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| The 80-year-old Frenchman with his extended family. A daughter lives in Montreal, the others in France. |
As you might expect, French tourists are drawn to Louisiana. France may have sold it off 200 years ago as part of the deal of the century, but there remains here a ton of French history, place names, descendants, cuisine and tradition.
But we were interested in the Normandy coast of France, site of the greatest seaborne invasion in history, June 6, 1944. So we inquired.
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| The purple pin is Omaha Beach. The red one is the little village in harm's way on D-Day. |
Turns out, the senior tourist in the group was there alright. He was ten years old at the time and remembers it well. His family home is five miles south of Omaha Beach, the bloodiest of the landing sites.
On May 30, 1944, the Germans came and told his family to clear out of the area, which they did. But the Allies bombed everywhere, even where they had sought refuge, and many civilians died as part of the retaking of France. Most bombs did not hit intended targets. He remembers it well.
Although the tourists spoke good English yesterday, it was hard to get the pronunciation of their town where they still live. Tray something, it sounded like. They said it was a small village five miles south of Omaha Beach and not far from the American cemetery. They mentioned Colleville and St. Mere Egilise, which we know of, but not Tray something.
They invited us to come by the house for a visit if we ever got over there.
Sure enough, when we got home we Googled up a map, scanned five miles south of Omaha Beach, and there it was: Trévières a village of 900 souls. It is in the heart of the D-Day tourist destinations, near museums, cemeteries, artillery emplacements, bunkers and statues, all anticipating the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Although the tourists spoke good English yesterday, it was hard to get the pronunciation of their town where they still live. Tray something, it sounded like. They said it was a small village five miles south of Omaha Beach and not far from the American cemetery. They mentioned Colleville and St. Mere Egilise, which we know of, but not Tray something.
They invited us to come by the house for a visit if we ever got over there.
Sure enough, when we got home we Googled up a map, scanned five miles south of Omaha Beach, and there it was: Trévières a village of 900 souls. It is in the heart of the D-Day tourist destinations, near museums, cemeteries, artillery emplacements, bunkers and statues, all anticipating the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Wonder if they'd leave a light on for us.
