OT: Anyone here visited Normandy?

[HuskyNan]

We’re planning a trip to England and France next year. We’d like to spend a couple nights in the Normandy area as my husband‘s area of interest in history is WW2. Any suggestions for pretty towns and atmospheric auberges in the area?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Normandy is on my wish list too.

If you are an art fan, Monet's Rouen Cathedral is not too far away.

 

[irsh4242]

@HuskyNan I just came back from a trip to Normandy and Paris for Thanksgiving! I Stayed in in Grand Camp Maisy for a night. Went to Omaha Beach, the cemetery, and Utah beach. It was extremely powerful and made me so much for gratitiude for the men and women who defeated evil. The fish and and cider based drinks were delicious in Normandy too!

For Paris stayed in the Marais which was close to everything.

I definitely recommend the trip !

 

[BRS24]

Yes! We did a river cruise from Paris to Le Havre and back to Paris. We were on the ship, however we saw a bit of Normandy and also have recommendations from folks that also did some post-cruising travel. PM if you want.

 

[SLY63]

I went to Paris several years ago. I took a 1-day trip to Normandy, 2 hour train ride (each way) and then a van with about 8 people. We saw 4 or 5 sights. It was one of the best trips I ever did. I consider Normandy a bucket list place to go (and I only have <5 of those)

 

[Hedge]

We stayed in Paris and took a train to Normandy for a day trip. We spent the morning at the Caen Memorial Museum and had a lovely lunch there. Afterwards a staff member took us to Normandy for a tour of the beach, bluffs and the cemetery. It was a very worthwhile trip

 

[todbo]

We’re planning a trip to England and France next year. We’d like to spend a couple nights in the Normandy area as my husband‘s area of interest in history is WW2. Any suggestions for pretty towns and atmospheric auberges in the area?

If you're feeling flush, consider the Viking trip from Paris to Normandy along the Seine. Outstanding accommodations, excellent tours, and outstanding food.

 

[HuskyNan]

If you're feeling flush, consider the Viking trip from Paris to Normandy along the Seine. Outstanding accommodations, excellent tours, and outstanding food.

We’re doing Dublin -> London -> Normandy -> Paris on this trip. Maybe our next one will be a cruise but my husband wants to take the ferry across the English Channel. We’re working on our buckets lists, too, which is why Ireland (me) and Normandy (husband) are on the itinerary.

 

[The deacon]

We’re doing Dublin -> London -> Normandy -> Paris on this trip. Maybe our next one will be a cruise but my husband wants to take the ferry across the English Channel. We’re working on our buckets lists, too, which is why Ireland (me) and Normandy (husband) are on this trip.

I've been to Ireland 18 times from 1985 through 2019, mostly golf trips to all points around the island, but the first two times when I was a 30-somethin' backpacker. And on those golf trips, we always spent as many days touring and meeting people as we did on golf courses.

As for your wish to experience Ireland, and as much I love Dublin, if you really want to satisfy your Ireland itch, stay away from Dublin on your next trip and drive a car, take trains, buses, whatever means you have available to get around. Go to Donegal, Northern Ireland (my family's ancestral home), County Kerry, pretty much anywhere, stay in B & Bs and not hotels, and get in as many conversations with the Irish as possible.

By all means, although it'd be the temptingly easy way to go, do not take a tour. Bone up on Irish geography, its history, and take your time deciding where to go and what to see.

It'd be well worth your effort, Nan, and I'll bet your husband would love the trip, too.

In the meantime, Nan, have a wonderful trip upcoming. Travel safely, and enjoy every minute. Slainte!

 

[BullDawg]

We've been to Normandy a couple of times. Most recently, stayed in an AirBNB in Bayeux. A very nice small town (with the famous Bayeux Tapestry there). From there, we visited D-Day Beaches, WWII museum in Caen, Etretat, Honfleur, and other sites (you need a rental car For this area). It’s a great trip!

 

[cohenzone]

Was there in 2000. A month after D-Day. The American cemetery is a somber but beautiful place. Omaha Beach is striking, so peaceful now but clear what sitting ducks our soldiers were, wide beach, towering cliff. Utah Beach is where the museum is, and that beach has more of the Nazi battlements. My wife and I got a private tour there mainly because a month after D-Day it’s pretty empty and we were the only ones there for the English language tour . If you rent a car - I found driving in France easy - and have a few days, Mont. St. Michel at about the Brittany/Normandy border is spectacular and the Normandy town of Bayeux has the Tapestry Museum that houses the 1000 year old or so Bayeux Tapestry, woven by the Norman queen to commemorate the Battle of Hastings. Amateurish but detailed and 200 feet long. Google both attractions to get an idea. Other towns along the shore as you go east from Omaha Beach are interesting.

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

Mont St. Michel is the highlight of Normandy. D-day beaches are great. Caen has a wonderful WW2 museum. Bayeux is a great little town to stay in.

 

[Boreifs]

Monet's Gardens, the Rouen Cathedral and Mont St. Michel is the ideal itinerary on the way to the Normandy memorial sites. In Rouen, right across from the Jeanne d'Arc Memorial, is the restaurant where Julia Child and her husband visited, which inspired her to become a Chef. It is still one of the best restaurants in France, with a plaque in front honoring her visit.

 

[BRS24]

We’re doing Dublin -> London -> Normandy -> Paris on this trip. Maybe our next one will be a cruise but my husband wants to take the ferry across the English Channel. We’re working on our buckets lists, too, which is why Ireland (me) and Normandy (husband) are on this trip.

Ok, now that I see this, we have a friend that went from London, across the channel, then drove from Normandy to Paris, so I'll reach out to him for ideas on hotel stays.

