Grand Tour Blog

Grand Tour Day 8: Normandy, France

Written by Van '19, video by Jesse '19

"Where is God? Where was he when the doors of the gas chamber closed? When the sea ran red with blood on D-Day? When the tears of mothers poured out for their fallen sons?"

These questions run through my mind as we walk among the neat rows of white marble crosses at the Normandy American Cemetery. A plot stands out. Identical to all the others, but for the inscription engraved on the back. It reads:

He’s so far from home. So deep underground. How did he die? How did he come to be here on this foreign shore, 7,000 miles away from his native land?

We share a moment of solemn contemplation, then place a pink rose at the base of the grave and move on. The wind bites. We all wish we had dressed warmer as we make the climb up to the cliff at Point Du Hoc. 

Point Du Hoc, where the craters from allied shelling are are so numerous and deep it resembles a lunar landscape. Where once there stood an intricate network of German bunkers and trenches, now there is rubble. Our tour guide tells us of the 250 men who stormed the cliff on D-Day. Only 90 survived; the rest cut down by artillery and machine gun fire.

It’s cold and windy here in Normandy. As my fingers freeze and my nose drips, I wonder what I would have done, if I been in the shoes of the men fighting that day in 1944. Would I have made it up the beach and to victory? Would I have died as I crossed the sand? Would I have even made it off the boat? 

We hop on the bus and head back to the town of Caen, where we attend an Anglican Church service called Evensong. 

We are warmly welcomed by the small congregation, (the only English-speaking church in Caen), and are guided to a small chapel where we sit on old wooden chairs which creak with every movement. 

The preacher stands and walks to pulpit. Starting off his sermon, he asks, “Where is God?” His soft voice booms throughout the small room. “Where was he when the doors of the gas chamber closed? When the sea ran red with blood on D-Day? When the tears of mothers poured out for their fallen sons?” He pauses. “God is here. He was there standing inside the gas chamber choking on the noxious fumes. It was his blood that stained the sea on D-Day. It was his tears that poured out for the mother and their fallen sons.” 

He continues, but I’m only half-listening. This day has been sad, but at the end of it all there is still love and joy and peace in the knowledge that in the end, good will overcome evil. 

God is here.