Mega mussels

Having woken up to a howling gale our plans for a restful day on the beach were hastily revised. Over petit dejeuner we decided to instead drive to Ouistreham (eestreham) and visit the Pegasus memorial.
This museum was devoted to the British role in D-Day, namely the capture of several bridges on the Caen canal and silencing the gun emplacements covering Sword beach. The first -and most famous - bridge to be captured was Pegasus bridge. We arrived in time for a briefing around a large model of the area, and a film introduced by Prince Charles. We then walked through the exhibits (including decoded messages from Bletchley Park) and found out about how the paratroopers and medical staff arrived and held out against German counterattacks.
Outside was a replica of a glider used in the attack, along with a replica (we think) of the original bridge. Considering we were a little unsure of the €5 admission fee, we were pleasantly surprised by how good this museum was. After a good 2 hours, it was time to head back for some moules et frites!
A note to all; even restaurants close for lunch in France! At the second attempt, we manages to get a table in the Charleston (Pizzeria) and ordered our food. Victoria went for Moules au ail, persil et creme, Andrew for moules au cidre. We expected a small portion, so were both amazed when large cooking pots(the size of a large pressure cooker) arrived filled the brim with mussels! We began to eat.
About 30min later, both of us had eaten most but not all of our mussels, and rounded things off with a crepe suzette and a coffee. Suitably stuffed (and impressed at a €40 bill) we wandered (waddled?) along the windswept but sunny St Aubin sur mer promenade.
Distracted by the sound of the sea, the smell of seaweed in the sun and swept by wind, we didn't stop until we reached Longrunes sur Mer, the next village towards Ouistreham. Having slowly made our way back to the car, it was then back up to la petite ville for a coffee and to think about packing ready for the journey home.
So, we have now experienced Normandy, from the Norman invasion to Liberation by the allies in WW2. It's been fantastic; seeing the Bayeux tapestry was certainly a highlight, as were Arromanches and Pegasus bridge. We've had our moules frites and crepes but are saving waffles for Bruges in December. We didn't get to Falaises, the site of William the Conqueror's birth, but that was just too far to go.
So, we went on holiday to Normandy and we visited: Arromanches, Bayeaux, Caen, D-day beaches and Ouistreham (see what we did there!). We sail from Ouistreham at 4.30 tomorrow and arrive in Portsmouth at 9.15pm.
C'est une bonne vacances!