General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6526 Posted March 29, 2013 Aaah, another fortnight without sleep.... Aha Johan, Sabrejet, Doyler and members of Johan's posse the fortnights wait is over yesterday I got to the coastal town of Grand Camp and captured the ' then & now ' image of the restaurant used since WWII by the Ranger veteran's for their reunions. For other forum members and readers this is a restaurant that Johan, his posse, myself have met each June for an evening meal together, last year as the Sabrejet's were in town so to speak then they joined us as well along with a couple of other local friends that Johan and myself know. I never normally appear in any of these ' then & now ' images but the friend travelling with me yesterday coaxed me into the shot. Of note in the wartime shot is a German bunker built in an alleyway to the right-hand side of the restaurant and the house on the right, just left of the dark clothed man in the centre of the photograph, this bunker has since been removed and the alleyway opened up for vehicles. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6527 Posted March 29, 2013 Hi Lee, thanks for coming in with more information on Walt Disney, the more information the better I have made your link a love one so it can simply be clicked on and hey-ho, sorry that should be hi-ho, hi-ho and off to site we go http://www.independe...rs-1266622.html Yesterday as we were driving around the narrow roads and tiny villages of the Omaha beach area it was very obvious and sad that despite increasing amounts of people that now visit the Normandy beach area that small independent restaurants, bars and business's are not surviving. Maybe everything is now being done at whistle-stop speed and in organised tour buses and it is time scheduled as to each and every stop and the older more pleasant days of meandering around and enjoying the local area's are a thing of the past. Friends of mine were only saying yesterday that they have an American couple booked into one of their chalets for two days and they are under the impression that they are going to be everywhere and see everything in two days, they even have Le Mont st Michel on their itinerary which is easily a three hour drive to the other side of the peninsula and would take a complete day to see the island and monastery etc. This is without counting all the beaches, towns and museums that are to be seen along this coast. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Ken, Great photos as always. While I think the organized bus tours and time scheduling is a major factor, I also think that today's economy is playing a big part of the loss of tourism. Too little disposable income for an American to jet the family over to Europe. Hopefully, this world-wide recession wil fade away soon and France can once more be invaded by tourists! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6528 Posted March 29, 2013 Normandy now ................. here is a shot of the winter flood plain from the high vantage point of the chrurchyard at Liesville sur Douve, this is a watery scene of the area that the Germans created and American troops would have seen and fought through during June 1944. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . Beautiful shot Ken! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6529 Posted March 29, 2013 Ken, Great photos as always. While I think the organized bus tours and time scheduling is a major factor, I also think that today's economy is playing a big part of the loss of tourism. Too little disposable income for an American to jet the family over to Europe. Hopefully, this world-wide recession wil fade away soon and France can once more be invaded by tourists! Hi Erick, I think there's is no shortage of tourists, I wish I had taken photographs of St Mere Eglise last weekend there was not a car-park space to be had in the town and the pavements were choked up with people. Yesterday the number of small and large tour buses at Omaha beach unbelievable. I just think that all these International tourists, and mainly Americans on package tour trips are booked into larger hotels in Bayeux and Caen both for the food that is American orientated and the possibility of speaking English with waiters rather than possible awkward conversations with local French. ( McDonald's is McDonald's the world over ) Also as I stated in an earlier post accommodation of what ever sort Hotel, B & B, camping has been snapped up at an astounding rate since as early as 2011 and last year. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6530 Posted March 29, 2013 Beautiful shot Ken! Thanks Erick, all the small higher area's become virtual islands each winter as the flood plains surround them with just ribbons of roadways ( causeways ) connecting these high area's. I was thinking of starting a new club in Normandy, ' The Normandy mountaineering club ' I can't see great membership numbers as there is little land over 100 metres here :lol: ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6531 Posted March 29, 2013 Hey Ken, Thanks for the Grandcamp shot... A copy of the TSMG holding GI used to be up in the hotel/restaurant that you describe. It is the place where we used to stay with the group of Ranger veterans when they came over for the big commemorations. The dining was then decorated with pictures of Rudder and his men having dinner in the hall in the 70s and 80s. The back wall of the hall still has the large painting depicting the assault on the Pointe du Hoc by the Finnish artist, Reijo Mäkelä The business is now run by the daughter of the initial owner who loved WW2 things... Together with a collector friend I assembled a complete Ranger mannequin with M1 rifle which was displayed in the hotel reception for many years. He was the one who used to set up the yearly meetings with the locals in the hotel basement who would the bring the stuff they had found over the year for us... Many items in my collection were acquired in that hotel... Great memories!