The title means "Our Assault on the Beaches of Normandy".
Not far from our hotel, we found a patisserie and got some pastries for breakfast. Robert had an apple something and Berry had something with raisons. They were delicious. We saw three large rabbits this morning as we were leaving the hotel. Then when we drove to the Seine River, we saw a rabbit that was larger than a small dog. It was at the river that we saw our first Life Bird of the day, a Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia Cetti). This is a small, brown warbler which we saw flaring its tail in the reeds beside the Seine River.
Next we found a dirt road beside the river and there we picked up our second Life Bird of the day, a Common Whitethroat (Sylvia Communis). One diagnostic characteristic of the Common Whitethroat is the contrast between the white throat and its brown body.
By the time we had completed our visit to the Seine River bottoms, we had seen a male and female Yellowhammer ((Emberiza Citrinella) with its striking yellow head, a Common Quail ((Coturnix Coturnix) next to a fence, and a White Stork (Ciconia Ciconia). The stork was flying in to join another stork at a wet place next to the road.
We took a very charming, leisurely lunch in Caen. Berry enjoyed an Omelette au Fromage (a cheese omelet). Robert had the Burger Normandie. This was one "bun" under a large patty of beef which was cover with a wonderful sauce Normande (crème, beurre, jaune d'œuf, vin blanc). Then the whole thing was hidden under a walnut and apple salad. Robert had to fish through the wonderful salad to eat his delicious burger. Wow!
After this, we departed to bird the beaches of Normandy. Berry thinks a very brief history lesson is needed. In 1944 during World War II, the allied forces liberated France from the Nazis by performing a dangerous amphibious assault on the beaches of the Normandy Coast of France. Here we respectfully visited four different locations along the famous battleground.
At the beach at St. Albans, we saw yet another Life Bird, a European Stonechat (Saxicola Rubicola). It was perched on top branches of a small, thin tree and froze as soon as we spotted it. We got a long time to study this great bird.
At Courseulles-sur-Mer we watched a nice Marsh Harrier (Circus Aeruginosus) swoop down over a fence. Then a Common Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) did its characteristic hovering. At Pointe du Hoc, we studied a duck in the middle of a bog. It was the Garganey (Anas Querquedula). As it gets warmer, we see more ducks.
Pointe du Hoc also lended itself to histoire. We paid our respects at the memorial built there for American troops. We marveled at the bravery that it took to land there and to climb the cliffs while the enemy were shooting at them. Robert took this photo of one of the monuments.
We got a room at the Napoleon Hotel in Cherbourg. We had dinner at the very nice Le Faitout Restaurant. Robert had the Filet de Bar Roti (sea bass with wild rice). Berry had Salmon Mousse and we split the strawberry/cherry/raspberry dessert. Our journey continues.
Berry and Robert
pictures courtesy of wikipedia and rfowler
The birds are amazing along with the food...love all the seafood. My history note..my grandfather was an admiral in the Navy that helped plan the assault..he then went to the Pacific and was on the Missouri for the peace treaty signing with Japan .Saw him in a huge picture at the end of exhibit at the WWII museum in New Orleans.cool.Anne
ReplyDeleteMy father flew a B-17 bomber and bombed Germany, then flew troops to Korea. That was a great era.
ReplyDeleteRobert