France - Normandy

Normandy, on the northern coast of France, best known for the beach landings during World War II. The visit to the beach landing sites and museums were eye opening for all of us, and it was a great way for the kids to learn about WW II. We also visited the impressive Mont Saint-Michel, as well as Saint-Malo in neighboring Brittany region. This was a great brief visit before moving on to Loire Valley.

Day 0 - Drove from Paris to Bayeux

Day 1 - World War II: Landing beaches and other related sites

Day 2 - Saint-Malo and Mont Saint-Michel

Day 3 - Drive to Loire Valley

Day 0 - Drive from Paris to Bayeux

Next stop - Bayeux

We rented a car in Paris and drove to Bayeux.

Two single beds so they don't kick each other at night. Yeah!

The stairs to the loft is super steep. The stairs are narrower in alternating sides to accommodate climbing the stairs.

Went for a nice meal. Cold beer tasted gooooooood!

Escargot served without shells? Interesting.

M had an interesting way of eating pasta.

Megan’s Tripe a la Mode Decaen, a local specialty made with, you guessed it, tripe. It was so good!

We went for an evening walk after dinner. The town was surprisingly beautiful!

It almost looked like a postcard picture... until we walked into the shot. :)

Beautiful architecture.

These are the views we don't find often in the U.S..

These automated parking timers with sensors start the count-down the second you pull into the parking spot. Very cool!

We head off to Normandy region to visit the World War II sites and learn about the war as well as to visit the famous Mont Saint-Michel. Bayeux is a good hub for our time in Normandy, it’s also surprisingly beautiful. We drove from Paris to Bayeux, checked into our B&B, and went for a nice dinner and evening walk around town.

Voyagers tips: There are several nice restaurants in Bayeux, we really enjoyed Le Drakkar. Great food and great service. We did not like Le Garde Manger, food was overpriced and service was mediocre. You can park in timed parking without limit from 7pm - 9am.

Day 1 - Visiting World War II Sites

Omaha Beach

Utah Beach

Pointe du Hoc

Normandy American Cemetery

The famous beach landings take on a different meaning when we visit the sites. We visited Omaha beach, Utah beach, Pointe du Hoc and the Normandy American Cemetery. Very powerful visit.

Voyagers tips: Bayeux is indeed a great hub for this area. For these sites, it makes more sense to start from the west, visiting Utah beach => Pointe du Hoc => Omaha beach => Normandy American Cemetery. Arromanches is worth visiting too but the four points above is already a lot for one day. Utah beach museum is very well done (it was expanded in 2011) and is a great start for the day to get grounded on the history before visiting the sites. If you have two days, consider the following: Day 1: Utah museum, Utah beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha beach. Day 2: Normandy American Cemetery, Arromanches, Bayeux Tapestry in Bayeux Cathedral.

Omaha Beach

The beach is nicely preserved to show the historical events that happened here.

Sculpture to remember the fallen soldiers at Omaha beach.

Omaha beach - The bloodiest of the five beach landings. Roughly 2,000 US soldiers died here on D-day.

Utah Beach

What are you shooting at?

A looks tiny compared to the tank.

This is the type of bomber planes used by the allies.

Flags of the ally countries still fly high.

These are the landing crafts that brought soldiers to the beach landings.

The front of the beach landing crafts.

Mini soldiers?

M practicing hand stand at Utah beach. The sand area between water and land was massive.

Some locals were showing the girls how to rake for clams.

We found some of our own clams!

Maybe we should bring these home for dinner.

The girls enjoyed wading through the ocean water stream on the beach.

Good photo op.

We had lunch at the restaurant on Utah beach. The mussels were "bottomless", we barely finished the first pot.

The museum (right on the beach) is fantastic, great place to learn the history and gather more information before visiting the sites. The beach is fun for the kids.

Pointe du Hoc

This bunker is well protected.

These were the cliffs that the brave American soldiers scaled up on D-day to secure this area.

It's interesting to see the inside of these bunkers.

