Normandy - 2019!

Bruce, I've not been there for a major anniversary but I have read reports from last year's 70th. A couple of things were mentioned that would cause me to have second thoughts and/or do more advance planning. One is that you need to reserve accommodations well in advance and may have to have a car in order to open your options for places to stay (rather than using public transport). The other was that some sites were closed to the public on the 6th unless you were a country dignitary or one of the invited ones - mostly the few veterans of the invasion that are still living and their families. Some sites were closed for all or part of the day for speeches, etc.

Not saying "don't go", just saying be prepared.

This thread was about preparing to go: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-west/d-day-70th-celebration-2014

When we were on the RS Heart of France Tour our local Normandy guide was Stuart Robertson. He is a Brit living in France. http://normandybattletours.com/ I think he would be a good resource for you and your questions about 2019. We had ONE day in Normandy and I would like to go back for more.

Thanks all - the links to the thread regarding the 70th anniversary preparation and the local guide are greatly appreciated.

It would seem that the '5' year anniversary dates are not as busy as the '0' years - which should reassure my fellow travelers. I'm looking at scheduling a short week in Normandy so even if some of the D-Day locations are off-limits on a particular day we should be able to work around it. I've rented a car the previous 2 visits and aside from finding the Norman country lanes a bit close to the side of the houses :-) I haven't had a problem with navigating them. So it looks like - make reservations in advance, be prepared for the activity level, be flexible - piece of cake. I want everyone to be on Omaha on June 6th to get a view like this one!

Now all I need to do this time is remember to NOT drive the rental car down the bus lane in front of the Gare de Caen...tourists...c'est la vie, eh?

Someone has noted that '5' year dates not as busy as the '0' year dates -- but 75 years is a much bigger "marker" than 55 or 65 years. I think 75 is going to be big.

However, sadly, I think that one reason the 70th was so big was the realization/fear that that was about the last big anniversary that there would still be living veterans around and able to attend. That may have been why it was such a huge huge deal, which may not be able to be replicated in 75.

So I guess my post is a bit pointless - I caution to think that 75 won't be a big anniversary, but I fear that given the very few D Day veterans who will still be alive then, that all the focus on the 70th anniversary was to ensure that some of them were still around to honor, thus the participating countries made a HUGE effort to be present and make a big deal of it.

Probably not a good idea to plan on going on June 6 of that year. I was at the D-Day Beaches the day before the 60th anniversary and there was no problem. However, on the next day, which was June 6, heavy security and roadblocks prohibited regular traveler, without an official invitation to enter the area, from getting within several miles of a large part of the D-Day beaches, American cemetery, and other areas. This was because various Heads of State (including the President of the US, the President of France, and other international leaders) were attending ceremonies at several D-Day sites. A large area of what we call the "D-Day Beaches" was sealed off by roadblocks on June 6.

I was there for the 45th and 50th D-Day Anniversary. I found with all the world leaders attending and the security surrounding them this had restricted freedom of movement to venture around to see different sights. There was so many people attending I was stuck in a stadium for the 45th and on a hill behind the Juno Beach Centre for the 50th during the Ceremonies.