The Caen Memorial, a DDay memorial museum in Caen, France (follow this Google Map link to see its location within France) was a great place to start our visits to World War II memorial sites. It had an impressive amount of information about the role the Canadian, British, US, and other nations armed forces played in the invasion of Normandy and told the story very well. I highly recommend this museum to anyone traveling to the area.
After the Caen Memorial, we followed the advice of Rick Steves’ guide book and located the beach where Canadian troops had landed.
In the nearby community of Courseulles-sur-Mer, we visited the site, but did not visit, the Juno Beach Centre, a museum and cultural centre, which opened on June 6, 2003 and presents not only the Canadian role in the Normandy invasion but the war effort made by all Canadians, civilian and military alike, both at home and on the various fronts during the Second World War.
About 5-10 kms from the Juno Beach Centre is the Canadian Cemetery where we spent a thoughtful 20 minutes walking around the cemetery and reading inscriptions on the headstones.
