It's time for breakfast in the Hotel du Louvre
Pegasus Bridge, the British Memorial and Arromaches, Normandy - 2nd June 2026
It's the first full day of the trip to Normandy on a C-47 Dakota, and the high winds have put paid to the day's scheduled parachute drops. Instead, Nosher, Clive and the "Essex Last of the Summer Wine" group cram into the one hire car we have between us and head out, firstly to Pegasus Bridge - the site of the crucial opening salvo of the D-Day landings - then on to the British Memorial near Ver-sur-Mer, which is one of the very few places where it's still remembered that the US didn't actually win the whole of WWII single handed, and finally to Arromanches, where the British Mulberry Harbour, built to land materiel to sustain the invasion, still remains as testament to those events over eighty years ago.
previous album: Flying to Cherbourg on a C-47 Dakota, Normandy, France - 1st June 2026
A view over the new Pegasus bridge
We head off to look at the memorials
The memorial to Major John Howard
Milling around near Pegasus Bridge
Flags of nations
Clive gets a photo
A six-by-six rumbles over the bridge at Bénouville
We stop for lunch at the Pegasus Bridge café
A very-French house
Clive inspects another six-by-six
It's all American-vehicle-tastic
Clive waits for a photo
A Willys jeep gets ready to head off
The convoy departs
A Willys jeep called Suzie
Gondrèe's Pegasus Bridge café
Ham and cheese baguettes are brought out
The 1994 version of Pegasus Bridge
The gang in Bénouville
A bunch of re-enactors cross the road
We have a look round the Pegasus Museum
The original Bénouville/Pegasus bridge
People on Pegasus Bridge
This bit looks like Jodrell Bank
A Bailey Bridge at the Pegasus Museum
A replica of a Horsa glider
Inside the Horsa glider
The peeling skin of an actual Horsa glider
The frames and stringers of an original Horsa
Inside the fuselage of a Horsa glider
A photo of the original bridge after its capture
The lattice ironwork of Pegasus Bridge
Another view of the original Pegasus Bridge
We visit the British Memorial behind Gold beach
A C-130 Hercules buzzes the beach
The British Normandy Memorial near Ver-sur-Mer
Stone columns, carved from local stone
David Williams-Ellis's sculptural centre-piece
A view of the D-Day wall
Silhouettes in a field of wild flowers
A fancy French Gite up the road
Flags on the beach at Arromanches-les-Bains
Part of the Mulberry Harbour on the beach
Banksy-esque graffiti on a wall
The village of Arromanches
We stop for a beer in a nearby café
One of Clive's mates shows up on his motorbike
The gang in the Hôtel de Normandie
Clive gets a photo of the vintage motorobike
Clive's mate is ready to ride off
Soldiers from the Netherlands practice a parade
Jeeps on the beach
Soldiers on parade
The parade finishes near some giant ironwork
A stack of Mulberry components on the beach
Concrete relics on the beach
Arromanches from the beach
A lone figure gives a sense of scale
Close up to Section 449
Worn-away concrete is like giant gap teeth
Rust and green
Arromanches through the concrete structure
More people inspect the concrete relic
The original 1944 Mulberry Harbour is still there
The buildings of Arromanche
A dog sits in a shop door, bored
More Willys jeeps
Le garagiste
Arromanches
The decorated walls of a small hostelry
A view along the narrow street to the sea
Yet more Willys jeeps
A motorbike and sidecar rides into town
We're back at the hotel's basement car park
The fancy Hotel Napoleon
A colourful tag on roller shutters
A view of the marina by Quai de Caligny
A derelict bar - Bar le Belem
Rue Tour Carrée
On Rue Henri Dunant
La Cave du Roy
Bill-poster dereliction on Rue Henri Dunant
A view from the hotel bedroom window
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It's time for breakfast in the Hotel du Louvre
It's time for breakfast in the Hotel du Louvre
A view over the new Pegasus bridge
We head off to look at the memorials
The memorial to Major John Howard
Milling around near Pegasus Bridge
Flags of nations
Clive gets a photo
A six-by-six rumbles over the bridge at Bénouville
We stop for lunch at the Pegasus Bridge café
A very-French house
Clive inspects another six-by-six
It's all American-vehicle-tastic
Clive waits for a photo
A Willys jeep gets ready to head off
The convoy departs
A Willys jeep called Suzie
Gondrèe's Pegasus Bridge café
Ham and cheese baguettes are brought out
The 1994 version of Pegasus Bridge
The gang in Bénouville
A bunch of re-enactors cross the road
We have a look round the Pegasus Museum
The original Bénouville/Pegasus bridge
People on Pegasus Bridge
This bit looks like Jodrell Bank
A Bailey Bridge at the Pegasus Museum
A replica of a Horsa glider
Inside the Horsa glider
The peeling skin of an actual Horsa glider
The frames and stringers of an original Horsa
Inside the fuselage of a Horsa glider
A photo of the original bridge after its capture
The lattice ironwork of Pegasus Bridge
Another view of the original Pegasus Bridge
We visit the British Memorial behind Gold beach
A C-130 Hercules buzzes the beach
The British Normandy Memorial near Ver-sur-Mer
Stone columns, carved from local stone
David Williams-Ellis's sculptural centre-piece
A view of the D-Day wall
Silhouettes in a field of wild flowers
A fancy French Gite up the road
Flags on the beach at Arromanches-les-Bains
Part of the Mulberry Harbour on the beach
Banksy-esque graffiti on a wall
The village of Arromanches
We stop for a beer in a nearby café
One of Clive's mates shows up on his motorbike
The gang in the Hôtel de Normandie
Clive gets a photo of the vintage motorobike
Clive's mate is ready to ride off
Soldiers from the Netherlands practice a parade
Jeeps on the beach
Soldiers on parade
The parade finishes near some giant ironwork
A stack of Mulberry components on the beach
Concrete relics on the beach
Arromanches from the beach
A lone figure gives a sense of scale
Close up to Section 449
Worn-away concrete is like giant gap teeth
Rust and green
Arromanches through the concrete structure
More people inspect the concrete relic
The original 1944 Mulberry Harbour is still there
The buildings of Arromanche
A dog sits in a shop door, bored
More Willys jeeps
Le garagiste
Arromanches
The decorated walls of a small hostelry
A view along the narrow street to the sea
Yet more Willys jeeps
A motorbike and sidecar rides into town
We're back at the hotel's basement car park
The fancy Hotel Napoleon
A colourful tag on roller shutters
A view of the marina by Quai de Caligny
A derelict bar - Bar le Belem
Rue Tour Carrée
On Rue Henri Dunant
La Cave du Roy
Bill-poster dereliction on Rue Henri Dunant
A view from the hotel bedroom window