We drove down the Norman part of the Aquitaine coast (which stretches down to Biarritz) to see the landing sites for the Allied invasion in 1944.

Spent some time at Omaha Beach (the “Saving Private Ryan” opening sequence setting, although I learned the other day, filmed in Ireland), the American cemetery and later saw a film about the invasion and Normandy today.

There are still German machine gun emplacements in the concrete along various beaches. Given the enormity of the undertaking and the huge loss of life, it’s a very moving place to spend some time. It’s also worth remembering when the French diss the Americans as they do periodically. (They like Canadians, it seems.)

Tried to get to Juno Beach where the Canadian troops landed and the related war museum but for some reason all traffic was diverted away from there. Too bad, we wanted to see this as well.

Had lunch at a very pleasant place on route, L’Ecailler, 2, rue de Bayeux, Port-en-Bessin and dinner much later back in Honfleur at a spot on the harbour, Au Vieux Honfleur, 13, quai Saint-Etienne,www.auvieuxhonfleur.com.

In between, we stopped in the bustling, gambling, racing town of Deauville, the setting for one of the all-time great romantic films, “A Man and a Woman” (1966) and one of my all-time faves. They say that this movie put Deauville on the map, looked like it, too.