Backroad(scenic?) car trip from area of D-day beaches to tours.

If it's the Granville I find on the map to the southwest of the Cherbourg peninsula, I wouldn't think of it as being very near to the D-Day beaches. I can't vouch for the scenery on back roads, but my impression is that Fougeres and Saumur would be nice points to stop in along the way. From Saumur, follow the Loire eastward to Tours, either on the A85 or on secondary roads.

Michelin.com is very useful to find scenic routes from Point A to Point B anywhere in Europe.

Bear in mind when planning off-autoroute driving in France that a new law, July 1, has reduced the national rural speed on single carriageways, in other words one lane each way without a dividing barrier, on N and D roads as well as unclassified ones, from 90 kph to 80 kph, and quite a few radar enforcement cameras have been installed to enforce the new speed.

I just dealt with this a week or so ago and there is a real difference in the speed and how long bits of road seem to take. For me 90 is a decent single carriageway speed but 80 to me really feels like creeping along. At least the drop to 70 at various junctions isn't much of a drop anymore.

Just to help you plan.

Did not follow your exact route 2 years ago but drove from Mont St Michel to Amboise. We followed the main route that our GPS suggested but found it to be a beautiful scenic route in May. Go to the MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN FRANCE website, download the map and route yours self through as many of those that are on your path as possible.....we have always done that as we have driven through France and it has made our drives so interesting.

Jane, that’s a great tip, thanks.
I love driving the 2-lane roads in France. Very enjoyable and always interesting.

GoogleMaps' street view lets you see before you buy.