Greetings family and friends!

We've had some very late nights and and so sleeping has been high on the list of priorities. Tonight I am typing on a French keyboard which is different than a English (or Dutch) keyboard so it is taking me longer to find the keys; pls pardon any typos.

I've lost all track of time, but on the 21st (was that Monday?) we started our tour of the D Day beaches. For breakfast we had a delicious traditional French breakfast: French bread/baguettes, croissants, jams, and delicious black dark coffee. Leaving the B&B in Pont L'Abbee we decided to leave viq the scenic backgrounds and got a little turned around. Still it was a pleasure to wander the Norman countryside...

Our first stop of the day was to be Juno Beach where the Canadians landed on D Day. We took the slower coastal road which skirts the various beaches through many villages. Again we were entranced by the old stone homes, the walled manor farms, the narrow roads barely wide for two vehicles between the walls, and all the town names ending in "sur mer" (on the sea)

On the way to Juno we stopped along the way at the Longues Battery, a relatively intact battery of German guns that harrassed the shipping on DDay before the British landing at nearby Sword Beach were able to capture it. The boys enjoyed scampering around the guns and concrete battlements. One battlement was partially destroyed and the guns a twisted wreck; I imagine from one of the Allied battleships offshore. I had a brief but informative chat with a British chap whose grandfather was a tank crew member thqt helped cqpture the guns on D Day. Interesting story...

Got to go. Will finish off later...

PS Trent: I am reading your comments. We'll talk later.

PS Wanda: I found your uncle's grave and got some photos. More to follow.