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I went to the Landings beaches of Normandy with my parents, when i was 6, in the beginning of the Sixties. I have kept in my mind very strong images and memories of that trip, of all what I saw, of all what my father - who read much about History - had told to me about the events. And I came back this last summer, with my young wife, to visit again the sites. Retrace one's steps is always somehow a melancholy work in mind: little sadness of what is past and lost, some pleasure that prior life be in one's mind someway still living. Conversely, coming on historic dramatic sites is quite a vain activity as we just take them as a sort of entertainment, as we just come to see sights. That way, nothing can make it a living matter. It's when we are moved by this past, it's when we shudder for the tragedies of that past, it's when we admire the brave one's, the liberators, and bristle at the mean, that we can touch the past and make it a living thing for us. What is, as a matter of fact, a sort of melancholy process. Quite opposite of the private memory of which I spoke at first: we surely are glad those terrible events are FAR from us, and we enjoy the living lesson of the past, but not at all envy that past. Not to be mistaken with the melancholy of the ruins, that is sort of a meditation upon dead civilizations. On the Landings beaches of Normandy, the great Tragedy of the recent history appeals us to general and personal thoughts. That's why I agree with the two reviews on the side: "Amazing" and "Very moving artifacts of D-Day and WWII". That's why I was at first shocked by EnglishspeakerX: " Rustling hulks", but at last understand him: he has no taste for ruins, even for the remains of a glorious past, from the moment that in the real life, they ARE now nothing useful, and even maybe dangerous. Maybe he just lacks a little imagination...…
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Date of experience: August 2020
2 Helpful votes
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Surprising that they do not get rid of these rusting hulks - they are a danger to the visitors and block in part the lovely ocean view.
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Date of experience: July 2020
2 Helpful votes
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+1
Our visit to the beach was in September. The weather was gorgeous and the beaches were not overly crowded. The remaining boats/ports were still very intact and very cool. They still are a major part of the water line here. There are monuments and story boards along the coast here as well. The museum that is located here looks to have many artifacts from the war, but we did not enter the museum. We just looked in from the lobby and visited the gift shop. All in all, the town is very nice and the remembrance here is a sight to see. I say....worth a visit.…
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Date of experience: September 2019
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There are not very many sections left of the dock in the harbor. But, it was an amazing engineering masterpiece. Combining the old sections with the museum will give you an incredible perspective, as to the undertaking of this work. This was one of my favorite parts of my exploring the D-day beaches. …
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Date of experience: May 2019
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There are enough remains on the beach and out to sea, to understand the scale of the Mulberry Harbour created in the bay of Arromanches.
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Date of experience: October 2019
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