This morning dawned clear and cold, 29 degrees Fahrenheit, so our warm comforter-covered beds were very attractive…we got a late start so our visit to Mont St. Michel (2 1/2 hours) has been postponed until another trip to the area. Instead we visited the American Cemetery in Normandy. We entered the museum through the usual security, learned interesting facts about the mission and watched several short films about the Normandy mission and some biographical information about several young soldiers. New Orleans-based Andrew Higgins was prominently discussed because of the boats the company built for the war. The soldiers were all so young and none looked scared. These soldiers were well prepared for their mission and supported by everyone in the world who believed in freedom.
Leaving the museum, we walked through the beautifully manicured cemetery grounds to the perfect rows of white crosses and stars of David. 
One of our friends from home told Allan that his uncle had been killed in hand-to-hand combat shortly after D-Day. Using the provided computer, we found that our friend’s uncle was in plot H, row 7, grave 27 so we made our way there and found his name etched in a perfect white cross. Walking through this cemetery, I was sadly reminded of the almost 10,000 American men and women who died in this fight for freedom.
We continued our drive along the beach and lunched in Port-en-Bessin-Huppain at a small brasserie called Brasserie Les pieds dans l’eau. I think it refers to legs dancing in the water. It was a good choice–we loved our lunch. 
Huppain is a fishing port and we discovered that one of their main catches is the coquille for coquille St. Jacques. The fishing boats dump all of the shells on the shore here and the numerous gulls are hopeful that something remains in the shells.
Further down the beach road we stopped in Arromanches les bains where the artificial port, Port Winston, was created by the British to feed weapons and supplies to the invasion. It is considered the heart of the Normandy invasion. 
There remain concrete structures in the channel that were dragged from Britain. We watched a film at the circular cinema that was a conglomeration of clips from the British, Americans, and others. In addition to all the other emotions I experienced earlier today, I was reminded of the pictures we see today of war in the Middle East…so much destruction, sad men, women, and children walking in the rubble-strewn streets, and innocent people forever changed. But, this new one is a different kind of war–we are not fighting an out of control government, there may not be a successful military strategy for the free world to get behind, and the threat we feel is difficult, if not impossible, to track and thwart. There must be a way to help the many suffering people in the world…and because of sights like the cotton candy clouds in this sunset, I still have hope…
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