paris to normandy beach

You can either pay for a tour company to take you from Paris for an all day trip to the beaches or you could just do it yourself.

Rent a car and drive yourself. If you're uneasy about driving in Paris then train out of Paris to some place like Caen and pick your car up there. Caen is the location of the big Caen War Memorial where you could easily spend 1/2 day or more. The beaches are just a short drive from there.

Trains don't leave Paris early enough in the morning to connect with a guided all-day tour. So Tim's suggestions are good if you are limited to a day trip.

The beaches certainly deserve more than a quick look. But if you're willing to settle for an afternoon tour, here is another option. Take a morning train to Bayeux, an afternoon tour through someone like overlordtour.com, and an evening train back to Paris.

Best of all would be to spend one night in Normandy so you can both linger at the memorial in Caen and have a full day at the beaches.

I would recommend staying in Bayeau at the Logis les Ramparts.

http://www.lecornu.fr/homeEN.html

And taking an all day tour with Battle Bus.

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?fuseaction=postreply&topicID=3448

We really enjoyed the tour and the hotel.

Highly recommend both.

Bayeux

Don't miss the Peace Museaum in Caen. My father is a WWII veteran and was so moved when I took him there. Definitely worth a detour! And Pointe du Hoc and the German cemetery down the beach from Omaha and the American cemetery are also part of the story.