dmlsnow

I work as a personal assistant and my boss is very interested in taking a trip to the beaches of Normandy this April while his children are on Spring Break. He's wondering if it's appropriate for boys ages 9 and 13. I'm having trouble finding books or articles that would suggest any sort of "kid-friendly" Normandy tours and I'm hoping someone out there has already done this trip with their children and can either give me some pointers or let me know that it's something he should wait a couple more years to do. Thanks!

highledge

9 and 13 would be good ages to go. There are some good threads regarding normandy on here. Look them over for great places to visit. I am a strong believe in renting a car and going it alone. The roads are well marked (and I do not speak french- or read it!) and the various areas are close.

Pegontheroad

I think it would be great for boys that age, especially if they've seen the movie "The Longest Day." When my companion and I went there, we started at Arromanches. There's a museum there that has a lot of exhibits that the boys should find interesting. Also, the wreckage of one of the artificial harbors lies just off the beach.

Further on, there's Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc, where the rangers rapelled up the cliffs, the American cemetery. Lots of hands on stuff--large craters from the bombardment, pill boxes with huge guns used by the Germans.

I think kids would find this very interesting. There's also a big D-Day museum at Caen that has exhibits from WWII.

Fodorite018

Our children were a bit younger than that when we took them. We hired a private driver out of Paris since we only had a day, and it was a great decision for us. We stopped in Caen at the museum first. There are several short films to see there, as well as various displays. Our children never fidgeted during the films! They were quite interested, but not scared. We had lunch at Port-en-Bessin, and then continued on to American Cemetary and Omaha Beach. We wished we had more time and could stay for days, but that was not the case. Anyway, I would most definitely take kids there as it is quite enlightening.

dmlsnow

Thanks for you help! If anyone has any more suggestions I would love to hear them!

cod

We are planning on taking our boys (15,13,10) there for a few days next summer too. As already said, Arromanches has a good museum, and also St. Mere Eglise, with old planes and gliders etc. We passed through the town two years ago, and there's a model of a parachutist hanging off the church spire - apparently on D-Day, an American parachutist got stuck on the Church tower, and so there's a model as though he's still stuck. And there are photos around the square, taken of the soldiers marching through, and the buildings are still there, and perfectly recognisable. And recently old gun emplacements and tunnels etc. were discovered quite near Point du Hoc, and may be available for inspection by the summer.
Another worthwhile visit is to the Bayeux Tapestry, which has a whole Exhibition Centre to itself, and which our boys want to visit.

_jinx_

The last time we were in Normandy was with our son (35 years old and a high school world history teacher)--but I think it would be certainly relevant and interesting for 9 and 13 year old boys. Perhaps their teachers could recommend some reading from their school library.

They would enjoy Ste-Mer-Eglise and the paratroop museum, Pont-du Hoc where the US Rangers scaled the cliff, the American Cemetary at St. Laurent and Omaha Beach, the German gun batteries at Longues Sur Mer (just outside of Arromanches, the harbor of Arromanches and the museum, and the museum at Caen.

Probably a good guide would be valuable for such a tour. Perhaps some other travelers can recommend such a person.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover