Les Braves, Omaha Beach Les Braves, Omaha Beach © Gillian ThorntonPoppies at Arromanches © IOW SparkyCemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer is one of themost beautifully landscaped cemeteries youwill visit, and the visitor centre one of the mostmoving. Look out too for the Memorial to theBrave at the centre of the beach.abmc.gov/normandyMaisy Battery, CalvadosThe English Channel coast is dotted with gunemplacements from two World Wars, but theMaisy Battery in Normandy is unique. Sunkbelow ground level, west of Grandcamp Maisy,the battery was invisible from the road, butcould fire on both Omaha and Juno Beaches.Captured on 9 June 1944 by the US 2 nd and5 th Rangers, it was subsequently covered withearth for over 60 years until rediscoveredby British military historian Gary Sterne.Today Maisy is one of the most authenticremembrance sites along the Calvados coast.Walk through 2km of trenches and exploreauthentic World War II bunkers.maisybattery.comBritish Normandy Memorial,Calvados, NormandyOpened in June 2021 by King Charles III –then Prince of Wales – the British NormandyMemorial at Vers-sur-Mer records the namesof 22,442 servicemen and women underBritish command who fell during the Battle ofNormandy in summer 1944. Located aboveGold Beach, the memorial columns are laidout in the shape of a Union Jack flag, with fivesculptural signposts lower down the hillsidepointing to the five D-Day Landing Beaches.Stunning in its simplicity.britishnormandymemorial.orgArromanches, CalvadosGet a feel for the ingenuity and scale of theD-Day invasion with the remains of floatingMulberry Harbours that were towed across theEnglish Channel and assembled offshore toenable Allied ships to unload men and supplies.A broken chain of harbours is clearly visible atsea, whilst others are forever stranded on thesand at low tide. Don’t miss the new D-Daymuseum on the promenade, opened in 2023,for the incredible background story.musee-arromanches.frCote 204, Aisne, PicardyLocated on a hill two miles west of Château-Thierry, this huge memorial on a woodedhillside overlooks the champagne vineyards ofthe Marne Valley. A double sculpted colonnadeabove a long terrace commemorates bothAmerican and French sacrifice during theAisne-Marne and Oise-Aisne offensives in1918. Also close by is the tranquil Aisne-MarneAmerican cemetery and Memorial, laid out ina semi-circle around Belleau Wood, once thescene of fierce fighting. abmc.gov66 | The Good Life France Aisne-Marne Memorial © Gillian ThorntonThe Good Life France | 67
