Rouen

Posting early today to enjoy the ship for the rest of the day.

Yesterday morning we received Nordic Water to the suite and this is being rolled out to all suites and staterooms on Symphony. It had already been rolled out to Serenity. The butlers will fill the containers with the water and seal them.  This will replace the use of the large bottles and small bottles of water will still be available.
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Yesterday, we visited Normandy including the sacred ground of Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery.

A major reason for booking this cruise was a return to Normandy on the 80th Anniversary of Operation Overlord. This was a major turning point in the War and defeat of Germany. We wanted to pay our respects to those brave military personnel who gave their lives along with everyone else involved with this landing.

Our first and only prior visit was with our family on our second Crystal Cruise and first Crystal Symphony Cruise in 2023.

Keith  had done lots of reading about World War II and the Greatest Generation over the last several months.  This included read a relatively new book called The Light of Battle about Dwight David Eisenhower with a large portion of the book devoted to Project Overlord. I also read some other books published on World War 2 and President Franklin Roosevelt.

We had a great day and a great tour. Max was our tour guide. He was born in Normandy and spent a good deal of his life living here.
 
We prepared for it to rain and had waterproof raincoats with us and that is what the forecast called for 24 hours earlier.  Upon leaving the port we had a few drops on the windshield but no other rain beyond that.  The morning was overcast and windy but by afternoon the sun came out and the wind speed was minimal.  This is an area where weather can change anytime with weather systems colliding with one another.  
 
Max spent considerable time explaining what took place at Utah beach versus Omaha beach on D-Day and on the day after it. He also covered what caused the different results.Some of the reasons which made the Omaha Beach a major challenge causing significant loss of life included many more obstacles planted by the Germans in the water, strong winds and rough seas, the hills that the German soldiers were on, and a significant number of fortified German Bunkers on top of those hills. When we approached the Omaha Beach area the tide was quite high and covering almost all of the beach area.
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He also provided some stories about individuals as we made stops to less well known places.  This included a stop at a church where two American (Rober Wright and Kenneth Moore) saved many people from the USA and even some Germans. The background on this is just like many others who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day these two men who were medics landed off target. They ended up finding this area where several American and some German soldiers were injured. They brought the wounded into the church.  There was also a very young boy.

When German soldiers arrived at the Church, they learned from the wounded German soldiers that the two American medics were helping to save lives.  Rather than taking them as prisoners or killing them the left the two American medics with additional medical supplies.

The American medics saved many lives that day.  Kenneth Moore would die the follow year due to an illness. Robert Wright would visit the town from time-to-time and kept up with the young boy who became a young man in time.  

Half of Robert Wright's ashes are buried at the church cemetery.  
 
We are glad we had the opportunity to visit this sacred ground at the beaches and the American Cemetery to show our respect and to think of the brave soldiers who fought during World War 2 in Europe and the Pacific.

As we walked the American Cemetery we read some of the names on the tombstones. It is a reminder that each of the people who died during the war, including the six million jews, are not a statistic. Each was a person and that is something we never should forget.  

As part of the 80th Anniversary there were, photo signs of American, British, Canadian and French war heroes were displayed at various sites in honor of each of them.

As to Omaha Beach, more soldiers died in other conflicts such as the Battle of the Bulge.  However, Omaha Beach was very different with the number of soldiers who lost their lives in a very concentrated area.  The seas turned the color of red with so many casualties.  

Our tour guide mentioned that a recent analysis of the sand showed that 3% of it was medal reflecting the remnants from that day that still are at this area.

​There is so much more that we can say about yesterday but we will stop now.

 
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This is the dinner menu from Waterside.

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While we ate dinner last night we reflected on our visit to Normandy.  

Today's Daily Reflections.

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Today we left Rouen at the scheduled time of 9:00 am. With an early morning departure today was pretty much as sea day and that is reflected in the enrichment offered. This included three lectures covering, The English Channel: Bridge or Divider, Age is Just a number: How to Live Longer and Well and Peering Into The Future Using Maps: The Rise of the Rest. 

We wanted to note that the second lecture on age is given by Holocaust Survivor Dr Erica Miller who turns 92 shortly and she has dedicated her life to help others.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith