planning on going to normandy in a few days (doing a trip through europe by the seat of my pants). Was wondering if anyone had suggestions about where to stay to take the best advantage of public transportation around the area? Any hotel/motel/b and b suggestions? Other than going to the D-day beaches, are there any other "must not miss" things? Have a guidebook for just the area, but am frustrated that it's not as good as my RS books that I have for the other countries that I'm visiting.
thanks for any and all advise/suggestions.
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
1 posts
great stay, in early May, in Bayeux. Train from St. Lazare, Paris, to Bayeux, is 2 beautiful hours. If you're interested in D-Day history, allow 3 - 4 hours for the Memorial Museum in Caen, also do-able by train from Bayeux. The Battle Bus tour out of Bayeux was terrific (Stuart Robertson was my guide).
Memorable sights, smells, food, and people. If time allows, go to Dinan in Brittany.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
The other "don't miss" site in Normandy is Mont St. Michel, but at this time of year, time your visit carefully. It's probably mobbed with tourists right now, so you may want to attempt a visit early or late in the day.
Posted by
Pearland, TX, USA
852 posts
Jessica,
Here's a place I learned of only on the Internet. It looks like a good place to use as home base. Attractive and reasonable... here's their web site. Have a look. bon voyage! P.
Posted by
ENUMCLAW, WA, USA
19 posts
We used Overlord Tours and it was the BEST money we spent. We also used this site and found it to be a good one, gites-de-france.fr/gites/fr/gites_ruraux
it is similar to the farmstays one in the UK. They had some really nice B&B's, check it out. I would recommand a car, we used argusrentals.com and saved quite alot.
Posted by
Phoenix, AZ
27 posts
Jessica-You did not say where you want to be near public transport. I may be way wrong, but I didn't see anything that looked public except the train from Paris. Be sure to check with other sources to make sure there is some in Bayeux. Hotel Churchill is a very nice hotel within walking distance of the city center. It is not cheap, but you didn't mention price. A lady named Rima is in charge-a lovely lady who speaks excellent English. The Bayeux Tapestry is interesting if you can appreciate that it is one of the first forms of journalism...about 1000 years old. You can visit that museum for an hour or a little more and see the whole deal. Bayeux is very medieval, as it escaped Allied bombings. Bon Voyage!
Posted by
santa barbara, Ca, USA
4 posts
My spouse and I are also going to Normandy,the last week of Sept. We've been reading about WWII, and plan on visiting the town of La Roche-Guyon. The castle there, was Rommel's headquarters. It's on the Seine. The town is between Paris and Roen, which a French friend of mine said I MUST visit. She also said Honfleur was a charming beach town which looks like Normandy beach towns looked like before WWII.
Could you please either post to the group or email me privately after your trip to say where you went and ate? Merci.
Anyone have any first hand knowledge of La Roche-Guyon? Places to stay, eat?
We are also looking for advice re:Normandy. We'll have a car which we're picking up from CDG airport. We want to drive to Normandy in one direction and return to CDG in another. Info about restaurants and places to dance (Argentine tango, ballroom, swing) would be especially helpful.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
6 posts
My 11 year-old son is a WW2 history buff, and I took him to Normandy for a week in August 2005. We rented a car in Rouen (our fav city), and drove straight to Caen to use as our base. First WWII stop was the Caen museum, a super primer for our touring. Although we already had a detailed road map, we bought a small book in the gift shop with info for each WWII site, and we used that as our guide. Hit all of the beaches, or at least it seems that way, and we only encountered large crowds at the sites popular with the tour buses. We stayed overnight at Mt. St. Michel as Rick suggests in a book; as soon as 5:00 pm hit, everyone cleared out and we had the island to ourselves! We waited to visit the abbey at night -- every room was lit with colored lights and there were live musicians playing medieval/baroque every few rooms. I'm not sure if they do this every year (we were there in 2005). Also, try to leave the beaten path, we got lost one day and found an old abbey, medieval dairy, etc.
Posted by
Grapevine, TX, USA
80 posts
We just got back and had spent 4 nights at Le Bayeux in Bayeux. It is 1 block from the cathedral and walking distance to all of the town. The rooms are spartan, but clean and nice, and the hosts are most accommodating. For 5 euro each they will wash and dry a large load of clothes, fold them, and place them on your bed. They also have a common room for having your own lunch or dinner there. Also, don't miss the Saturday market. The Battlebus tours are not to be missed, either, evem if you have only a passing interest in history.