Photos from Normandy

[Jaeger Jonzo]

I was lucky enough to visit Normandy for the first time at the end of August. We visited many places including all of the landing beaches (except Utah), Merville battery, Pegasus bridge, Arromanches, Dead mans corner and St Mere Eglise ! Lots of museums and war walks.

It was fascinating and poignant and eerie in equal measures!

Infantrymans view from a bocage hedgerow!

I have edited down the hundreds of photos i took and your welcome to see them here:-

http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/MJ_p911/library/Normandy

unfortunately i had an SD card failure and lost a lot of very good photos of Merville battery. That was a very good interactive experience with sound effects and re-enactment. I now know what a poor German soldier felt like inside with a lot of angry keyed up paras attacking!

[Vencini]

Thanks for sharing those nice photos.They gave me at same time a feel of respect and fear.

Regards

[agusto]

Excellent photos, thanks for sharing.

[Blackcat]

Thanks for sharing your photos, Mr. Jonzo, some very interesting stuff and what a shame about your card failure losing so many others.

As to the bocage view I think the fields were a lot smaller in 1944 than they are now, which would have made them even more scary and tough. There used to be on this site a chap from Normandy, whose pen name I have forgotten, but he was an expert on the bocage country. If he is still around he might contribute to our discussions.

P.S. I hope you found the Norman hospitality to your liking? How did you get on with the cider?

[BLSTK]

Good show, Jonzo! Thanks for sharing.

[baron Jacquinot]

Western front soldiers were lucky to die here and not in Russian mud))) But battlefield never looks pretty.

[Michael Emrys]

Western front soldiers were lucky to die here and not in Russian mud)))

I understand Italian mud was pretty awful too. And there were places in the Pacific that were unbelievably horrific.

But battlefield never looks pretty.

After the armies have fought over it. They tend to leave things in an awful mess. In some places there are traces of ditches that are hundreds or even thousands of years old. The scars don't always go away. Maybe it is good sometimes to be reminded of what a bloodthirsty species we are.

Michael

[Ted]

Did you hire a guide?

I'm looking to go sometime in 2014.

Where did you stay?

Any recommendations?

[Jaeger Jonzo]

Thanks for the compliments on the photos. Yes I was pretty aggrieved to lose about a 100 pics from first day around the British airborne drop zones. Luckily the wife was taking a few on her little camera, hence apologies for me appearing in a few!

Regarding the terrain changing, the area around the British Invasion beaches has been heavily farmed and opened out, which is a real shame. Also Towns like Tilly and villers bocage were a disappointment as they have expanded or modernised. But equally there are still hundreds of little hamlets and villages that haven't changed. Plenty of good original bocage to explore too.

The whole region is fascinating, the locals are friendly and welcoming and the food and drink is great.

It's quite awe-inspiring and a little eerie to wander into battle damaged bunkers knowing that significant violent actions took place in and around them. Having recently read the 352nd book before I went added more significance to it at the Omaha bunkers. I also read the paras books on merville and Pegasus actions before I went. Likewise walking the very beaches and looking inland to see it from a landing force infantryman was thought provoking.

If like me, you have read countless books on the action in Normandy, it's quite something to follow in their footsteps.

[Jaeger Jonzo]

Regarding a guide, no I felt I knew enough about various actions and timelines to not need one, though I'm sure if you got a local guide they would be brimming with local insights and extra information. There is even a guide who will run you about in a willys jeep! I went armed with pen and sword guide books, an iPad and a Michelin map of Normandy.

Places to stay are plentiful and full of character. We stayed in 4 different places as stepping stones across the region from east to west and I liked all of them.

[Blackcat]

Did you hire a guide?

I'm looking to go sometime in 2014.

Where did you stay?

Any recommendations?

Ted,

If you are considering using a guide I recommend a chap called Francois Gauthron. A native Norman, he is a really nice chap, extremely knowledgeable both of the battles and of Normandy generally. His English is excellent, though he has a bit of accent which I have never been able to place, sort of American but not quite (I am too English to have asked).

