A cold and slightly frosty start to the day with the odd shower here and there. We were soon on our way to our first stop on the day back up on the Normandy coast to visit the British Normandy Memorial.

I mainly wanted to see the ‘Standing with Giants’ exhibit with 1475 large silhouettes of service men and women, not realising that this exhibit has moved on and is now in Portsmouth! Though a few other silhouettes are permanent features….

However it was an amazing and somewhat humbling experience to visit this beautiful memorial and see the names of the almost 22.5k service men and women under British Command, who lost there lives during the D-Day landings and ensuing Battle of Normandy….

I was lucky enough to have the place almost to myself and wander around in awe….

All 22.5k names and ages are inscribed on the columns as you walk around – most sadly in their late teens or early twenties – can we even begin to imagine what life would be like now if they hadn’t given their lives?

It is such a stunning afternoon and we have a little time on our hands so I drove down into nearby Arromanches-les-Bains, where I remembered that last time when passing through we had been unable to find parking and had had to make do with viewing from above and comfortably found somewhere to park up the van whilst we wandered down for a stroll on the beaches (Code named Gold Beach during the D-Day landings), firstly along the southern end -Plage de la Breche…..

And then the main Plage de Arromanches and the remains of Mulburry Harbour….

Gold beach extends north as far as Courseulles-sur-Mer and is the beach that mostly British Troops landed on during D-Day.

From here we drove a few miles north to Ouistreham, calling in at a vets to make an appointment for Tilly to have a Tapeworm tablet on Friday, which is a requirement for re-entry into the UK and needs to be administered by a vet and her Animal Health Certificate updating within 5 days and a minimum of 24 hours before arriving into the UK. We took the opportunity for another quick walk along Plage de Riva Bella (Sword Beach) in the last of the late afternoon sun….

Before heading to our Aire for the night, slightly inland at Hermanville-sur-Mer, an Aire that we have stayed on before.

Thoughts of the day:

• I think I may have said this before but it is really heartwarming to see this memorials so well respected and cared for.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 65
• Miles walked – 4
• Beaches – 3
• Aire – £13.39
• Car park – £3.09