Hi! Making plans and appreciate your suggestions:
1. Planning to land in Paris, get rental car, drive to Giverny to see Monet's house and garden. Any suggestions on places to visit or neat things to see would be appreciated! Is La Roche-Guyon worth a side trip? anywhere else?
2. then we are driving to Bayeux and will have 4 full days in Normandy. Planning on booking a one day tour of the battle grounds, cemetery and considering Overlord Tours. Anyone use them that could provide information?
3, What are other must see towns, places in driving distance in Normandy. We've been to Mt St Michele and don't anticipate going there this trip.
Many thanks!
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
1985 posts
farell,
La Roche-Guyon is just a few km from Giverny and certainly worth a detour. You can visit further down stream Château Gaillard for it’s stunning view over the Seine Valley and Les Andelys, worth a stop too btw. I bought a ticket for going inside the castel last June, but dit not real add to the experience if you ask me.
You can also visit Rouen ofcourse, but it is not an easy city finding your way with a car.
Posted by
OP
charlestown, Massachuse, United States
19 posts
thanks for your suggestions! will check them out!
Posted by
13 posts
Honfleur is a very charming town and was also a favorite source of inspiration for Monet!
Posted by
San Francisco
14540 posts
Hi,
As correctly pointed out, La Roche-Guyon is a few km from Giverny, the two are parallel to each other. I went once to La Roche-Guyon to see the chateau, which on D-Day was the HQ for the German Army Group B, ie, Rommel's HQ. The lower level of the chateau is sort of a museum which had an exhibit on the town in 1944 focusing on Rommel...worth seeing for its presentation.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
If the primary purpose of your visit is WWII sights. The museum in Caen comes to mind.
If you want to see more of Normandie than just WWII, you can start in Bayeux by seeing the Tapestry. It tells the story, from William the Conqueror's side, of the invasion of England and Battle of Hastings that made William the Bastard into William the Conqueror and put a Norman on the throne of England.
Mont St Michel is another must see for me.
Rouen is the capital of Normandie. It has a great medieval center and is where Joan of Arc was burned.
Two other really good choices would be the old port in Honfleur, the mouth of the Seine, and the cliffs of Etretat and Fecamp. The cliffs are spectacular. Since the defenses along the cliffs were abandoned after the Normandie invasion, they are still intact (but mostly filled with dirt).
Posted by
Birmingham AL
346 posts
We used Overlord Tour last year and recommend it. Our guide was Alain. I would also recommend Rouen for a day or two. I did a trip report of our time in Normandy last summer which you can find in the trip report part of this forum. It has lots of restaurant recimmendations, etc.