This is where the germans hid and looked outward.

The view looking out from inside the bunker.

Pointe du Hoc - Brave American soldiers scaled the cliffs and took control of these critical points. Great stop for kids also, with lots of bunkers for kids to run around and explore.

Normandy American Cemetery

Each cross has a name on it and where they’re from. Thousands of brave soldiers died on June 6, 1944 to preserve freedom and tolerance.

This places certainly reminds you of the cruel nature of war and the heroic sacrifices of the brave soldiers.

The cemetery is right by the ocean, with a nice view down to the water.

The cemetery and memorial is very nicely built, very well done.

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. 9,388 fallen soldiers buried here.

Day 2 - Arromanches, Saint-Malo and Mont Saint-Michel

Arromanches

Saint-Malo

Mont Saint-Michel

Arromanches

One of the land cannons used during the war.

These nice big lounge chairs were laid out for people to use.

The girls were getting pretty comfortable on these chairs.

So we joined the girls. Easy to get onto, hard to get out of.

The bridge material shown on the right was used to move people and payload into the harbor.

Arromanches was the site for a temporary harbor built just after the beach landings to help move soliders and suppliers into France. This temporary floating harbor more than did its job and was a great engineering feat that helped the allies immensely. It’s a good quick stop.

Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo, the view from outside, the entire city is surrounded by the wall.

Many shops and restaurants in the city. Saint-Malo is a big tourist attraction.

Our first stop was to find a creperie. A was hungry, and this place is known for its crepes.

Savory crepes are called galettes. Yum. The sausages, ducks and bacon were good. The goat cheese was a bit too strong for our taste buds.

Many narrow streets in the city, it's like a maze.

Some streets are busier than others.

Many of these stairs to go up to the wall surrounding the city.

You can walk on the wall all the way around the city, time permitting.

The city is right by the ocean, the view from the wall is beautiful.

Shooting Megan out of a cannon.

Tourists occupy the beaches outside the wall.

There's a nice blue pool on the beach with a diving platform, I'm assuming it's filled with ocean water.

You can look down into the city streets from the surrounding walls.

We saw a street performer lying on a chain, as if he's napping. M tried to replicate, couldn't quite do it.

A tried next. Her facial expression was priceless!

Ivan did it! Ok, not quite, couldn't lift up his right arm without falling over.

Saint-Malo, a port city in Brittany region, is a walled city that was once a stronghold of privateers (pirates approved by the king), was mostly destroyed in WW II then rebuilt to restore its glory. It is now a popular tourist spot.

Mont Saint-Michel

We finally made it!

The sand surrounding the island becomes under water in high tide. It feels more like clay than sand.

The abbey perches high up on top of the rocky island.

The interior gate into the city.

Don't mess with her, she's got an ax and isn't afraid to use it.

Who's this knight?

The island is filled with tourists and shops.

Walking up to the abbey is a workout.

The abbey is big, with different views from different sides.

Nice view from various balconies. M's in deep thoughts.

Another view of the spire.

A is good at finding shade.

Inside of the abbey. It's actually quite big.

Hallway around the cloister.

If there are rocks, the girls will climb them.

Hard to imagine such massive land surrounding Mont Saint-Michel can be covered in water so quickly.

Some tourists have been known to be trapped while walking on the land surrounding the island, not knowing how quickly the water can come in.

We decided to keep A there to appreciate the monastery life.

We grabbed dinner in town back in Bayeux. I had to try the foie gras. Don't judge!

M enjoying her crepes with Nutella.

Mont Saint-Michel, a majestic abbey built on top of an island, an UNESCO world heritage site. Amazing architecture and cool historical relevance.

Voyagers tips: When driving there, look for signs to turn right to the parking lots. Park and take the free shuttle to the island bridge. You can cover the island in a few hours, go after 4pm to avoid the massive crowd in peak seasons, just know that some shops start closing at 6pm. Keep walking upwards to reach the abbey, where you have to buy tickets to enter.