20의 퐁텐-앙리가지 명소 & 주요 장소

Quiet country roads lead to this small cemetery for approximately 630 British soldiers who died in WWII.

A truly moving and humbling experience. That such a beautiful location as this could have been the site of so much carnage, bravery and loss is incredible. The monument has been long awaited and whilst it can be very sad to see, it is also uplifting to know that all those brave souls will forever be remembered. Access to the site is easy, pay parking available with profits to the charity, toilets are on site and a small museum offers lots of information about Overlord and its Heroes as well as a shop and a café.

As a memorial to the countless war dead, such a "Cimetiere militaire" - in German they are usually referred to as "war graves" or "soldiers' cemetery" - is still very important today. "Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace, as you have said..." it says in the so-called "Hymn of Simeon" (Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, Verse 29). However, the many people buried here did not depart in peace, but became victims of war and an inhuman tyranny. The most important and at the same time everlasting function of soldiers' cemeteries or cemeteries of honor or war graves is therefore to keep the memory of this suffering alive and to remind each generation anew (!) of the need to maintain lasting peace.

Quite a hill to get here, shortcut for cyclists

Sometimes crosses are classified and named according to the reason for their construction, for example memorial, murder or expiatory crosses. Sometimes they are named according to the style in which the cross was built, as is the case here with a very distinctive feature: the so-called "Lorraine Cross" (Croix de lorraine) is easily recognizable by the second upper crossbar.

It was a privilege to stand among Heros

Magnificent memorial with a superb view of the sea! Note that the site is prohibited for bicycles but not the path which passes right in front...

This immense cross of Lorraine was erected here because General de Gaulle landed on this beach located between Graye-sur-Mer and Courseulles-sur-Mer on June 14, 1944. Charles de Gaulle was warned at the last moment by the allies of the Normandy landings of June 6, 1944. Feeling terrible anger. He had these words: “France has been treated like a doormat! »