Alain, up at the Landing Beaches in France - This was such a rich, densely-packed day for us our brains were bursting by the end from so much information coming in from Alain and so many thoughts to consider. As is typical on private walks, your own family’s interests and experiences are the jumping off point, and themes pursuant to those personal interests and backgrounds begin to emerge. Our family had viewed “The Longest Day” three days before our tour, and it was fantastic - particularly for our kids - for Alain to be able to use the images from this epic docudrama as a starting place and fodder for color commentary throughout the day. What emerged for us quickly in our hours-long examination and discussion of the events of D-Day was the question, “Did the Allies win the battle, or did the Germans lose it?” Alain’s personal passion for the subject (He is the proud grandson of a member of the French Resistance), obvious scholarship, and now experience leading tours (in English, French, and German, which means that he has now had the marvelous opportunity to add reflections of veterans he’s guided around from both sides of the war to his understanding), all combined to give us what we felt was a deep, balanced picture of the events and the issues, and their impact on the war. The logistics of the day - the train tickets, the trains themselves, the minivan - were all perfect. What a memorable day.
Everything was great!
Everything was great!