Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
being destroyed by an unusually vicious June storm (the artificial ports at Arromanches
and Utah Beach were used until November of 1944). Have a seaside drink or lunch at the
casino's café, and contemplate a stroll toward the jutting Pointe de la Percée.
Drive on past the Hôtel Casino on D-517. As you climb away from the beach, look
to your left and try to find two small concrete window frames high in the cliff that served
German machine gun nests, and notice the pontoon bridge on the right that had been in-
stalled at this beach. After the storm, it was moved to Arromanches and used as a second
off-loading ramp. It was discovered only a few years ago...in a junkyard.
At the junction with D-514, turn right (west) toward Pointe du Hoc. Along the way,
in the hamlet of Englesqueville la Percée, you'll see a 10th-century fortified farm on the
left offering
Calvados tastings
. To try some, cross the drawbridge, ring the rope bell, and
meetcharmingownersSouzicandBernardLebrec.Startwiththeircider,moveontoPom-
meau(amixofapplejuiceandCalvados),andfinishwithCalvados.Theyalsosellvarious
other regional products, including D-Day Honey, which is made by one of the guides I re-
commend (tel. 09 60 38 60 17, mobile 06 76 37 46 41).
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Pointe du Hoc
The intense bombing of the beaches by Allied forces is best experienced here, where US
Army Rangers scaled impossibly steep cliffs to disable a German gun battery. Pointe du
Hoc's bomb-cratered, lunar-like landscape and remaining bunkers make it one of the most
evocative of the D-Day sites.
Cost and Hours:
Pointe du Hoc is free and open daily April-Sept 9:00-18:00, Oct-
March 9:00-17:00, tel. 02 31 51 62 00.
Getting There:
It's off route D-514, 20 minutes west of the American Cemetery.
Visiting Pointe du Hoc:
Park near the new visitors center and stop here first for an
overview of the heroic efforts to take the Pointe. Relax in the cinema for a 20-minute film
on this Mission Impossible assault. Then follow the path toward the sea. Upon entering
the site, you'll see an opening on your left that's as wide as a manhole cover and about six
feet deep. This was a machine gun nest. Three soldiers would be holed up down there—a
commander, a gun loader, and the gunner.
Climbtotheviewingplatformaheadandsurveythescene.Thispointoflandwasthe
Germans' most heavily fortified position along the D-Day beaches and held six anti-ship
guns capable of firing 12 miles east to west. Omaha Beach is 11 miles to the east; Utah
Beach is seven miles to the west. For the American landings to succeed, the Allies had to
run the Germans off this cliff. So they bombed it to smithereens, dropping over 1,500 tons
of bombs on this one cliff top. That explains the craters. Heavy bombing started in April
of 1944, continued into May, and hit its peak on June 6—making this the most intensely
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