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6532 Posted March 29, 2013 yesterday I got to the coastal town of Grand Camp and captured the ' then & now ' image of the restaurant used since WWII by the Ranger veteran's for their reunions. I never normally appear in any of these ' then & now ' images but the friend travelling with me yesterday coaxed me into the shot. Ken, It is amazing that much of the shoreline looks the same. It looks like there were not too many buildings destroyed. Great to see you in the "now" shot! Is that a military coat you are wearing for your travels? ....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6533 Posted March 29, 2013 Yesterday as we were driving around the narrow roads and tiny villages of the Omaha beach area it was very obvious and sad that despite increasing amounts of people that now visit the Normandy beach area that small independent restaurants, bars and business's are not surviving. Ken, I think small independent businesses everywhere are struggling. The larger business chains can do things cheaper so the small business is losing ground. I know that Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc, made a small book store in my neighborhood go out of business. I hated it because the small book store always had local authors with book signings and things for the neighborhood. The larger businesses could care less about the neighborhood. ....Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6534 Posted March 29, 2013 Hey Ken, Thanks for the Grandcamp shot... A copy of the TSMG holding GI used to be up in the hotel/restaurant that you describe. It is the place where we used to stay with the group of Ranger veterans when they came over for the big commemorations. The dining was then decorated with pictures of Rudder and his men having dinner in the hall in the 70s and 80s. The back wall of the hall still has the large painting depicting the assault on the Pointe du Hoc by the Finnish artist, Reijo Mäkelä The business is now run by the daughter of the initial owner who loved WW2 things... Together with a collector friend I assembled a complete Ranger mannequin with M1 rifle which was displayed in the hotel reception for many years. He was the one who used to set up the yearly meetings with the locals in the hotel basement who would the bring the stuff they had found over the year for us... Many items in my collection were acquired in that hotel... Great memories!!! Hi Johan, well I am pleased that I stirred your memory box for you, I thought the images might work some magic with you So another year, another June, another meal all together again eh ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6535 Posted March 29, 2013 Ken, It is amazing that much of the shoreline looks the same. It looks like there were not too many buildings destroyed. Great to see you in the "now" shot! Is that a military coat you are wearing for your travels? ....Kat Hi Kat, it was a sunny day but with a very low temperature wind cutting through, I had on my M-65 field jacket with liner, the poor thing is getting to a state that it needs replacing sometime fairly soon, but only if I can locate an original I don't want a copy. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted March 29, 2013 Share #6536 Posted March 29, 2013 just made it home from my trip/vacation. Will read missed posts and comment tomorrow. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted March 30, 2013 Share #6537 Posted March 30, 2013 Normandy ' Then & Now ' .................................... This morning I took a trip over to Omaha beach area and took the opportunity to take the shot for this ' then & now ' comparison, this features an old hotel on the coast road along the bluffs overlooking Omaha beach and the Vierville draw D-1 & D-3 exits from the beach. sadly this hotel and restaurant has gone into decline and closure over the last thirty years , I do remember eating in the restaurant a couple of times in the late 70's. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 28 2013 . I think that's where I said I'd buy you lunch at if I ever made it across the pond some day. Well I guess we will just have to have a cookout in your back yard. I'll be there in spirit if not in person. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted March 30, 2013 Share #6538 Posted March 30, 2013 Aha Johan, Sabrejet, Doyler and members of Johan's posse the fortnights wait is over yesterday I got to the coastal town of Grand Camp and captured the ' then & now ' image of the restaurant used since WWII by the Ranger veteran's for their reunions. For other forum members and readers this is a restaurant that Johan, his posse, myself have met each June for an evening meal together, last year as the Sabrejet's were in town so to speak then they joined us as well along with a couple of other local friends that Johan and myself know. I never normally appear in any of these ' then & now ' images but the friend travelling with me yesterday coaxed me into the shot. Of note in the wartime shot is a German bunker built in an alleyway to the right-hand side of the restaurant and the house on the right, just left of the dark clothed man in the centre of the photograph, this bunker has since been removed and the alleyway opened up for vehicles. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . looks like the fronts have added protection from high seas. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 30, 2013 Share #6539 Posted March 30, 2013 I think that's where I said I'd buy you lunch at if I ever made it across the pond some day. Well I guess we will just have to have a cookout in your back yard. I'll be there in spirit if not in person. Robert Hi Robert, well first things first, you need to be in Normandy and then we will sort the venue for food out, I am sure I can find something to tweek your taste buds heck just last year a KFC finally opened near Caen it's only taken 67 years......................................... ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 30, 2013 Share #6540 Posted March 30, 2013 looks like the fronts have added protection from high seas. Robert Hi Robert, mentioning protection from high seas, a neighbour said this evening that he was along the Utah sea front at the far end in the Cherbourg direction where the sea wall is in much better condition and higher, he related that the sea had been over the wall and even deposited lots of sand, shells and pebbles on the roadway. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 30 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted March 31, 2013 Share #6541 Posted March 31, 2013 Hi Everyone,................. well as I have said in the past I just love it when we hit those rounded off numbers so tonight we just did 6.545 replies and 616,616 hits ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 31 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted March 31, 2013 Share #6542 Posted March 31, 2013 ( McDonald's is McDonald's the world over ) Great show Ken Glad to hear a #4 is a #4 the world over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted March 31, 2013 Share #6543 Posted March 31, 2013 Aha Johan, Sabrejet, Doyler and members of Johan's posse the fortnights wait is over yesterday I got to the coastal town of Grand Camp and captured the ' then & now ' image of the restaurant used since WWII by the Ranger veteran's for their reunions. For other forum members and readers this is a restaurant that Johan, his posse, myself have met each June for an evening meal together, last year as the Sabrejet's were in town so to speak then they joined us as well along with a couple of other local friends that Johan and myself know. I never normally appear in any of these ' then & now ' images but the friend travelling with me yesterday coaxed me into the shot. Of note in the wartime shot is a German bunker built in an alleyway to the right-hand side of the restaurant and the house on the right, just left of the dark clothed man in the centre of the photograph, this bunker has since been removed and the alleyway opened up for vehicles. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, March 29 2013 . Who is ths dashing chap in the picture?? Why its our world renound ,well traveled, over worked and under paid Normandy Correspondent General Apathy!!!! Intresting note the Motel host the Rangers.Just yesterday I picked up a single decal german Luftwaffe helmet accomanied by a letter and calling card from a 2nd Bn Ranger who sent the helmet home from Normandy.He is also mentioned in the book The Longest Day.In the book it states they al sang happy birthday to him on the ship.His birth dat was 6 June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted April 1, 2013 Share #6544 Posted April 1, 2013 ( McDonald's is McDonald's the world over ) Great show Ken Glad to hear a #4 is a #4 the world over Hi Ron, #4 I guess you are talking about a haircut with the shaver set on #4 blades ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, April 1 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted April 1, 2013 Share #6545 Posted April 1, 2013 Who is ths dashing chap in the picture?? Why its our world renound ,well travelled, over worked and under paid Normandy Correspondent General Apathy!!!! Intresting to note that the Motel hosts the Rangers. Just yesterday I picked up a single decal German Luftwaffe helmet accompanied by a letter and calling card from a 2nd Bn Ranger who sent the helmet home from Normandy. He is also mentioned in the book The Longest Day in the book it states they all sang happy birthday to him on the ship, his birth date was 6 June. Hi Ron, well your comical comments above haven't gone by me without me realising that it is the 1st of April this morning ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, April 1 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted April 1, 2013 Share #6546 Posted April 1, 2013 Utah Beach Today April 1 2013 ........................ I was close to Utah beach this evening around 19.00 hrs and so I thought I would have half hour at the beach, it was the bitterest of winds blowing in off the sea, the waves were all white and crested, the sand was blowing in swirls and drifts across the beach, it was hard to spend time there the wind chill temperature was below zero. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, April 1 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted April 1, 2013 Share #6547 Posted April 1, 2013 Utah Beach Today April 1 2013 ........................ I was close to Utah beach this evening around 19.00 hrs and so I thought I would have half hour at the beach, it was the bitterest of winds blowing in off the sea, the attached photo shows the damage being done to the sand dunes by the fierce winds and tides that we are having here this winter. Note the original beach matting that the engineers laid for men, vehicles and supplies to leave the beach, the sands are just being blown and washed away from beneath it as it corrodes and disintegrates. ken Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, April 1 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted April 1, 2013 Share #6548 Posted April 1, 2013 Great pics Ken Sure does look cold and windy.Not a good day to cut through the surf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted April 3, 2013 Share #6549 Posted April 3, 2013 @ Robert: Here you go Robert...a trio of real British ales which will put hairs on your chest...unlike those soda-pops you call "Bud Lite" and Coors! Finally got home from my vacation and took some pictures for you Ian. Small part of my collection and one of my favorite can. Have several differt pose's of that brand. And yes its a real beer brand, Also found Newcastle here. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtRGFRANK Posted April 3, 2013 Share #6550 Posted April 3, 2013 A real sweety. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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