Day 5 - 06.06.2014
After going to bed at 00:30 we get up at 3:30 again.
It was a short night. We all take a shower and drink a coffee and an hour later we're on the road again.
We need to get up so early because they will close the streets at 6:00 and we need to park our car in a walkable range around the cemetry.
Sadly my stomache is not very strong and after a short night and only a coffee on an empty stomache makes me feel sick.
A minute before we arrive (5:45 am) I puke. Great.
We meet up with our Belgian Frien Patrick. He gives me a bread and another coffee. Andy, Bob and I then sleep for another hour.
We walk towards the cemetry at 7:00 and it takes us a whole hour to finally get our badges! We walked around the cemetry a whole hour.
That was awful. Noone could tell us where the entry for the press was.
The security check was intresting.
At 8:40 we arrive as some of the first journalists at our seat and it's a great one. We are able to make good shots at the veterans, Obama and the guests.
While Andy, Bob and Patrick go to walk around I stay and have an eye on the cameras and bags. It's fascinating to see the Veterans and Visitors arrive.
We saw a big stillage with water bottles and the guys got some. That's good because we forgot to bring water with us and later on the day became very sunny and very hot.
Anyway, after some time our other Belgian friend arrives, Jo. He seats himself in our row. Those are the best seats. We're in the upper row and so later will be able to sit on the railing.
After some time Bob comes back and I stoll a little bit around. A lot more people arrived and use the time to stroll around the cemetry too.
The Ceremony starts at 10:40. Some of the veterans sit for more than an hour in the sun. At least they all got water bottles.
The ceremony itself is quite nice. We don't understand what Hollande says but Obamas speech is pretty good.
The ceremony ends at 12:00.
A lot of people use the opportunity to look for certain graves and photo them. They talk to the veterans but in the end almost everyone leaves for the ceremony at Ouistreham.
We leave the cemetry and eat something. We continue our drive at 12:22 but are unsure if we go to Ouistreham or go back to the house to relax a little bit. In the end we decide to go back to the house, sleep a little bit and then see what the evening brings.
This is easier said then done because the highway is still blocked and we have to use the indirect way. We arrive at 15:19 (3:19 pm) and switch on the TV to have a look at the ceremony. Funnily enough we just see Angela Merkel being greeted by Hollande.
At 16:00 (4:00 pm) I go to my room to take a nap.
tbc.