Dear Classmates...
Sharon and I took a "two tours in one" river cruise trip in France with Viking River Cruises in October. Week 1 was spent sailing the Seine River from Paris to Normandy and back, making different stops on the return trip to Paris. The center pieces of that week were the Allied Memorials and US National Cemetery at Normandy, the site of the D-Day Invasion in June, 1944 that resulted in the end of WWII in Europe nearly a year later in May, 1945. This experience was particularly moving for us since we spent my military service enjoying being stationed in Germany in the late 1960's. To think if we were born a generation earlier, I could easily have been one of the many young men killed trying to storm the beach at Normandy, many of them seeing battle for the first time. You couldn't help but feel "there for the Grace of God go I"! After spending our last day of week 1 seeing different parts of Paris, we took a high speed train to Lyon, France 's third largest city after Paris and Marseilles, to board another Viking ship on the Rhone River. The Rhone is one of three European rivers that empties into the Mediterranean Sea and flows through France's famous wine country, a large part of which was occupied by the Romans in ancient times. Our trip ended in Avignon, known for serving as the Papal Seat for over 200 years, after the election of the first French Pope. If any HixNews readers are interested in more details of the trip, they can feel free to contact me at my email address
Best regards...Joe Carfora 1962
Joe reboarding the Viking Rolf in Les Andelys, location of Richard the Lionheart's Castle
Lounge upstairs; dining downstairs, both in ship's forward; all state rooms are aft
(holds 190 passengers)
View from our ship, docked at LePecq, a western Paris suburb
The base of the Eifel Tower
Taken from our bus driving through Paris
Alongside Notre Dame Cathedral, which is on an island in the Seine River, in Paris
Cathedral in Rouen , where we docked to visit the Normandy Beaches
US National WWII Memorial Cemetery , Normandy , France
About 9,500 (40%) of 23,000 + US Soldiers who died on D-Day and the days following are buried here. Next of kin made the decision to keep the remains here, or have them shipped home for local burial.
Typical gravestone, but I chose this one to lay my rose on with a prayer
Outside the British Commonwealth Museum in Normandy
Huge logistical problem! The Allies had no port to use for landing major equipment, so they assembled a huge portable port, built in England , off the coast to unload tanks, trucks, etc.
Map along the sidewall of the US National Cemetery Memorial Plaza showing the various landings along Normandy's Beaches by Allied Forces. Our Allies hit Sword & other beaches to the east. The US hit Omaha & Utah Beaches.
Shoreline View outside the British Commonwealth Museum
View of the English Channel from the US National Cemetery
A Memorial near the Beach
Part of same Memorial
View along the Normandy Beaches Today
Example of artillery that was part of the Allied Invasion
One of many Nazi bunkers along the Normandy Beaches
View of the Seine from Chateau Gaillard, castle fortress built by Richard the Lionheart to protect English territory held in Northern France & Normandy in Medieval times
Top deck view of the Viking Buri going through a lock, during week 2 in Southern France, along the Rhone River
A Roman coliseum in the city of Arles, Capital of Roman Gaul
View of a coliseum entry way
The Arles Coliseum as it looks today
Pont du Gard Aqueduct near Avignon , site of the French Papal Seat for 200+ years in Medieval times
Joe & Sharon aboard the Viking Rolf
Click here to see other photos
