The Real Utah Saints (Utah Beach)

Member Name: gollygumdrops

Product:	Utah Beach
Date:	13/06/01 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, Moving

Disadvantages: Sad

Utah Beach in Normandy is a beautiful piece of countryside. It has long sandy unspoiled beaches, rolling off into wonderful green French farmland. Yet this is no ordinary beach. This is one of the landing beaches for the World War II ‘D-Day’ invasion of France by Allied forces. Utah was one of the beaches attacked primarily by US GI’s.

Stepping onto the beach you have an odd sense of purpose. Anywhere else in the world such a spot would be filled with sun worshippers and noisy children, yet here it is eerily quiet. Solitary figures wander thoughtfully along the beach, wading in the surf, picking up shells of the seaside type to take home as a souvenir of this place. It is impossible not to feel moved by the feeling that such enormous sacrifice took place in such a quiet and beautiful spot.

Walking up from the beach there is a small museum, which shows a short film about the events that took place there. Take time to read the guest book, signed by returning soldiers or their surviving relatives. It is OK to cry here, and people respect the privacy of individuals who need time alone. Several memorials to the US forces, and individual soldiers, can be found on the road to the beach.

A café and gift store nestles behind the beach, somewhat incongruously boasting large posters from the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’, as though visits to the area by Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg were somehow important in the grand scale of things.

Further away from the beach you can follow the route taken by Allied forces through to Paris. It is marked every mile. Cemeteries abound in the area, and it is deeply moving to see fields of white crosses and stars, each bearing the name of a soldier invariably in his teens or early twenties.

We stayed at the Chateau Bel Enault which offers affordable bed and breakfast in amazing grounds. It is in the process of being restored so opening and availability are very hit and mi
ss. We dined in the town of Carentan, at the Auberge restaurant. The staff don’t speak English, but they do have one copy of the menu in English, so do ask for it. We ate very well from the four course prix fixe menu. Dinner for six with wine and tip came to less than £150.

I would recommend that anyone who is able to takes time to visit at least one of the Normandy landing beaches, it is a humbling experience.

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