Paris to Normandy

shelley, I just replied to your other Thread about travel from Amsterdam to Normandy. The method I suggested assumed you'd be travelling from Amsterdam. Were you planning to stay in Paris for a few days? In any case, you'll still have to get to St. Lazare station. As you want to see a "D-Day beach/memorial", Bayeux would be a good "home base" location. Without a car, it will be difficult to get to the sights. The front covered a distance of 50 miles and extended some distance inland, so I'd suggest using one of the excellent local tour companies as they will provide transport. However, I'm not sure which ones will be operating in February? If you need the names of the some of the tour companies, post another note. There's also an excellent WW-II Museum in Bayeux, and the Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer are only a short distance outside town. They were partially used in the filming of The Longest Day. Of course, while in Bayeux you can also see the famous Tapestry which describes a much earlier battle. The large Museum in Caen is only a short train ride away. Cheers!

If you don't want to rent a car and you don't want to sit on a big tour bus with lots of other people then look at www.toursbylocals.com to find a private guide. The guide we found would either go with you in your own car or provide his own car to carry you around. It worked nicely for us. We've also use the Toursbylocals while in St Petersburg Russia to take us to Catherine's Palace. Both times we had a great experience. The trip from Gare St Lazare to Bayeaux is quite nice and easy. We stayed here: http://relaisdelatourlouise.monsite-orange.fr/ and Will met us at the little train station and drove us back to the B&B. It was a perfect spot and perfect family. Bayeux is a great little town...much nicer than Caen.