D-day beaches with kids

Leslie,

That's very doable as an overnight day trip from Paris. The tours are very good, but for a family of 5 it can be pretty expensive. If you keep it simple, you can easily do it on your own with a rental car, your Rick Steves book, and a good Michelin map of Normandy. The museum in Caen is excellent and can probably be done the evening before you "hit the beach." The next morning you can drive northwest on D22/D65 to Arromanches where the remains of the artifical harbour of "Mulberry" will give you some perspective of the huge scale of the operation. Great views from the top of the bluff where the Sherman tank is now parked.

From there head west on D514 along to coast to the German Battery at Longues-sur-Mer. Four huge German coastal guns still in their concrete pillboxes makes for a neat photo op. Make sure you go to the cliff's edge to see the forward observation post featured in the movie "The Longest Day." Keep going west till you get to the American Cemetery at Collville-sur-Mer. You'll easily spend nearly two hours here. Walking amongst the graves, taking the path down to the beach and passing numerous German pillboxes along the way, and strolling the beach itself. You really don't want to rush it here.

If you have time, cointinue west to Point-du-Hoc where you'll see the remains of the German gun emplacements and walk along the cratered landscape to get a real feel for the devastation inflicted by allied bombers and navy ships. The best way back to Caen is to take D199/D113 south to the autoroute N13/E46 that will speed you back to Caen. If, by chance, you have any extra time when you're just onto the autoroute at Le Cambe, take a few minutes to check out the huge German Cemetery with the graves of over 21,000 Wehrmacht troops. A very somber,impressive site.

Lots of villages along the costal route to pick up the makings for a great picnic lunch. Gotta feed the troops to keep 'em happy. Have a great time!

I would take the train out there and then rent a car. We stayed in Bayeux with our son a few years ago and had a wonderful meal at La Pommier. Definitely stop in Arromanches and see the 360 degree movie too.

I would recommend watching "The longest Day" before you go. My daughter thought it was "The Longest Movie", but really helped my kids get an appreciation of what happened on D-Day. The Caen Museum give you a real feel for what happened during the invasion and after. We did the trip in our own car. It's an easy drive, and not too hard to find the sights.