When we first visited Pegasus Bridge in 2007, we were free to wander around the bridge without visiting the Memorial Pegasus Museum.  It's now accessed via the museum.

The museum starts inside, and as you wander amongst the exhibits catching up on so many interesting facts and stories of how Operation Overlord unfolded. Soon you are in the open air with Pegasus Bridge standing in full glory.

Allow yourself a couple of hours, sure you can fly round quicker but there's plenty to see and take in.

We visited the Memorial Pegasus Museum on our way into Caen. The following day we set out to tour the coastline. Travelling east to west our first "landing" stop was Sword Beach, north of Caen.

When you stand on the beach today it’s incomprehensible what took place 75 years ago, young lads heading into the unknown. 

The morning we were there it was a little murky but so peaceful. The beach was almost deserted, just a few locals going about their everyday business, walking their dogs and chatting to their friends and I’m sure occasionally reflect on events gone by.

Hugging the coastline as much as possible, passing through small towns we arrive at Juno Beach. Dotted all along the way you are able to see memorials of remembrance, evidence of past atrocities and touching personal tributes.

The invasion on Juno Beach was under Canadian leadership and they although they made incredible in-roads into France on D-Day, they suffered significant losses. 

As we continue our mini-road trip west, we arrive at Gold Beach, and this was one that stopped me in my tracks. We drove up to a high point that overlooked Arromanches Bay, and I was astounded to see so much of the artificial Mulberry Harbour, still holding solid in the sea, after all these years.

An incredible feat of engineering, and for Gary and I, one not to miss.

Omaha landing beach is doubtless one of the most poignant of the five beaches and holds a very memorable place in our history, particularly American history.

The troops that landed here suffered relentless attack, all the while climbing the slopes of the French coastline to secure the enemy from behind. 

There was a huge loss of American life on Omaha, and a just above the shoreline overlooking the beach is a remarkable cemetery dedicated to the loss of those lives during WWII. 

When you first lay eyes on want appears to be a never-ending sea of symmetrical white crosses, you’ll be catching a lump in your throat, it is so touching. The occasional little Star-spangled banner fluttering in the breeze is the only thing that distracts your eye.

The cemetery contains 9,380 graves and a memorial wall dedicated to the missing lists 1,557 names. A little rosette marks the names of those since recovered and identified. 

There’s a fantastic visitor centre at the Normandy American Cemetery, it’s open all year round, and it’s free of charge to visit.

You may even recognize the cemetery from the opening & closing scenes of 'Saving Private Ryan'

The most westerly of the five beaches is Utah Beach, and as we arrived the sun started to shine, making it even more of a struggle for us to visualise what these guys met upon landing.

Utah beach and its surrounding landscape were also predominately used by the American forces, particularly for their airborne divisions. Thankfully, the loss incurred here never met with the extent of Omaha.

What caught my eye was the effort that had been made to keep the history alive. Some lovely bronze statues set amongst the sand dunes and even a landing craft. Also, here and directly on the beach where the troops disembarked, is the Museum of Landings. Which chronologically takes you through the fascinating story of D-Day.

For anyone that has travelled to this region of France or further north, you’ll know, how frequently you’ll be passing a war cemetery.  Whether it is from the First or Second World War, there are just so many as a reminder of selfless sacrifice.

As we were on our own WWII pilgrimage, we decided to visit the Bayeux War Cemetery & Memorial. This the largest Second World War Cemetery in France for Commonwealth Soldiers. 

Along with the Commonwealth soldiers, there are over 400 German headstones. As you would imagine it is a very peaceful place, however; it always surprises me how few people there ever are at the CWGC cemeteries.  

Opposite the war cemetery is the Bayeux Memorial which has over 1,800 names etched upon it and is dedicated to the soldiers with no known grave. 

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