Tahl

Seized by sudden wanderlust -- and the need to use up some vacation time before the end of the year -- I'm trying to plan a reasonably-priced week-long driving vacation by myself. <BR><BR>One option is to spend a week in Normandy visiting the many historical locations that interest me -- the D-Day beaches, the tapestry, the spot where Jeanne d'Arc died. <BR>But many of Normandy's sights are on the coast. Is the first half of November likely to be too cold and windy for a visit there to be enjoyable?

AR

So many of the good citizens of the USA seem to think that Europe is like Siberia in November! Yes it may be chilly and a little damp, but nowhere near as cold as, say, NYC in January.<BR>That said, Normandy is great. Fly to Paris and hire a car. You need to visit Arromanches for the best view of the D-Day beaches as part of the temporary Mulberry Harbours still exist there, and there is also a fine museum. The American cemetary is near. Visit Pegasus Bridge (near Caen) to see the first house (a cafe actually) liberated in Europe in 1944.<BR>Go to Bayeux to see the tapestry and Rouen to see Joan of Arc's spot (make sure you also visit the cathedral). If you like art, you can visit Monet's house and gardens in Giverny. You can call into Caen with it's medieval walls and visit the abbey d'hommes where William the Conqueror was buried (the slab is still there, but his remains were thrown into the river.)<BR>The prettiest fishing village/town is Honfleur, and St Mare Eglise is worth a visit for another museum and as the place where "The Longest Day" was filmed (there is still a dummy of a paratrooper on the church spire).<BR>You can easily do all this in less than one week, so why not cross over to Britanny for a few days - not missing Mont san Michel?<BR>If you can stand on the beach of Arromanches without thinking of the horror of June 6th (just think about "Saving Private Ryan") and worry about the wind, then you shouldn't be there!

Rose

Went to Normandy in March-climate the same as the northeast coast in US. No snow-not very cold-the trip was wonderful and visiting the American Cemetery was so memorable, sad and touching-all those young boys lost. Go and enjoy.

Tahl

Thanks for the prompt, useful responses. Think I may take your advice (and maybe throw in Dinan in Brittany). <BR><BR>I lived in England for a couple years, so I have a general sense of Northern European weather; what I needed was this reassurance that the specific "microclimate" around the Normandy beaches isn't wildly offputting in late fall.

lafrancaise

Normandy is rather spread out with the sites you've mentioned all located in towns that are not so close to each other. I would recommend train travel as the easiest way to get around. You could leave from Paris and stop in Rouen to see where Jeanne d'Arc was burned at the stake; then on to Bayeux to see the famous tapestry and make that your base for exploring the coastline DDay beaches and war museum. You could also take the train from Bayeux over to St. Malo to see the Mont St. Michel - definitely worth it. The weather in November will be quite cold. We were there late September/early October last year and it was very windy along the coastline.