Date: June 6, 2019 at 12:17:25 PM GMT+1
Subject: Travel Pool Report #11
Macron and POTUS departed the ceremony together with their wives at 12:45 PM local. They processed back down the red carpet, stopping halfway down for the 21-gun salute. Luckily, pool had earplugs on hand.
The two leaders proceeded down the carpet at the salute’s conclusion, chatting along the way. They made their way to an overlook along the coastline, where they paused for a rendition of Taps and a moment of silence.
The two leaders stayed there for several minutes to view a map of the D-Day invasion, which a docent explained to them. POTUS listened intently, placing his knuckles on the map as though it were a boardroom table. He and Macron turned around and chatted a bit more as they watched a series of flyovers. Your pooler counted five total.
Subject: Travel Pool Report #12
POTUS and Macron, joined by their wives, walked down a short path to the cemetery to lay flowers at the grave of one of the soldiers.
Each grave — there are some 9,300 at this cemetery — was marked with a small French and American flag.
They remained at the grave for several minutes, chatting amongst themselves as the crowd from earlier watched behind a rope line.
Pool is moving back to helo now for an aerial tour of the Normandy beaches. Apologies for the delay. Solid wifi signals are scarce here on the coast.