- Sep '03 -
I had initially planned to cover the entire Norman coastline and document every memorial and site/museum of relevance available. Unfortunately I had decided before embarking to travel on foot and rely on French public transport - which was somewhat of an oversight on my behalf! As it turned out I only managed to cover the Contentin Peninsula area and after trekking around for days carrying a 35 pound rucksack on my back decided that own transport was indeed vital for a trip of this kind!
So, instead of spending what I thought was going to be a couple of months in France, I actually spent a week. I did manage to cover quite a lot of sites considering my lack of transport and am planning to re-visit Normandy in the future (this time with a car!).
The route I travelled (dictated to me by the French STN coach route!) took me from Cherbourg down to Valogne. From Valogne I walked to Montbourg and then out to Quineville. After walking back from Quineville I travelled from Montbourg down to Ste-Mere-Eglise; which to anyone who knows about WW2 will understand its huge relevance to the war. To those who do not know, Ste-Mere-Eglise is a small town in Normandy which was the first town to be liberated by the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Paratrooper Divisions.
In retrospect I really enjoyed my week in Normandy and loved every WW2 site/museum/memorial I visited. I can't wait to travel back to France next year with friends - only this time I'm sure I won't lose one stone in weight over four days (that's what lugging a 35 lb backpack around France does to you!)
Below are selected photographs of my trip displaying, in chronological order, the various places I visited during my week. Please excuse the slightly poor resolution of these pictures but they are scans of prints and not digital stills.
