Until we go a few more paces, turn a corner, climb a few steps, and see a large field of headstones of American dead. Crosses and Stars of David, names of all sorts and many without any name at all. This makes us, whose fathers served in that war and came back alive to father us, all the more grateful and respectful, and saddened (as we had been at the British cemetery the day before) that this extreme sacrifice had to happen at all.

We are surprised and gratified to observe the large number of French-speaking couples, families and groups were at the cemetery. We Americans may sometimes feel that the French have forgotten our contributions to their liberation. From what have winessed both in Normandy and in Flanders and other section of Northern France, this is not the case: THEY REMEMBER.

We start the return trip to Honfleur, recalling the horrible traffic on the Autoroute and deciding to stay closer to the coast. TomTom has other ideas. No way we can coax him into doing our bidding. So Mary has to coax him step by step, town by town, and still he sends us down streets that are not streets, around blocks, and into parking lots. But we do get to see some nice scenery, appreciate the massive scale of the Normandy landings, and catch a glimpse of the remains of the Mulberry Harbor at Arromanches, where dozens of specially-designed Mulberry ships were deliberately sunk to provide the base for a supply pier in the immediate aftermath of D-Day.

The trip probably takes much longer even than a congested highway, but we arrive back at Honfleur and have dinner right next door at the Bistro du Port. We both have fish. Mary has cod, I have mackerel. Both fish are nicely cooked. Little else on the plate makes sense, though. I have a stack of pastry leaves interlaced with guacamole, and Mary’s cod comes with sweet ginger sauce. The caramelized apple tarts at the end are made tasty by our sprinkling a little salt on them. The finishing Calvados is tasty but incredibly strong.

We return to our room, try to blog, but zonk out before we finish.