Normandy Beaches – Day 5
May 8, 2026
Omaha Beach
This morning after a catastrophe with the Moka Pot! we went to Omaha beach one of the things I have always wanted to do, was walk on the beach. It felt a bit surreal walking there as it just felt like your average beach, of course it’s anything but your average beach. It was the costliest of the Allied beaches, the Americans had approximately 2400 casualties.
Point du Hoc
US Rangers scaled these cliffs to take out these gun emplacements on the morning of June 6th. After taking the position the Rangers had to hold it for a couple of days against German counter-attacks until they were relieved on the 8th June
Trying to convince Mandy we need a small drone.. so far unsuccessful.
Saint mere Eglise
We have arrived at St Mere Eglise where we will spend two nights in a campsite very close to the village and the American Airbourne museum.
We had an afternoon looking around the museum which was very good. Especially when you walk into an area that looks like you have boarded a plane with the paratroopers and when you walk to the end of the plane you step out as if you are jumping, with the noise of gunfire and the wind whistling around you. Very clever display.
We have yet to explore the village which is famous for the church that had the paratrooper John Steel who crashed on the roof and hung there all night before the Germans caught him. They have this displayed on the roof of the church.
Barry mentioned the story of the disaster with the moka pot – when we wake up in the morning first job of the day is to make the coffee, today we found the said moka pot missing!!!! We could only assume we left it at the previous campsite as we had used the outdoor kitchens to wash up. We had to wait until the campsite opened at 9am to call them to see if it was there, and if it was did we really want to go back on ourselves to collect it, versus trying to find a shop that sells them, the closest was Cherbourg which was 70 km away. In the end the campsite confirmed they had our pot so we went back. Lets just say there was some grumpiness this morning, but once we had recovered it, had a coffee and pastry from the local boulangerie all was right with the world again 🙂