Is there such a thing as a Transet Map for buses in Normandy?

Try https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-lines-Normandie-5556-1258538 for information on the bus routes. Buses are not an especially efficient way to get around in Normandy.

There are times when a car rental is essential and Normandy is one of them.

Thank you so very much for your quick replies.
Looks like I'll be renting a car ;-)
Thank you for the tip on Moovit app, I did check it out, but I think I will wait on paying the monthly subscription so I can view the route map when I get closer to our departure date.

I really appreciate your help, hope you have a great weekend
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The public bus network in Normandy is called "Nomad"

You can find the bus and train routes map here:

https://www.nomadcar14.fr/upload/plan/Plan-Nomad-Calvados.pdf

Schedules until September 3 are here:
(website in French)

https://www.nomadcar14.fr/fr/919-Horaires-ete-du-092F072F2023-au-032F092F2023-inclus.html

Select the line number in the drop-down menu on the right in order to have the schedules in both directions.

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The most important aviation museum in France is in Le Bouget (north of Paris)

https://www.museeairespace.fr/en

There is also one in Toulouse (Aeroscopia) where you can also visit the Airbus factories

The Nomad bus system is an option; we used it for buses from Le Havre to Caen and Le Havre to Honfleur. In Caen and Le Havre, the bus station is next to the train station. While in Caen we were impressed with how extensive the Nomad system is. We did a private tour for a day in Normandy to visit the WW2 sights because we wanted to see specific Canadian sights. The D Day route would not be possible by bus but if you are okay with a tour or two, the area can be visited without a car. The Air Museum Le Bourget near CDG in metro Paris is well regarded.

Thank you so much for your help and Air Museum suggestions.

The map is GREAT, just what I was looking for. Hopefully I can find similar downloadable maps for other locations in Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Thanks again you all have bee a great help
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Accessible by public transportation:

• Invasion Museum in Bayeux (which also has other worthwhile sights, not related to WWII). Bayeux has train service from Caen.
• Caen Memorial Museum (via city bus from Caen RR station). This is a full-day museum covering the period leading up to WWII, that war and then the Cold War. Folks expecting a museum focused on the invasion tend to find it too large, too time-consiming, too crowded and too expensive. I thought it worthwhile.
• Falaise Memorial (by bus from Caen). This museum covers civilian life under German occupation, including activities of the Resistance. It's quite new. I thought it was very interesting, but I don't have great interest in military strategy.
• Small-group (van) tours are a useful way to reach many mportant invasion sites without public-transportation access. There are quite a few companies in this market. I used Overlord, which I think is the largest. It has several different itineraries. The basic US-invasion-site tour includes the Airborne Museum in St-Mere-Eglise. As on any tour, you do not have control over how long you are at a stop. On my tour St-Mere-Eglise was the lunch break. Our driver/guide pointed out a bakery that sold pre-made sandwiches. I bought one and ate it while sitting on a bench so I'd have the maximum possible time for the museum. It would have been even faster to take something for lunch with me, though you cannot eat in the van.

Be aware that the weather in Normandy tends to be cool, overcast and rainy, even in midsummer.

Also, any suggestions for the best Air Museums in Europe?

It depends a bit on what you're looking for and many museums are good a some areas. But in the area you plan to visit I'd suggest Deutsches Museum's aircraft collection in Oberschleißheim just outside Munich. For very early aviation history, the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Anklam is a must.

Check out MILAVIA for the European Airshow schedule that is often heavily populated with “warbirds”.

If you have time for the UK, there is the static and flying museum at Duxford. The elegant Shuttleworth Museum Colection is impressive also.

In the Netherlands there is the National Aviation Museum at Lelystad. The National military museum in Soesterberg has a significant military aviation collection also. In Switzerland the Air Force museum at Dubendorf (Switzerland) reflects the unique mix of military aircraft in that country. The Swiss Air Force sometimes offers public demonstrations of their capabilities that can find you looking down at jet aircraft racing through mountain valleys.

You can stick to public transport but in a lot of cases you’ll spend valuable time chasing schedules rather than seeing what you are interested in. Good Luck!

One of the reasons a car is essential is that you will be visiting six to ten locations a day in the invasion area of Normandy. If you have to walk five minutes and wait ten minutes for a bus, that is hours out of your day. And you have to figure out if you are at the right-direction bus stop. I'm all for public transportation, BTW.

Tim you make the right argument based on a premise of waiting 10 minutes here and there adding up.

There simply is not a comprehensive coastal or inland system in Normandie, of buses that would cover invasion sites. Lots of interesting places to visit that only a car or organized tour could cover.

The OPs additional task of air museums is also tough to accomplish solely with public transport.

I want to thank everyone for all of the help and information.
For Normandy, we will definitely be getting a rental car.

For the museums, I will be plotting them on map of Europe to see which ones will make the most sense without zig zaging back and forth across Europe.

As far as weather goes, I live near the Western Washington Cascade Range, so the weather in Northern Europe is quite similar to where I live. In the past couple weeks I'm still get nighttime temperatures in 40's to low 50's.

My interest in WWII came from my grandfather's military service. When he was about 16, he lied about his age and joined the Army around 1920 or 1921 (Cavalry). At some point Cavalry went away and he was in Artillery. When WWII started he was a 1st Sargent, but was considered too old to leave Ft. Lewis and go to Europe with his men. He was able to pull strings and did get to go to England and then, as best as I can tell landed on Omaha on June 7th.
He died when I was in 4th grade, but I still remember him talking about going down the ship side to the landing craft and one of his men missed the timing of the wave, ended up between the ship and landing craft and "squirted like a pickle" when the two came together. Later, when Patton was in Europe his artillery Group was artillery support to Patton's Army. He was in 4 Major Battles and I am lucky enough to have his medals, paperwork and his Ike Jacket that fits me.

Thanks again to everyone for their help

Just a suggestion:
We drove Normandy 3 years go. We too prefer not to rent cars, early 70's here. We took the train the Mantes La Jolie, to avoid Paris, returned to Caen. Not difficult.

Thank you for your reply.
With everyone's help I am sure that a rental cars is the best way to go.

We land in Amsterdam, so now I'm trying to decide on whether we should leave Amsterdam and take fast trains to Normandy and then Cologne or go to Cologne first and then to Normandy.

It appears that Germany has many more fast trains and after we get Normandy and Cologne under our belt, we will be heading South and hitting Switzerland, Austria and then Munich for a few days and then fly back home from Munich.

I'm happy that we're not going until next spring because I still have a lot of things to work out.

Thank you everyone, take care
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Re: air museums, Le Bourget is a "must see" and we also loved the Airborne museum in Ste. Mere-Eglise.

Re: driving in Normandy, just simplify things by taking the train there, then renting your car at your first Normandy stop in Caen or Bayeux. Make sure you have a good GPS system in the car and a backup, such as a paper map or GPS on your phone. The sights you will want to see are way out in the country on tiny back roads, but the good part is that there's not a lot of traffic. Bad part is that the buildings are sometimes literally right next to the street in small towns. I think that anyone in the passenger seat could have reached out the window and knocked on someone's door. I know that I must have scraped a few houses! 😁
Seriously, Normandy is a beautiful place, and even for this nervous senior driver, it wasn't that difficult.

Senior tip: Do be sure to go to Arromanche and see the 360 theater. But don't make the mistake Hubby and I did and walk up the hill from town. It's a killer! We thought that was the only way to get there, until we finally arrived at theater and saw the lovely parking lot where all the smart (non-sweaty) people had driven their cars.