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Normandy - a trip full of schoolboy errors, Unhelpful Avis employees and the first of Kevin's many war wounds. This tour made possible by ADA Location Car hire and NOT AVIS ! |
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This was a special trip for the NMBS. We were re-visiting the D-Day beaches 60 years after they had seen so much carnage, war and bloodshed. But also 60 years after the first steps of the liberation of Europe. Also a new line up for the NMBS, Lance was busy taking exams - step in Stuart Erskine and Kevin Hunt. The trip was memorable for all the right reasons and all the wrong reasons. To start we had to travel to Paris by Easyjet - good flights, good airline - no complaints. Its when we get to Paris the trouble started. We stayed the First night at a Formule 1 (travel lodge) at CDG airport, the next day picking up our car to travel to St.Lo. Avis car rentals, god bless them were the most unhelpful bunch of pen pushers the NMBS has faced. Indeed the landing at Normandy was possibly easier. The problem was that one person had a driving licence, the other had a credit card (for the deposit) Avis wanted the same persons details. They would not budge - even telling them we were the NMBS would not help !! They said that no one would hire us a car what so ever - so like Steve Martin and John Candy, we went from a Plane to a train. The train from Paris to St. Lo via Caen was wonderful and the stresses that Avis and the unhelpful staff caused slipped away as a beer or two was drank, chilled from the porter and we reached St. Lo. Once we reached St. Lo we hired a car, no worries, no trouble, NO hassle - from a company called ADA Location - they were polite, helpful and wanted to deal with the customer. In fact as gratitude I have added a link to the ADA site (below). The other problem was the weather. I kid you not it hit 45C one day, so please forgive us wearing shorts on this trip! The highlights of the trip had to be the vets from Both the UK and the USA. Two of the best quotes were from American Vets in St. Lo (all vets were brilliant, you could talk for hours to them and they did not mind one bit) but the quote that we heard when we got of the train in St Lo was priceless. One vet stating "The last time I was in this place, we'd bombed the shit out of it!" The Picture below shows he was not kidding. Another American vet, from a southern state, who was being mithered by a reporter turn with a twinkle in his eye and said to the reporter "I may not be a redneck, but I sure love the taste of squirrel!" The reporter looked sheepish ! |
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Staying in St Lo - was part of the Band of Brothers Nod, and going to Carentan, just near St Lo carried this on. We also vistited the beach of Utah (which we missed in the 2001 trip), St Mere Eglise, Caen and Pegasus Bridge. Other Highlights were the two massive Cemeteries at La Cambe (German) and Colville (American). A small hotel error nearly made the NMBS sleep in a field one night but we ended up in the French version of Fawlty Towers (most rooms in Normandy had been booked soilid for the D-Day 60 celebrations). But the rest of the trip ran smooth. Normandy was a wash with big wigs - The Queen, Tony Blair, George Bush Jnr, President Mitterand, Valdimir Putin, Chancellor Schroder, John Howard, Helen Clark, Paul Martin, Russel Crowe and Alek Kwasniewski were all there. Security was not as tight as we had expected, although we had to get passes from the War Pensions office in the UK we never used them. Apart from maybe showing AVIS ! The trip was brilliant and one of the best tours we had. But one thing was missing. Lance. And boy hasn't he made up for it ! |
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