We will be driving from Bayeux to MSM next spring and I am just curious if there are any gems we need to see between the two? I've noticed on maps of the main route you take between the 2 that there look like small cemeteries/monuments and such that might be interesting. I'm a WWII person but am also fascinated by cemeteries. Thanks!
Posted by
New Orleans
1207 posts
It's not a cemetery or monument, but the lovely town of Villedieu-les-Poêles, with copper workshops, is one possibility. My daughter and I enjoyed the weekly market, crepes for lunch, and watching copper being crafted, during our drive Bayeux-MSM a few years ago.
Posted by
New York, NY
1585 posts
Drive on highway D514 in Normandy west along the Channel coast and visit some of the WWII sites along The Normandy beaches . Among the ones of major importance are The American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer , and the Pointe du Hoc.
Furthermore, In between Bayeux and Mont Saint Michel, I would make a stop and tour towns like Saint Malo and Dinan. And Cancale is another charming place if time permitted to visit.
Posted by
11205 posts
St-Malo,Cancale and Dinan are beyond Mt St-Michel in Brittany.
Since you mentioned WWII, we followed my father’s WWII route which included battles in St- Lo and Mortain( the Falase).
As you approach St-Lo, there is a chapel on the right side of the road dedicated to my father’s US Army Infantry unit. There is also a memorial to the 9/11 victims outside the chapel.
In Mortain, we went to the Tourist Office to find out where the battles took place. They had never heard of any battle! And then they directed us to Place De Gaulle named for the General who spent WWII on an estate outside of London. Disappointing to say the least.
This also happened to us in the city of Nancy in Lorraine which my father helped liberate..
At Mt. St-Michel, we climbed all the way up, lots of steps. In the end, we preferred the view from the shore looking at it rather than being on it.
Posted by
Middletown, RI
1145 posts
Much closer to Mont-Saint-Michel than Bayeux, I can recommend two places:
The Brittany American Cemetery in Saint James holds almost half as many WWII American soldiers as the more famous one in Colleville-sur-mer, but gets much fewer visitors. Many of those buried there lost there lives in the Battle for Normandy beyond D-day. It isn't exactly on the way, but it is not far off.
I really enjoyed stopping in the town of Avranches. I found a wonderful place to stop in for lunch on my your way out of MSM, and on a very clear day, there is a distant view of MSM from up high. At the very highest point in town there are the ruins of Château d'Avranches that are worth walking around. Also, while I didn't visit it, there is the Scriptorial museum—which houses the original manuscripts that were written by the Monks at MSM Abbey.
Posted by
OP
1222 posts
Thanks all for your responses. PharmerPhil, I will definitely be looking those up!