Port en Bressin to Merville-Franceville-Plage – 70km

I start writing these posts in the evening, and it’s getting harder and harder to remember what has happened in the day. Time is just merging into one long experience, time has no value at all!! Luckily with the advent of digital photography and strava, I can remember. I got packed up reasonably quickly, after my standard breakfast and was away by 9:00. Its getting later!

The campsite had “cyclists plugs” so I could recharge everything (I have been off grid since the ferry). This meant I could spend some time (sorry “battery” – which is my new measure of the progess of existence, and unlike your measurement of time, I can reset mine with a recharge!) putting a proper route into Garmin stopping at everything I want to visit. First stop after some really beautiful lanes, and cliff top cycle trail was Arrowmanches. There were some really impressive gun emplacements with the guns in place.

I have wanted to come to Arrowmanches for sometime and I was hoping for a glimpse of the Mulberry Harbour the British floated in to support the  invasion after the landings. I needn’t have worried, they are so visible. A clearly defined ring about 500 metres out, and lots of the blocks closer in. All of this just offshore of a most picturesque seaside town.

I went to the 360 cinema, which was a good and educational film on the landings (and with a hopeful and uplifting ending), and in the entrance was a massive photo of the harbour during the war. Dozens of ships offshore, and so much activity. Just like a major port. The effort to do this is mind boggling.

There was a monument to the Royal Engineers, who I expect were kept busy for a long time here. There are bits of the floating harbour dotted around the town. The beach from this point was Gold Beach one of two beaches the British landed at.

Next stop was the British Normandy Memorial, which after the German and American Cemeteries I didn’t know what to expect. This is a new memorial that was unveiled in 2021. We have done very well, its an impressive place overlooking Gold Beach. The  actual graves are in a Cemetery in Bayeux. However, this gives a point of focus for all the lives lost during D-Day, including French Civilians. The cycle route approaches from the back of the Cemetery, and there are silhouettes of soilders (and others, some were clearly civilians) spread through the most beautiful wild planting. Rather unfortunately, some were near trees and it looked like they were having a furtive wee, it didn’t seem appropriate to take a photo! The memorial are huge open cloisters, with each column bearing the names of those that lost their lives. Its all very orderly, they were arranged in date order for about one month, starting with D-Day. Then split by service, then alphabetical, including the rank and age.

The sheer number of those that lost their lives. I started counting names and columns to estimate the numbers – I worked out 15,000 but I now know there are over 22,000 names. The monument also has carvings of key speeches from Churchill (“we will fight them on the beaches..”), De Gaulle and the (old) King. It was very moving, and a fitting tribute, although you do wonder why it took 77 years!

On the subject of De Galle, the Arrowmanches museum identified that he had landed at Juno Beach and made a speech in Bayeux stating he was forming a government. Apparently this was to the great displeasure of the Allies who wanted to set up a Military Administration. A different view to the museum yesterday. I guess that’s history for you!

I then headed to Courseulles-sur-Mer, which is the key town for Juno Beach. The Juno landings were primarily by the Canadians, but the armies from many other nationalities were involved, especially those from occupied countries that had ended up in Britain. This made the street bunting much more colourful and I spotted one quite quirky Canadian monument.

I decided to have a sandwich lunch, which turned out to be a bad decision. The nearest supermarket was in the narrow main street, which had a street market that was just packing up. Getting my bike through the melee was difficult. It was far worse by the time I’d come out, as it was nose to tail transit vans, and squeezing my pannier laden bike was practically impossible. It was all worth it for a picnic on the seafront.

I was now on Gold Beach, and the final beach. In the far distance I could see a ship, it was actually the ferry in Ouistreham (which Brittany Ferries call Caen). There were a variety of monuments to British and French troops, although it was difficult to stop as the number of cyclists on the cycleway was increasing as I got closer to the town and stopping suddenly may cause a pile-up! It amazes me with the numbers of cyclists how we manage to squeeze past obstructions, avoiding head on collisions and take account of tiny kids, or wobbly old people without any traffic signals or (few*) incidents. * Later on I saw a crash between an exuberant youngster, about 10 I’d guess, and an older lady. It was on a blind bend where the bushes had grown over the path. Nobody was hurt and was probably unavoidable, although if the kid had been paying just a little bit more attention…

In Ouistreham, I did want to see the Grand Bunker. This was a German Command Post, and ranging station  built right in the middle of the town.

It was fully kitted out with equipment from when is was used. The story of how it was captured is quite remarkable. Three Royal Engineers (led by a Civil Engineer) tried to blow the door off without success, then crowbars and eventually another blast. As they got it off, a voice said, “come on up”, to which the engineers said “No, come on out”. The three of them took 55 Germans prisoner without incident. The range room has a big “range finder” and can see a huge expanse of ocean. The target locations were then radioed to the batteries along the coast. Climbing the metal ladder to the roof was interesting, and whoever styled the crazy radio operator needs a medal.

My next, and final site to visit was the Pegasus Bridge. I had to cycle inland along the Caen Canal, passing a migrant camp in the woods. I guess the ferry is a focal point. It looked well cared for, with a pile of pallets and firewood at the entrance, and in fact people sweeping up and tidying around.

Pegasus Bridge (named after the insignia of the British Airborne unit that captured it),  was a key crossing of a big canal, and river. Without it the Invasion would have been stuffed. The old bridge has been replaced, by what would seem to be a replica, and it looks like the old bridge is in the museum looking. So I was a bit confused as there are slightly too many bridges.

It was a really interesting museum/memorial with some of my favourite things. Yes Gliders and (now) Bailey Bridges. There was a lot about the gliders that landed the troops. My thoughts on crash landings were confirmed, although I do think the British gliders looked a bit more robust than the American ones. Still made of wood and canvas, although the fuselage was made of a sturdy plywood sheet. I still wouldn’t fancy it!

The good news was that the gilders landed (crashed ?) bang on target and the bridge was taken by complete surprise at 1 am on D-Day. Unfortunately they had to try to hold it longer than planned under heavy attack before the land forces could reach them.

My final historical rambling is on Bailey Bridges. These were designed by a Civil Engineer (named Bailey) for crossing any size river. They needed to be light, no part heaver than 250kg and easy to put up. Apparently a 25m bridge could be assembled in 35 minutes. The quote in the museum was “the bridge is easy to erect correctly, and difficult to erect incorrectly”, sounds like a good design. The bridge in the museum was put in during the war, was repositioned in 1950 and still used until it was replaced in 2004.

Found a good campsite, but it didn’t have a bar or restaurant. So I pitched my tent on a nice sandy pitch and tested the facilities.  Shower excellent, toilets €14 tp No, ts No. Clearly you need to pay over €15 if you want a ts!  Headed into Merville-Franceville-Plage for Entrecot avec Poire sauce and a Cafeliege. Perfect.

P