For years, we'd talked about going to Normandy, to finally get a look at what had heretofore been only flickering black-and-white images from hours of documentaries now fixed in our minds. We wanted to stand on the Omaha Beach sands and to see Pointe du Hoc with our own eyes. We wanted to go to the American cemetery and pay our respects. "Someday," we nodded to each other.
We thought that someday came in 2021. We traveled to France to tour Bourgogne (Burgundy) with friends, and we'd taken a side trip to Villefranche for a couple of days, so our friends could show us their old haunts. France had just begun winding down its onerous COVID policies, thank God. The place was incredibly dreamy.
When the fancy part of our trip was over, we would then travel to Normandy by taking a flight from Nice to Paris. It isn't really "easy" to get to Normandy. In Paris, we would catch our quick-and-dirty bus tour to Normandy, come back that night and head back to the U.S. the following morning. It wasn't ideal, and the tour bus thing sounded like a drag, but we'd finally see the place we'd sworn for years we'd visit.
As we unpacked in Paris the night before, we learned the tour had been canceled. Too few people were going, they told us unapologetically.
Mr. and Mrs. Taft were pissed.
After a French 75 or two, we calmed down and agreed, "Someday we'll get there. We'll do it right and we'll do it without the tour bus clowns."
Also: On the Sands of Omaha Beach: A Trip to Normandy and D-Day Reflections
Our next chance to fulfill that vow came in 2024, at the tail end of a family reunion trip to Ireland. We'd done our own homework this time. My husband talked to a tour company we'd used on a previous trip to ask them what hotels they used near Normandy. We got a tour book. We watched YouTube travel videos on how to do it right.
We rented a car and drove in from Paris one early morning — I still have the bluetooth pairing with my phone to that car. I refuse to delete it. I have a sign in my house that reads, "Don't Look Back, You're Not Going That Way," but that's only for bad memories, I reckon. I'm not deleting that pairing.
We got to the town of Bayeux, which would be our headquarters for this trip. The timing was perfect. We were there right after the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, so it was a celebratory atmosphere without the crowds.
Bayeux was the first town the Allied Forces freed from the Germans after the invasion of Normandy. The French town was liberated on June 7, 1944.
We stayed at the Winston Churchill Hotel. American, Canadian, and British flags festooned the city. People smiled at us. A trinket salesmen told me "Thank you, American." We weren't in Paris anymore.
We caught our tours to Normandy steps away from the Churchill Hotel. Though we were tempted to take intricately specialized tour experiences that can last days, we opted for two tours to Colleville-Sur-Mer, Omaha Beach, the American cemetery, and Pointe du Hoc, where American Army Rangers scaled the cliffs there under enemy fire.
I took this photo from a distance, because it showed how close German forces were to the troops (before they moved back).
Our guide told our small group at Colleville-Sur-Mer overlooking the beaches of Normandy what it looked like on June 6, 1944.
And finally ... the beach.
This is where Brigadier General Dutch Cota personally led his demoralized 29th Infantry troops in the first breakout from the beach. What other generals have led from the front since Cota and George Patton in World War II? I looked it up.
- Lieutenant General John B. Arrington, Korean War
- Major General James F. Hollingsworth, in Vietnam.
- Lieutenant General Harold Moore, Vietnam War.
There are probably more that we don't know about because nobody has written a book about them.
We stood on the beach and imagined what it would look like red from the blood of our American troops.
I took out my small plastic bags and gathered sand, rocks, shells, and sticks from the beach. A friend of mine asked me to collect some sand for her. Her uncles served in World War II.
I held onto my treasures in a baggie until I could find the proper vessel in which to display them. My uncle carved a bowl and gave it to me. It was perfect.
It sits in a place of honor in my podcast studio, next to my challenge coins.
In the video below is the American cemetery. Every day at 5 p.m., the flag at the American cemetery is lowered, and Taps is played.
In memoriam.
— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room, FITF Squad (@VictoriaTaft) June 6, 2026
D-Day.
Taken on the 80th Anniversary at the American cemetery.
5pm. pic.twitter.com/SOldYJxas6
Two days later after visiting the museums, walking the streets of Bayeux, trekking to Mont Saint Michel, we got back into our rental car, drove to Paris and caught our flight back home. There's more to the trip, but this will suffice for now.
When we got back home, my husband and I looked at each other and vowed, "We'll be back."