If you don't want, or your budget doesn't run to, a personal guide Francois will rent you an excellent GPS system, with an accompanying book. I beta tested an early version for him and I was surprised just how good it was and how easy to use. You simply choose the tour you want for that day and follow the directions on the screen, not only will it take you to all the main places but will also flag-up places on interest en route - that's how I first came to discover Deadman's Corner.

Francois is based out of Bayeux, where his charming wife Isabelle runs a very nice bed and breakfast place in a modernised 14th century fortified manor house in the middle of the town. We have stayed there and found it very clean, comfortable and very much to our liking. That said, be aware the place is very French (Isabelle doesn't speak English save for a few words). There is one big table for breakfast (fresh croissants, cheese, cold meats, fresh fruit flans, lovely country-style fruit conserves - no hot stuff at all so don't expect eggs and bacon) where all the guest eat together. It is a style of accommodation that some Americans seem to be uncomfortable with. Oh, and Isabelle, charming and attentive as she is, can't make tea worth a damn but as a Yank you probably don't know the difference anyway.

For more details of Francois see http://www.easytourgps.com/

P.S. Just to cover the no commercial advertising rule on this site: I have no interest financial or otherwise in the Gauthron's businesses, I merely honestly answer another posters questions.

[Michael Emrys]

...Isabelle, charming and attentive as she is, can't make tea worth a damn but as a Yank you probably don't know the difference anyway.

Pfft. Every time I have had tea made by an englishman it has tasted awful. But perhaps they were merely playing a trick on me and serving the water they had washed their dirty socks in.

Michael

[Blackcat]

"Every time I have had tea made by an englishman it has tasted awful. But perhaps they were merely playing a trick on me and serving the water they had washed their dirty socks in."

Nonsense, Emrys, absolute nonsense, piffle, tripe, rubbish.

An Englishman could not play such a trick on you as they don't wash their socks - they have people, usually female, to do that for them.

I was once stuck for six weeks in a Miami staying at the Sheraton Hotel in Brickell Avenue. In that whole time I never managed to get staff trained to make breakfast tea. One morning I would get a huge jug of boiled water with one tea bag in it, on others I would get a small jug with up to six tea bags, other days they would get the right amount of tea and water but the water was only tepid. Over several years of working in the USA from Washington DC, to El Paso, Texas, to Puerto Rico to the American Virgin Islands I never found anywhere I could get a nice cup of tea.

P.S. The Coffee was mostly crap too.

[agusto]

An Englishman could not play such a trick on you as they don't wash their socks - they have people, usually female, to do that for them.

Maybe all english wifes always use the water they used to wash their husbands socks in to make their tea and you are just so used it that you find any tea that doesnt taste like dirty socks disgusting. Next time you travel the US, bring a couple of dirty socks with you and hand them over to the hotel staff and tell them to cook your tea with these '...to make it taste like in england'. Maybe it helps.

[womble]

Basic things to get tea right:

Don't make it in a mug if you can help it.

Water first. No milk til the bag is out/tea is poured.

The water must be boiling when poured onto the leaf.

The receptacle in which the brew will be mashed should be warmed before the boiling water is added.

The mash should be short. If you want strong tea, stir the brew to quickly extract more flavour.

And still, manky tasting water will usually produce manky tasting tea. Or coffee.

[Blackcat]

All good points, Mr. Womble, I'd add one more: never use re-boiled water only fresh.

Mr. Agusto, don't be silly. Besides I very much doubt I shall ever return to the USA.

[chocice]

I can see all this ending in tears!!!

[Jaeger Jonzo]

Francois is based out of Bayeux, where his charming wife Isabelle runs a very nice bed and breakfast place in a modernised 14th century fortified manor house in the middle of the town. We have stayed there and found it very clean, comfortable and very much to our liking. That said, be aware the place is very French (Isabelle doesn't speak English save for a few words). There is one big table for breakfast (fresh croissants, cheese, cold meats, fresh fruit flans, lovely country-style fruit conserves - no hot stuff at all so don't expect eggs and bacon) where all the guest eat together.

Apart from the name and the place that sounds almost identical to our experiences! Fortunately my wife speaks fluent French (which always helps!)

We stayed in a fantastic old fortified farm that had a history folder back to medieval days and a story to match!!...loved it it was also well placed to visit Omaha and Utah beaches being close to Grandcamp Maisy. Happy to pass on details if anyone needs it.

