Ste-Mére-Eglise

(3 photos)
For someone interested in the history of the war and the invasion, there are many places to visit. One that we found especially interesting was Ste-Mére-Eglise, on the east side of the Cherbourg peninsula, the first French town liberated on invasion day. We remember the movie, “The Longest Day,” and the scene in which a paratrooper’s chute is caught on a spire of the local church. In the movie, Red Buttons plays that part.

John Steele, the real paratrooper, lived through that ordeal and the rest of the war, and died in 1962. When we visited Ste-Mére-Eglise in 1985, a mannequin was hanging from a parachute caught on the same church spire. We don’t know if it is always there, or if it remained from the commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the landings. The church was built from the 1000s to the 1200s, and was damaged in WW II.

The church steeple was visble out our dining room window from the municpal campground, nearby.
===========

Repairs to the church include a stained glass window showing an American parachute drop — an interesting combination of an ancient art, a venerable building, and a relatively current event.

=======
Here is a snapshot from the Movie, "The Longest Day," showing the parachute hanging on the church steeple.