Normandy – D Day beaches and Bayeux
June 8th, 2010 | Travel | No Comments »
Normandy’s rich and varied coastal region is a must-see for history fans as well as any visitor to France wishing to discover this area’s celebrated landscape. Easily accessible by ferry from the UK or car from Paris (take the A13 motorway towards Rouen and Caen), you will want to allow yourself a couple of days to explore the D-Day beaches and surrounding areas. Whether or not you are a military history buff, no travel to Normandy would be complete without a stop at the battlefields, the war monuments, the military cemeteries and notable museums.
Visitors may wish to start with Omaha Beach and its bunkers as well as the Pointe du Hoc where the fighting was most concentrated (made famous in the film Saving Private Ryan) before continuing to the Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. Be sure to stop at the thought-provoking American-Gold Beach museum near Arromanches, in Ver-sur-Mer. A side trip worth taking is to the town of Ste-Mère-Eglise which was the first French town to be liberated on June 6, 1944 and where an effigy of a US paratrooper hangs from a church spire. Here you can visit the Airborne Museum which houses an important collection of WWII paraphernalia.
This beautiful coast also offers some lovely sandy beaches, and if you are travelling with children, be sure to stop so they may try their hand at shrimping and crabbing. For fun, try driving one of the chars à voile, a sort of go-cart propelled by wind-power which you will see for hire at many of the beaches.
Moving inland away from the coastline is the medieval city of Bayeux. The main attraction here is the Tapisserie de la Reine Mathlide, or the Bayeux tapestry, which is housed in its own special centre– a remodelled seminary. There are two parts to the visit; the initial rooms where you can view a slideshow (in both English and French) which explains the events of the Norman Invasion, and then the upstairs rooms where the tapestry is displayed in special lowlight.
A visit to Bayeux should also include a tour through the spectacular Notre-Dame cathedral, which was where the tapestry was originally located. You can also explore the Musée Mémorial du Général de Gaulle and see where the French President made his first post-liberation speech. Opposite the museum is the British War Cemetery.
Moving even more inland you will find the historical city of Caen. Most of this city was bombed in World War II and visitors are struck by the sleek modern architecture which sits alongside the restored buildings. Caen boasts a noteworthy war museum, the Mémorial de Caen, whose mission is to promote peace and situate the events of the Allied invasion within a context of other 20th century world conflicts.
Caen is not only a monument to the events of 1944, however. A major university town, there is a lively nightlife and student feel to the city. The shopping and restaurant choices are excellent, and there are many green parks to relax in should you need to take a break from the sight-seeing.