tours to normandy and landing beaches

My daughter (25) and I will be in Paris for 12 days in July. We are both history buffs and would love to travel to Normandy to see the landing beaches. I don%26#39;t know whether to take one of the tours from Paris or take a train to Normandy and pick up a tour there. Any advice would be appreciated. I would like a good guide with a knowledgeable commentary and a tour of the most significant places. Thanks

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Even though I am a graduate of ASU, I am happy to

respond to your post.

In 2002 I took a ParisVision tour to Normandy and the Landing

Beach. I wanted to leave the driving to them and get a good

orientation to the french countryside between Paris and

Normandy. The tour guide was fluent in english and several

other languages.

The tour included lunch at a french country farmhouse, the landing beaches, Aramonche (with it%26#39;s museum), the American Cemetery and dinner at the WWII Museum in Caen. It%26#39;s an all day trip but some of the most poignant times I have spent in France.

You could take the train, etc. but what I did worked for me.

Best Wishes

ps I was was a history major at ASU

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There is a great thread on this. Just do a search on it.

I really would like to go to Normandy with my son but

since we%26#39;re on a school tour that is very intineraried (?)

we won%26#39;t be able to go.

Not much good WWII stuff in Paris, is there?

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flowers3flowers,

I forgot to mention in my previous

post that another benefit of the

trip by Paris Vision to Normandy

was being introduced to Calvados.

More than one glass of that and

all of my photographs would have

been out of focus !!

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In March, my wife and rented a car at Thrifty/ADA out of CDG, %26amp; arrived at St Mere Eglise about noon, drove to Utah Beach %26amp; along the beach road past the five invasion beaches, stopped at Pegasus Bridge %26amp; then into Caen after dark for dinner, getting back to Paris after midnight. We saw a lot, but had to skip a lot and it was hard driving. If I had to do it again, I think I%26#39;d take the train into Caen in the afternoon, visit the Caen museums (which we did not do) %26amp; then start out early the next morning, either self-guided again or with a tour. Keep in mind that St. Mere Eglise is about 50-60 miles from Caen. The American Military Cemetery at Normandy is a must. Plan an hour, more if you want to walk down onto Omaha Beach itself. I re-read Ambrose%26#39; s %26amp; Ryan%26#39;s books about D-Day and saw the movies, including %26quot;Is Paris Burning%26quot;, about the liberation of Paris. I highly recommend you purchase %26quot; The 25 Best World War II Battle Sites: European Theater%26quot; by Chuck Thompson. Its an excellent overview.

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Randy - I%26#39;ve booked a week at that farmhouse in Calvados, the host is the tour guide. He writes so well and is terribly funny in his emails - imagine how much fun it%26#39;ll be for a week! There%26#39;s the Tree of Idleness on the estate - I%26#39;ve booked a place under it, and a few gallons (wow!) of their apple cider!! Roll on Easter....literally!!

Sandra

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Floski : not a lot, except the Shoah Memorial near Notre Dame, and the WWII rooms in musee des Invalides (i%26#39;ve heard that they are closed these days for heavy modifications). The Musee Carnavalet, dedicated to the history of Paris, has some pieces related to the liberation of Paris.

Randy : Calvados is well known to enhance the artistic creativity ;-)

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Hi. I too am a history buff, particularly on WWII. I took two (different) all day tours with %26quot;Battlebus%26quot; based in Bayieux, Normandy. They were excellent! Their excellent website is ww.battlebus.fr which will provide you with all the informationn you will probably need including staff profiles, customer testimonials, tour options, etc. My tour guide was Paul, one of the owners and his knowledge was awesome as was his presentation of it. I learned a fair amount despite having read several history books and seen many documentaries on D-Day. Their tour groups are small which allows personal interaction and, being in an 8 passenger van, allows access down some of the very constricted roads a big bus would not be able to navigate.

Hope you have a great trip.