Help with DDay Beach Tour

Yes, you can do this on your own. It will take more work and research on your part, but €500 is a lot of money to save.

I would be glad to provide some limited help getting you started on the self planning process on this, if interested go ahead and send me a Private Message (click the hypertext under my name).

For starters:

The last time I was in the area was less than a year ago and I was traveling with the former director of a major US military museum. His opinion was that the Bayeux museum is much better than the one at Caen.

I have no idea what Steve means by an 'early closing' at the American cemetery. It's closed on Christmas and New Years, the rest of the time it's open until 6:00 half the year and until 5:00 the rest.

What I would do is get the car at Caen and head straight for Bayeux, hit the museum and go directly to the American Cemetery. (Two huge diagrams in the memorial depict the invasion and the rest of the campaign. Study them to get an overview.) Go to the Omaha Beach museum next, then work your way back east catching the rest of the stuff in the inmmediate area, or as much as you can, before heading back to Bayeux for the night. You might well run out of time, but you've only got about thirty-five miles of driving Bayeux-to-Bayeux; the roads are rather slow.

The next day, hit whatever you think is absolutely essenial that you missed the first day and head to Sainte Mere Eglise, stopping at the other two places along the way if you have time. This loop, Bayeux-to-Bayeux is about seventy-five miles, but is all freeway. To see the three places you've mentioned on this loop, I don't think you will be stopped more than four hours.

For planning purposes, Caen and Bayeux are about twenty-five miles apart.

I would stay in Bayeux instead of an out of the way B&B so you will have something to do in the evening.

You should be able to fit it all in if you don't dwadle. If you saved the Bayeux museum for the last morning, you could probably work in the Tapestry museum as well at still make the train from Caen.

Cindy
Hi - yes you can do that BUT - Always a butt in there isn't there.
We have done the area by ourselves and have also taken a Battlebus tour, doing the two day American experience tour. To us the tour was worth every penny. Yes you can do the tour yourself and have a good time but you will not have a great tour guide with you and they know when to go somewhere and when not to. A good example is when to go to Omaha beach. You want to go when the tide is out so you can see what it was really like. They knew how to schedule the trip to do that while still being able to hit so many other places.
We will go back, my wife and I both just love this area and we will again tour the beaches and it will be with Battlebus.
Anyway you go I hope your trip is one in a life time!
Mike

You could definitely do it on your own. Research the sites you want to see. Concerning the Band of Brothers portion of your tour you can drive to Brecourt Manor and see the field where Major(1st Lt at the time) Winters and his men knocked out 4 of the German's 105 mm howitzers that were firing onto the causeway leading off Utah Beach and disrupting landing forces of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. There had been several units that had stumbled onto the German position earlier in the morning and had been repulsed so for Winters and his 13 men to go there and knock out those howitzers without any planning other than to get it done was quite an accomplishment. Brecourt Manor is located close to St-Marie-Marie-du-Mont in the community of Le Grand Chemin. When we left Utah Beach last May we were able to find it o.k. and having the GPS helped but with a good map you could find it. There is a monument to Easy Company on the right side as you turn down the little side road that goes by Brecourt Manor and the field where the battle took place. The owners of the Manor still fly the american flag from one of their buildings. I have a couple of photos I could send to you to give you and idea of what to look for as you drive around looking for the place. You did not say when you are going but it sounds like you will be going fairly soon. For your information they are going to erect a statue of Winters in St.Marie-du-Mont but it apparently will not be finished until late 2011 or 2012. The following link provides some information about it.

Sorry about the link not showing up. Will try again.

http://www.timgraymedia.com/index.php/2010/04/tim-gray-media-is-honored-to-announce-the-richard-winters-leadership-monument-and-film-project-former-red-sox-star-and-three-time-world-series-champion-curt-schilling-will-serve-as-national-spokesper/

Thanks for all the input...I really think we can do it. I have Major & Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guide: Normandy Landing Beaches...it's a little hard to follow, but I'll get it...just doesn't feel like a traditional tour book. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good map of the area?

Some of the most detailed maps available are viewable online:

google map
google earth (a free download)
viamichelin.com

Michelin map #513 (scale 1:200,000) covers all of Normandy and is great for driving around.

Michelin map #102 is a reprint of the 1947 map and covers the Battle of Normandy. A friend of mine has one and it's great.

I'm sure they're both available at Barnes & Noble, etc, for ten or fifteen bucks each.

Cindy, I'm sure you can do these by yourself, but???
I took both tours last Sept and those two days were the best days I had during the 3 weeks. But, I am very interested in WWII history and those were tours were very important to me. I saw people at some of the sights during my tour just looking around. They had no idea what actually went on at that spot during the invasion. The BOB's tour was fantastic. Probably had 15 different stops on it and info you don't get in many tour books as the Battlebus guides got so much info from the veterans who were there. Maybe just do the Battlebus BOB's tour and do the rest on your own. It is worth every euro. You have to stay in Bayeux to do Battlebus tours

From the train station in Caen, the car rental agencies are just across the street from the front of the station. It's very easy. A GPS is very helpful. I read about the Battlebus tours, and they get really good reports. On the days we were there, we ran across those tours several times. The people were doing a lot of standing and listening. If that is your thing, great. I do not doubt they are great tours. Too many attest to their quality. I disagree though that the people not on a tour were just looking around without a clue as to what had happened there. Doing this on your own does require a lot of reading and studying beforehand. My family may have looked as if we were viewing the scenery, but we were engrossed within our own minds of the great significance of what happened. It was a very moving experience -- especially the American cemetery and to a lesser degree (as an American) the German cemetery. So, I think it can be educational either with or without a tour -- just a personal preference.

Lane: thks for the interesting link Is Brecourt Manor sign-posted? I have the Michelin #513 map and St-Marie-du Mont highlighted; wld like to see it since we've both read Dick Winters' book.

Cindy, there was no sign that I saw that showed Brecourt Manor but the photo above is of the monument to Easy Company and is located by the little side road that goes by Brecourt. If you find this you will be there. Not sure which book you have of Major Winters. The two I have are "Biggest Brother" by Larry Alexander and "Beyond Band of Brothers" which is the war memoirs of Winters with Colonel Cole C. Kingseed. Of course, there is the original book from which the series was made "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose. I recommend that one as well especially for those who have not seen the movie but plan to or for that matter those who have. If you go to Brecourt it is recommended to respect the privacy of the owners who still live at the Manor. You can imagine the traffic that has come through there since the movie came out. It is not as bad as it was a few years ago though. There was no one else there when we went by except the owners (I guess) who were moving their cattle from the field back to the Manor. They were nice enough and waved to us (not the cattle) as we went by. Some of the tours have permission to walk the fields but not individuals. I did read about one couple who stopped and was looking around and did talk with the residents.

Cindy, I will probably be reprimanded by the webmaster for this but I am posting this photo of Brecourt Manor. Note the American flag still flies from the building.

One other thing to help you find Brecourt. Look at your map and find the little town of Le Grand Chemin. It is very small but there is a town sign so you know you will be close to Brecourt when you get to Le Grand Chemin.