By Rebecca Dimyan BBC Wales reporter

In the first part of her BBC Wales News Online diary, Rebecca describes the first part of the journey to the Normandy beaches.

Thursday, 3 June

The Welsh veterans prepare to board the bus to France in Cardiff

Nervous excitement would describe my mood at 0900 BST on Thursday morning, waiting to embark as an observer and reporter on the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

I didn't know quite what to expect, but I did know that I was in good hands; travelling with a party of Normandy veterans plus their families and friends, not to mention a Padre.

With one couple turning up two hours early in order to make sure they didn't miss the coach, I don't think I was the only one to have mixed feelings.

With Judy Garland and Vera Lynn blasting through the coach stereo, memories were sparked and talk soon turned to battles past.

So many stories were being swapped that it wasn't until we reached Newbury, that the trip organiser, John Wintle, realised that one veteran - nicknamed the "colonel" over his apparently "posh" voice had been left behind.

The incredible detail with which the veterans are able to recall specific events, battles and people they met, has been astounding.

Children at Arromanches during a rehearsal for the D-Day ceremony

As one member of the party said - he can't remember what he did last week but he can remember exactly what he was doing 60 years ago.

Despite the bottles of pop, packets of crisps, even swigs from a flask of brandy, underneath the apparent holiday atmosphere, there was a sense of seriousness about the journey ahead.

I had my first taste of the poignancy I expected to be very much a part of the trip, on the ferry over to Normandy.

Padre Lance Clark held a short service on the deck of the ferry, and the ashes of a family member of one of the veterans were scattered overboard "into the sea which is where Tony would have wanted to be."

As if on cue a Royal Navy ship appeared on the horizon.