[Michael Emrys]

I was once stuck for six weeks in a Miami staying at the Sheraton Hotel in Brickell Avenue. In that whole time I never managed to get staff trained to make breakfast tea. One morning I would get a huge jug of boiled water with one tea bag in it, on others I would get a small jug with up to six tea bags, other days they would get the right amount of tea and water but the water was only tepid. Over several years of working in the USA from Washington DC, to El Paso, Texas, to Puerto Rico to the American Virgin Islands I never found anywhere I could get a nice cup of tea.

I would not necessarily dispute that. Beverage quality can vary enormously and you don't always get what you pay for. Tea I brew myself at the table is usually very good (after a kind chap from South Africa showed me how, I became a master of the art). Iced tea can be very good, but be sure to ask if it is fresh brewed. The stuff from a mix is best avoided.

But as I say, the two or three Englishmen who made tea for me should be kept out of reach of the ingredients. Now, perhaps the majority of englishmen are better at the art, but after hearing and reading of the way they do it, I am not confident. Probably the (dis)honor fpr the world's worst tea would have to go to Arthur Upfield's character Napoleon Bonapart, a half-breed Australian detective and tracker. His recipe was to bring about a quart of water to the boil, throw in a handful of tea and let boil for a minute. Then take it off the fire and let it continue to steep for another five minutes. It makes one weep just to think about it.

BTW, the tea served in Chinese restaurants is usually good to very good. I've seldom had any problems with that.

Michael

[Michael Emrys]

Besides I very much doubt I shall ever return to the USA.

Probably for the best. There might be men waiting for you with intent to "reeducate" you.

Michael

[Michael Emrys]

...I'd add one more: never use re-boiled water only fresh.

Now there I can agree with you. Years ago, I was at a friends apartment and asked if it would be alright if I made a cup of tea. He said to go ahead and use the water in the kettle on the stove as it was already hot. I turned the heat up under the kettle to bring it to a boil while I made my preparations, then poured the water and steeped the tea. Well, it tasted awful and in disgust I poured it out. So I asked him about his water. Turns out that the reason the kettle was on the stove was that he was using it to humidify his apartment. When the level got low, he would top it off at the tap without pouring off the old water. Now as it happens, our city water is pretty hard with a fair amount of minerals dissolved in it, so each time he refilled it and boiled it down, he was concentrating the sludge in the water. Mystery solved. I emptied the kettle, rinsed it out thoroughly and refilled it with fresh water and started all over again. Finally I got a good cup of tea.

On another occasion I was having breakfast at a cafe with some friends and ordered a cup of decaf coffee. It was truly dreadful and I concluded that they didn't get much call for decaf there. So that pot had probably been sitting on the warming coil all morning, slowly concentrating itself into something just short of lethal.

Michael

[agusto]

Mr. Agusto, don't be silly. Besides I very much doubt I shall ever return to the USA.

Well, i found it funny. It wasnt meant to be an offense.

[Blackcat]

Mr. Augusto,

I took no offence. Indeed I had a little chuckle, but lacking Mr. Emrys' lightning wit, I was a bit stuck for a good reply.

[Blackcat]

"Tea I brew myself at the table"

This do it yourself nonsense seems to have crept over here and is one of the viler imports we have taken from the USA. On my one and only visit to a Starbucks I asked for a cup of tea and was handed a paper cup filled with hot water with a tea bag floating in it and pointed to a shelf where there a jug of milk. This was in central London and they charged the equivalent of three US dollars.

The method you describe Upfield's character using is very similar to that set out by George McDonald Fraser in his great memoir, "Quartered Safe Out Here" (surely one of the best descriptions of British infantry soldiering, and if you haven't read it you should), when he makes tea for his section during the 1945 Burma campaign.

In my time in the infantry we had a powdered instant tea in the compo (field ration) packs. Just sprinkle a sachet into a pint mug of boiling water, stir, and add condensed milk and sugar to suit ones taste. The resulting concoction was brick-red in colour and, in reality, quite disgusting, but in a cold dawn after a night patrol I have never tasted anything better.