The planning has been fun. I now think I have the France part planned out.

We arrive from Atlanta on May 22 to CDG. We will rent a car and drive to Les Andelys and stay at the Chaine d'or for the night.

Sat. May 23-drive to Caen to see the museum and on to Bayeux to spend Sat and Sunday night. I plan to do the 2 day Battlebus tour.

Monday we finish the tour and drive to MSM where we will stay at the bed and breakfast lajacotiere. We shold get to see MSM at night and be there to tour early on Tuesday AM. We then have the day to make our way to catch the 11PM ferry from Caen to Portsmouth.

I know it's busy, but we should have some nice down time...I hope.

If it's too crazy let me know. I check on the driving times and we don't seem to be driving more than a couple of hours a day...unless we are on the tours.

I think we've settled on the American Experience 2 day tour. Let me know if anyone has a better idea. The tour will be 340 euros for the 2 of us for 2 days. The board raves about this group. I hope they are worth the splurge.

Thanks for your help. I am now waiting for a response from the hotels. Hopefully, it's early enough, there's availability.

We did the one day tour with Battlebus last year and yes, they were excellent and very much worth it! We were kicking ourselves for not doing the 2 day tour, and this was 3 women. Bayeux is a nice town to wander around.

I think you will have ample time for what you want to do. I'm glad you're spending two days for the beaches, cemetery, etc. and an overnight at MSM. Have a great time.

This was some of the best money we ever spent. We were very happy that we had done the 2 day tour and not just the 1 day. There were only 6 of us in the mini-van, so we all had time to ask as many questions as we wanted.

Please come back and tell us what you thought after you get back home.

Personally, although I am a history buff with a particular interest in WWII, I found a one-day, self-guided driving tour of the beaches, cemeteries and gun emplacements perfectly sufficient.

I would make certain to visit the Bayeux tapestry -- a real highlight of our trip.

MSM is simply staggering.

Looks like a good workable plan and it's great that you'll do a 2 day Battlebus tour. Also doing the Caen Memorial before your tour will give you a great overview. May I suggest that you enhance your trip even more by reading one of Steven Ambroses books on D-Day(there are several) as it will help you to appereciate the sacrifices and horror these brave souls went through(your library should have copies). At MSM be sure to take the 1st english guided tour of the abbey at 10am or rent one of the audioquides. Also be sure to walk the ramparts as they are less crowded and offer views of the bay and the tides.

I agree with Fra Diavolo here. No way I would pay that kind of money for a tour, especially since there are many WWII sites in that area you probably won't get to on a tour, and many where at least I would want to linger longer than a tour allows. The history of the area isn't terribly complicated.

But that's my style of travel, not everyone's. However you do it, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful trip to this part of France.

So you are renting a car that's just going to sit in Bayeux for 2 days unused? That's not terribly cost-effective, IMO.

teach905
We stayed at la jacotiere b&b. Very convenient location. Be sure to ask about the restaurant down the road from the b&b. The food was very good. Omelettes were wonderful and not expensive like on the mont.

There is a field to the right of the road just before you start the roadway to the abbey for parking if you want to walk out to the abbey or if the parking lots are closed due to high tides. The parking is free.

There is a nice supermarket in the town where we bought water and snacks etc.