone is very friendly and interested in each other’s vehicles and particularly the fact that we have driven so far to be here for D-Day.

Peter's collection

Another vehicle from Peter's collection

Tombs collection

Just a couple of Peter's treasures

Country retreat

We spent a night camped at Peter and Marjory Tombs' country villa. Peter and Marjory made us feel very welcome and allowed us to camp on their 5 acre property. Peter is also a collector of military vehicles and we were all very impressed with his collection housed in a large shed that he had raced to get finished before our visit.

Peter and Marjory invited us to a BBQ tea and provided all the food and drinks. Marjory had organised a cake decorated with the Aussie flag so we sang our National Anthem and cut the cake.

A friend of theirs is a music teacher who plays the guitar so along with Sam on his saxaphone and Dale on his guitar we had an enjoyable night of music and singing.

Photo shoot at Le Mont Saint Michel

Our vehicles all lined up for the early morning photo