September 22, 2019 Southampton, UK

Well here we are back at the begging, but not really. Just the begging port, to start on our second leg of the cruise. And nothing like a old fashion cold to take you out of action, and this one has done it to me. NOT FUN!   The last few days have been a blur, we took a health day, but the cold was more then wee. And then of coarse I got it too, ugh. So we skipped Edinburgh, much to my chagrin, I didn’t want to miss all the stops in Scotland, but so it goes, sometimes. We did see a very interesting train bridge, as it was so busy at least 3 trains every 5 minutes. There were two passenger car bridges and one train bridge, then the bridge in the background was for cars. 

We did get the opportunity to see the scotch show, as I posted last.  And we managed to pull ourselves together and go on the tour to Normandy. The tour was a very long bus ride, but we were put in the back of the bus, the last seats in the back, and that was probably good as I slept before and after. 

We had a sea day before, and that was good as it helped Ed to get almost well, and me to stay in bed most of the day. We had to be in the wheelhouse bar at seven fifteen, and then of coarse wait, and then they put us on last!  So off we went on our long ride, and the guide was  very monotone so it was easy to fall asleep. And I don’t usually sleep in the day. 

First stop was the museum about D day, in Arromanches, Fr. the beach there was most impressive as the bunker wall was still somewhat in tact. And the tide was out so you could see lots of sand, later the tide was up, and that was not the case at Omaha or Utah beach’s. We then went to lunch in this town at a wonderful restaurant in Hotel De Normandy, this place put out the food that would make other restaurants be ashamed, as there had to be 80 people from the buses and there regular clientele, and it was wonderful food, we started with Nicosia salad, which I thought was the lunch, as it had prosciutto on top, and lots of wonderful veggies. One funny thing, when they brought around the bread it was in a big brown bag, and she pulled two rolls or what ever the table required and kind of through it on the basket at your table, it was funny. 

Then we got the main coarse, chicken, and veggies, the chicken was so tasty, I just wish I could have enjoyed it, but, we were seated by the kitchen, and it was hot, and I took a couple bites, and went outside to get fresh air. Ed worried about me, and skipped the dessert of French apple pie, bummer. 

Then it was on to the cemetery and Omaha beach, I was very moved by the shear numbers of men who gave up there lives so we could live free. And what many of them knew would be there last day