The town of Arromanches-les-Bains was chosen by the Operation Overlord planners as the site for one of the two Mulberries, the artificial ports planted offshore to handle the movement of men and supplies before established ports could be captured.
The remains of what was called Mulberry B are still clearly visible on the beach. For the three months immediately after D-Day, Arromanches was the busiest harbour in the world.
High above the Eastern end of the town, up on the bluff, is an orientation platform that provides superlative views of the port and town.
It is also home to a beautiful memorial garden marking 75 years since D-Day and the superb Cine 360, a 360-degree cinema showing the excellent Normandy’s 100 Days, around twenty minutes of exceptional archive footage collected from around the world that tells the whole story of the 100 days of the Battle of Normandy.
Arromanches-les-Bains should be a small seaside town; a place where you come to walk along the Prom and eat a baguette while looking out across the English Channel. And while it is that, it is also worthy of its place in modern history and should be part of any tour of Normandy.
A very pretty place. Imagine if those homes could talk, the story of what they saw that morning at first light. Are they still lived in homes? Like the photo from the platform.
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Most of the houses along the sea front seemed to be small guest houses, only a few had ‘private’ signs.
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This was on my list of places to visit because my Dad was part of Overlord. Beyond my capabilities now what with the oxygen cylinders I have to cart around with me LOL
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It’s so peaceful now, it’s hard to imagine what it was like in June 1944.
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Your first and last photos especially are very beautiful … Hard to believe that such a tranquil place was such a hive of activity.
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I know; even standing on the beach, it’s still hard to imagine what happened there.
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