D-day at 80

Whether you are a swimmer, a sunbather or just love to walk by the sea, the sweeping sands of the Normandy coast are a relaxing place for a holiday. Think small family-friendly resorts, lush countryside and, of course, some great French food.

But wind the clock back 80 years and the atmosphere was very different.

From the east coast of the Cherbourg peninsula to the mouth of the Orne river near Caen, the Normandy shoreline was divided into five sectors, each one with a code name.

Landed by Allied Forces on 6 June 1944, the D-Day beaches saw fierce fighting at the start of Operation Overlord, a joint mission between Britain, Canada and the United States that was to turn the tide of World War II and eventually lead to peace in Europe.

I have spent many happy holidays in Normandy but this year will have an extra special significance, not just for me, but also for families across the world as Europe commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day – Jour-J to the French.

My father was just 21 when he landed at Sword Beach for his first experience of war.

Raised on a Yorkshire farm, he had never been outside England before. My dad was lucky, though. He came back, married my mum and went on to live a happy, comfortable life.

So many Commonwealth soldiers never returned. I think of them all each time I sail into Caen-Ouistreham with Brittany Ferries and look out over the small resort of Ouistreham Riva Bella that marks the eastern end of those five D-Day Landing Beaches. I enjoyed my first holiday to France with my parents in my early teens whilst learning French at school.

With them, I discovered the flamboyant castles of the Loire Valley, the stylish resorts of the Riviera and the scented lavender fields of Provence. It was the start of my own love affair with France, which was to lead me to bilingual college and an eventual career in travel writing.

But my father never took us to Normandy, nor to Holland or Germany where he also served after D-Day. Too many reminders, I suppose, of a period he would rather forget. So it was only as an adult with a family of my own that I began to discover this glorious region: Normandy’s vast sandy beaches, the apple orchards, historic towns and some of the most beautiful horses I had ever seen. Stories, too, of what went on there