Paris to Normandy and back- 2 days - Virgins to area
 

My wife and I will be in Paris from May 13 to May 30 staying in the St. Germain. We want to take a two day (one night) visit to the Normandy D-Day area to tour her Dad's landing on that fateful day (Omaha). We are looking for suggestions for places to stay in Caen and any suggestions for the best tour guides/itineraries. Are any days of the week preferable - our plans are open except the last week in May. We have not been to France before but have gained a great deal from following this Forum for our Italy trips. All advice gratefully appreciated. Thanks

Will you be renting a car to drive up or are you looking for a private guide to drive you from Caen...or other?

I think you might be better off staying in Bayeux - and then you can visit the tapestry as well as the battlefields. If you are not renting a car you will need to hook up with a tour and be sure you get there early enough to pick it up. We toured ourselves - but stayed 2 nights - so we had 1 full and 2 3/4 days to see things.

I second nytraveler's recommendation to stay in Bayeux. There are a lot of good hotels and B&B's in the area, although you might have a harder time finding a good place to stay at this late date. You can either drive to Bayeux or take the train direct from Paris and then either rent a car or take a tour. Do a search of the forum to get more ideas.

Stay in Bayeux. Caen had the crap bombed out of it in WWII and is a rebuilt architectural dead zone. Bayeux escaped and is beautiful and is easy to walk around and enjoy, with lots of nice cafés and restos...plus the tapestry and cathedral.

Touring the WWII sites depends on whether you want a tour or will have a car and do the tour yourself.

Thank you nytraveler, tom18, and StCirq,

Our plan was to train up and do one of the tours. Bayeux it will be. Any suggestions on places to stay in Bayeux? Also, would it be more worthwhile to rent a car in Bayeux and do a self-guided tour rather than do a commercial tour? Once again, all help gratefully appreciated.

With only one day you would probably do well to just take a tour, although the Normandy countryside and the beaches are such a wonderful area. With your family history it will truly be a moving experience when you see that open beach.

With only one day you would probably do well to just take a tour, although the Normandy countryside and the beaches are such a wonderful area. With your family history it will truly be a moving experience when you see that open beach.

I would definitely stop at the Caen Peace Museum - Le Memorial de Caen - it was very interesting on our recent trip. We stayed at an IBIS in Port-en-Bessin on the coast, north of Bayeux a little bit and it was fine. Unless you plan on spending a lot of time in your hotel/room, I'd get as close to the coast and tour from there. The roads/signs are pretty self explanatory, at least from Pointe du Hoc east (we didn't travel any further west than Pointe du Hoc ourselves. Since you're looking at Omaha Beach stuff, Pointe du Hoc was the western edge of that landing zone (actually not part of the landing zone, but the guns there were trained on the landing beaches). Here's a link to a map that shows the general boundaries of Omaha Beach, and some of the towns associated with the invasion: http://www.britannica.com/dday/art-40774

We stayed at the Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux; the building dates from the 18th century, and the common rooms are charming, the bedrooms are adequate. It is a 3* and is within easy walking distance of both the Tapestry and the cathedral. I'd definitely take a tour and also go to Le Memorial de Caen.
Dining in Bayeux: highly recommend Le Petit Bistro.

We stayed at the Hotel Churchill in March and took a tour with Overlord tours. I would recommend both very highly. We took the train from Paris to Bayeux. Overlord Tours picks you up right behind the hotel and drops you back there in the evening. The hotel just held our bags until we got back and then we hopped the train back to Paris. Do go to see the tapestry. It was quite spectacular. I was not prepared for how emotional the Overlord Tour was. When you have to really stop and think what those young people did so long ago, and how they faced it all and had to be scared out of their minds, it chokes you up.

We were in Normandy last summer, stayed at Hotel d'Argouges as well. It was wonderful, great service and lovely area in the back of the mansion. Our tour guide for our D-Day tour was Dale Booth who now has his own tour company. Just do a search for Normandy tours, Dale Booth. He was wonderful and gave us a fabulous tour with lots of interesting info. He knows your time is limited so he makes the most of your day. You might try him. Would also recommend Bayeux, very pretty town.

I would concentrate on Omaha, Ponte du Hoc, Arromanches, and The American Cemetery. You will see different portions of the overall landings. After that, there are many parts of the museums associated with the areas that are very repetitious in their exhibits--my opinion. The eastern beaches were the Canadian and British assaults, and St. Mere Eglise was the parachute landings. The "folly" of going into that stretch of sea coast with a full 180* view of the sea is absolutely haunting. And they were so young. We travelled to France with a friend in 1998 who came ashore at Omaha at age 18. We didn't go to Normandy with him , but he DID walk down the Champs Elysees for the first time since France was liberated. A great man.

Thanks to all. The Churchill was booked for when we would be there but the recommendation of the Hotel Bayeux seemed good so we booked it. We won't be spending much time in the hotel anyway. We also have a full day reservation with Overlord Tours for the Omaha and Utah Beaches tour. This Forum is the BEST. Merci beaucoups.