Season 5. Episode 4. Lest We Forget.

Season 5. Episode 4. Lest We Forget. 

August 16, 2025. Trouville-Sur-Mer to Bayeux visits to Pegasus Bridge, Sword Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach, Arromanches Les bains. 65 miles. 

August 17, 2025. From Bayeux: Normandy American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc. 43 miles. 

Lunch at the famous Pegasus Bridge cafe, (formerly cafe Gondree) where the British D-Day soldiers actually celebrated their successful landing invasion of D-day.

They claim it was the first house liberated in France in the late hours of June 5, 1944 before D-Day on June 6th. Early casualties were brought here and the dining room was an operating room. Cafe Gondree was renamed In gratitude as Pegasus Cafe as Pegasus was the symbol of the British paratroopers.

Cycling along the shared bike and pedestrian path that runs literally right next to the beaches of Normandy, it’s a stark contrast between the beach frolickers on the sand and the blown up photos on the left of war vets from last year’s 80th commemoration of D-Day.

There are several memorials. And like at home in many smaller towns we’ve cycled through in the USA, war heroes are honored with signs on light posts. 

Along this path, I became a little lost in thought and encountered my own Normandy hurdle with a collision. I saw a barrier that I tried to ride around at a slower speed but still at some speed. 

My pannier caught the barrier and stopped me cold. A snorkeler checked on me.

It could have been so much worse! I had a cracked nail, bloodied nail bed, injured left thumb and a blow to my ego.

But thank goodness Charlie was ok! By convenience, I was steps away from a lifeguard station where I got my cut cleaned and a bandaid, so I didn’t need to access my first aid kit at the bottom of my pannier. 

Heather made sure to capture the full scene, and my French knowledge means I did know the sign meant that cyclists should walk!  (Feet on the ground is obligatory.)

One of many memorials with flags of France plus the allies who liberated her.

We rode past many plaques and old photos from the occupation and the war and came to Juno Beach and the excellently done museum. Juno was the one assigned to Canadian forces to take on D-day. (Americans landed at Omaha and Utah Beaches, British at Gold and Sword beaches.)

By the way, “beach” means several miles each encompassing a few towns and was how the landing was assigned amongst the allies. Juno is a territory 5 miles long. 

From the Canadian Juno museum I was amazed to learn the extent and depth of the preparation for D-Day. Something I hadn’t considered, but should have. I hadn’t realized the amount of time that Canadian and American forces were stationed in the UK for training prior to the invasion. Many Canadian soldiers were housed with English families. At war’s end, 43,464 English brides 20,995 children were taken back to Canada! By war’s end, 1.1 million Canadians served. Astounding to me is that was 10% of the Canadian population at the time!

(Note to readers who are not aware, Heather and I are natives of Montreal, Canada and have lived more than half our lives in the USA. We are dual American and Canadian citizens.)

Charlie meet Charlie!

Next stop Aaromanches-Les-Bains. 

You can still see landing craft in the water 81 years later,

You can see remnants of the portable Mulberry harbors that were invented by the British for this very invasion. They were necessary to bring in supplies since they couldn’t yet conquer any of the port cities.

This is what they looked like and provided the critical supply line for the allies invading forces of over 1 million strong.

You can still see German Battery Encampments that could shoot down upon the landing Allies.

The next day we visited Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, final resting spot of over 9,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. It’s sadly but one of many overseas cemeteries. Over 3,000 died on Omaha Beach on D-Day alone. 

At Point du Hoc, the cliffs that US Rangers scaled defying all odds.

Eisenhower’s words in the final sentence have remained in my head since reading. It’s of course applicable to the bravery of all the Allies.

FDR’s words as well.

This photo of a cyclist from the 4 years of Nazi occupation of Paris was haunting to me as we had just also cycled this same stretch of rue Rivoli just last week.

From 1939 to 1944 the US army grew from 200,000 to over 8,000,000 service members. 

The whole scale of preparation, logistics, training that we learned of was beyond anything we knew of before. 

Our most emotional moment as Taps was played. 

There are no words. But some closing impressions.

Most amazing to us is that these events are not ancient history, nor medieval as so much European history often is. The German occupation of France (and of course all of WW II) was In our parents’ lifetime as was the liberation. If not for the courage, treasure and sacrifice of the Allies, would locals be speaking French or German today in Normandy? 

While it’s quite common to see American flags throughout the USA displayed on private homes, it is not nearly as common to see Canadian flags as prevalent in Canada on private homes. (At least prior to “elbows up” and a recent economically inspired surge in Canadian nationalism.) In 2 days on the coast of Normandy, we saw more Canadian flags than we’d see in two weeks in Montreal. 

All Canadian and American high school students should visit these Normandy sites. 

So much to see. Even more to think about. Are we - and by “we”, I mean all of us - living worthwhile lives to honor the sacrifices of so many? 

© Copyright Mark Segal 2025.