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Even at the (now) common speeds of 100MPH+ it made a long day. Our plan was to visit several D-Day memorial sites at Omaha Beach so we left Curzay (for the last time) and headed north back to Le Mans and beyond:
Driving north we had some great driving and great scenery. It's always impressive whenever a bunch of C5s caravan through; it's doubly impressive in a country where they are rarely seen.
On the way, Hank Vezina's C5 was "nudged" through a traffic circle by a large white truck piloted by an Irishman:
After an exchange of words (and paperwork) we were on our way again.
Before leaving we discovered why Jock Conner's car was losing oil. Somewhere along the line he'd lost his oil filler cap. A substitute was constructed without the use of duct tape! And notice the nifty storage area for a spare quart of Mobil 1...
We drove again on part of the Le Mans racecourse; remember that part of the course is run on local roads -- we drove that road again as we passed through Le Mans on our way to Omaha Beach.
The memorial was awe-inspiring. Each of us who made his way there was moved to see the acres of grave markers.
There was a display showing where the various Allied forces landed along the Channel coast. The display is positioned where you can look out over the beach:
And we were fortunate enough to be there at 5:30pm when they played taps as they lowered the two American flags. Makes you wonder why anyone who had visited here would ever want to go to war again.
After our traditional meeting:
We left at about 6pm for our trek to Rouen for the evening. We had agreed to meet at exit 22 of the A16 highway; here are about half of us awaiting the arrival of the rest:
The hotel folks kindly met us at the outskirts of town and led us to the Hotel La Berteliere:
(quite a trek over narrow cobblestone streets with fourteen C5s in tow). Bob and Ann Connell and Harry and Marie Cromwell made their way to the hotel unassisted -- we still don't know how. And the entire Clark family was forced to skip the trip today because of Allen's condition. We've heard nothing about their plans and how Allen is as of now -- but we're hopeful.
The hotel served a fine dinner. These are happy people but I can tell you they are also very weary:
Tomorrow we drive to Calais and board the EuroTrain for our return trip to England.