<p>My husband and I took our five children (then aged 12 through 17) there July, 2004. The cemetery was crowded! There were people of all ages (many children) and from many different countries but you would not know it if you closed your eyes. People were quiet, subdued, and respectful, and not just the Americans – it was incredibly moving and rather overwhelming. We spent a day visiting the beaches, Pont du Hoc, the American Cemetery and one of the British cemeteries. I know it made a huge impression on our children (and on us). My father spent the last year and a half of the war as a prisoner in Stalag 17 and so did not participate in D-Day (he was captured Dec. 1943) but I still felt I was honoring him, and all who served, when we visited there.</p>
<p>We too found the people of Normandy to be warm and welcoming but we also had great experiences with the French we met in Paris and the Loire. The people we met were wonderful – we asked one lady (in awful guidebook French) for help finding a metro station and she walked two blocks out of her to take us to the station.</p>
<p>Thank you for posting the beautiful tribute Zaphod.</p>