 

[HuskyNan]

Ok, now that I see this, we have a friend that went from London, across the channel, then drove from Normandy to Paris, so I'll reach out to him for ideas on hotel stays.

Thank you!

 

[oldude]

My wife and I are working with a travel agent on a trip planned for next September that would include Normandy, the Loire Valley and Paris. While in Normandy, we’ll be staying in the seaside town of Bayeaux, which is just a short distance from Omaha Beach.

While we like to be on our own, we will be joining a small group with a guide for a tour of the beaches, Pointe du Hoc and the US cemetery. My understanding is that our tour will end at sundown in the US cemetery when a bugler plays taps.

Some of the other sites we hope to see while in Normandy are the museum at Caen and the Airborne Museum at St Mere Eglise. On the way out of Normandy we may take a side trip to the abbey at Mont St Michel.

 

[cohenzone]

Monet's Gardens, the Rouen Cathedral and Mont St. Michel is the ideal itinerary on the way to the Normandy memorial sites. In Rouen, right across from the Jeanne d'Arc Memorial, is the restaurant where Julia Child and her husband visited, which inspired her to become a Chef. It is still one of the best restaurants in France, with a plaque in front honoring her visit.

My Monet’s Garden story. It was return home day and the Garden was on our way back to the Paris airport from Normandy. So we stopped there but it was Monday and it was closed. We went to the wall around the garden and I am just tall enough to peek over the wall. But my wife wasn’t so i literally boosted her up on my knee to get a look. I was much younger then.

 

[oldude]

My Monet’s Garden story. It was return home day and the Garden was on our way back to the Paris airport from Normandy. So we stopped there but it was Monday and it was closed. We went to the wall around the garden and I am just tall enough to peek over the wall. But my wife wasn’t so i literally boosted her up on my knee to get a look. I was much younger then.

There is a Monet immersive experience making its way around the country that is currently at the old armory in Schenectady, NY. My wife and I are planning to go. Last year we went to a Van Gogh immersive experience that was spectacular. It includes a streaming presentation of the artist’s paintings across the walls of a large exhibition hall and then the highlight of the tour, when you don virtual reality goggles and literally move through the artists paintings in what feels like a beautiful dream.

 

[Hedge]

I forgot to add that we found a great apartment to rent in the St Germain District of Paris through a company called Paris for Rent. We stayed in a spacious apartment in a great neighborhood for a lot less than a hotel with the ability to make some meals ourselves.

 

[cohenzone]

My wife and I are working with a travel agent on a trip planned for next September that would include Normandy, the Loire Valley and Paris. While in Normandy, we’ll be staying in the seaside town of Bayeaux, which is just a short distance from Omaha Beach.

While we like to be on our own, we will be joining a small group with a guide for a tour of the beaches, Pointe du Hoc and the US cemetery. My understanding is that our tour will end at sundown in the US cemetery when a bugler plays taps.

Some of the other sites we hope to see while in Normandy are the museum at Caen and the Airborne Museum at St Mere Eglise. On the way out of Normandy we may take a side trip to the abbey at Mont St Michel.

On your Loire Valley trip, see if you can stay a night in or near Amboise, the town where DaVinci took his last breath. Several neat wineries nearby where casks are aged in caves along the hillside. And if you head to Britanny, there is an area there called Carnac that has acres of ancient monoliths in rows. No reason why it isn’t as famous as Stonehedge. Not as symmetrical but hundreds of times bigger an area.

 

[oldude]

On your Loire Valley trip, see if you can stay a night in or near Amboise, the town where DaVinci took his last breath. Several neat wineries nearby where casks are aged in caves along the hillside. And if you head to Britanny, there is an area there called Carnac that has acres of ancient monoliths in rows. No reason why it isn’t as famous as Stonehedge. Not as symmetrical but hundreds of times bigger an area.

Yes, Amboise is exactly where we plan to stay in the Loire Valley.

Carnac in Brittany??? The BY’s seer certainly does get around….

 

[cohenzone]

Yes, Amboise is exactly where we plan to stay in the Loire Valley.

Carnac in Brittany??? The BY’s seer certainly does get around….

He is a very wealthy landowner Who knew.

 

[BlueandOG]

The 1/102 infantry of the Connecticut Army National Guard was in the 29th Infantry Division for a few years in the 1990s. The 29th was one of the US divisions that stormed Omaha Beach. The National Guard Memorial is there. The story about the Bedford Boys is moving.

 

[Topsail]

My wife and I are working with a travel agent on a trip planned for next September that would include Normandy, the Loire Valley and Paris. While in Normandy, we’ll be staying in the seaside town of Bayeaux, which is just a short distance from Omaha Beach.

While we like to be on our own, we will be joining a small group with a guide for a tour of the beaches, Pointe du Hoc and the US cemetery. My understanding is that our tour will end at sundown in the US cemetery when a bugler plays taps.

Some of the other sites we hope to see while in Normandy are the museum at Caen and the Airborne Museum at St Mere Eglise. On the way out of Normandy we may take a side trip to the abbey at Mont St Michel.

 

[Hugo]

We’re planning a trip to England and France next year. We’d like to spend a couple nights in the Normandy area as my husband‘s area of interest in history is WW2. Any suggestions for pretty towns and atmospheric auberges in the area?

Nan, visited Normandy on a river cruise from Paris to Normandy and spent a couple extra days in Paris. Highly recommend the river cruise and depending upon the cruise line, it may have a historian provide an overview of the D Day operation. I have taken a number of river cruises and the Seine cruise is my favorite. It hits all the highlights as well as some smaller Gems like Honfleur. It's a relaxing way to see all the sites without a lot of hassle as the tour guides were very knowledgeable.