More Bayeux and a Short Hop November 7, 2006
We started the day with ambitious plans to go to the 360ﾟtheater at Arromanches 360 Cinema Circular, the Musee Memorial D’Omaha Beach and an afternoon matinee back in Bayeux before catching a 5:13 Pm train to Pontorson.
We found as we started the day that transportation to and from the beach area would be a problem as the buses are now running an off season schedule. To hire a taxi to take us to all these places would be prohibitively expensive. We did take a taxi to the Arromanches 360 to watch the film that was produced to primarily show French children the relation between today’s Norman countryside and how it looked during the D-Day operations. The film is graphic and loud at times showing actual battle scenes of the battles and their effect on the civilian population. There was a large group of 8-9 year olds in the theater with us as we watched the scenes unfolding all around us. One small girl leaned on me several times during the most unnerving scenes so I believe that it made an impression, although I’m not sure that it was positive.
The 360 theater is set high on a cliff overlooking the town of Arromanches and after the film we followed the single lane road down to the town. It was a clear, cold, blustery day made for walking and the views of the coastline and the town were outstanding. When we reached the town we tried to locate a bus that would take us to Omaha Beach but soon found that this was not an option. We saw Samuel, our guide from the day before, and he told us where to find the bus stop for the return trip to Bayeux. We had the schedule for that bus which was scheduled for 2 PM, so we went to the Visitors Center to see what other options we might have. The Visitor Center was closed for lunch, typical here, so we found a small café run by two very accommodating ladies and had lunch. After lunch we walked up to the main road and caught the bus back to Bayeux. The matinee had already started so we instead strolled through town looking in shops before retrieving our packs from the Bayeux Visitor’s Center and making our way to the rail station.
Pontorson is almost a two hour train ride and it was dark by the time we arrived. At the Pontorson station the train was boarded by two policemen that escorted a boy, maybe 16 years old, and his dog from the train. We’re not sure what that was about but no-one seemed to be too upset about it. The rail agent gave us directions to the corner bus stop and we made it to our hotel around 8 PM and after having a glass of wine for me and a cup of tea for Holly we settled into our room for the night.
We found as we started the day that transportation to and from the beach area would be a problem as the buses are now running an off season schedule. To hire a taxi to take us to all these places would be prohibitively expensive. We did take a taxi to the Arromanches 360 to watch the film that was produced to primarily show French children the relation between today’s Norman countryside and how it looked during the D-Day operations. The film is graphic and loud at times showing actual battle scenes of the battles and their effect on the civilian population. There was a large group of 8-9 year olds in the theater with us as we watched the scenes unfolding all around us. One small girl leaned on me several times during the most unnerving scenes so I believe that it made an impression, although I’m not sure that it was positive.
The 360 theater is set high on a cliff overlooking the town of Arromanches and after the film we followed the single lane road down to the town. It was a clear, cold, blustery day made for walking and the views of the coastline and the town were outstanding. When we reached the town we tried to locate a bus that would take us to Omaha Beach but soon found that this was not an option. We saw Samuel, our guide from the day before, and he told us where to find the bus stop for the return trip to Bayeux. We had the schedule for that bus which was scheduled for 2 PM, so we went to the Visitors Center to see what other options we might have. The Visitor Center was closed for lunch, typical here, so we found a small café run by two very accommodating ladies and had lunch. After lunch we walked up to the main road and caught the bus back to Bayeux. The matinee had already started so we instead strolled through town looking in shops before retrieving our packs from the Bayeux Visitor’s Center and making our way to the rail station.
Pontorson is almost a two hour train ride and it was dark by the time we arrived. At the Pontorson station the train was boarded by two policemen that escorted a boy, maybe 16 years old, and his dog from the train. We’re not sure what that was about but no-one seemed to be too upset about it. The rail agent gave us directions to the corner bus stop and we made it to our hotel around 8 PM and after having a glass of wine for me and a cup of tea for Holly we settled into our room for the night.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 9:41 AM
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