My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
recommend any interesting places we could visit.

Thanks in advance for any assistance given.

Charles.

Charles <[email protected]> wrote:

    > My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
    > the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
    > etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
    > we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
    > recommend any interesting places we could visit.

One week seems largely enough, I think.

Caen, the capital of Lower Normandy, is the heart of your visit. You can
stay there and rent a car - most sites are within a 1 hr drive.

- the Mémorial pour la Paix (whose price is ashamely high, 16¤, but...)
is a museum devoted to WWII, Cold War, and "peace" in the modern world
is a must-see.

- The town itself: it suffered heavy bombings in June/July 1944 and was
reconstructed shiftly. Two wonderful abbatial churches were intact,
although St. Pierre, the city cathedral, was damaged. The Château (old
fortress in the very center of the city) and the University rebuilt in
the 50s deserve a quick walk.

- Just north-east of the city is the Abbaye d'Ardenne which was the
scene of a heroic fight of Canadian troops. It is a beautiful abbey with
XIIth century, and the Canadian military cemetary, carefully maintained,
is extremely moving.

I'll give you other advice later.

Cheers

Stanislas

--
inversez "kertanguy" et "de" pour me joindre

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 10:32:23 -0700, Charles wrote*:

    > My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
    > the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
    > etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
    > we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
    > recommend any interesting places we could visit.
    >
    > Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    >
    > Charles.
You should visit Mont Saint Michel if you did not before.
http://www.mont-saint-michel.net/
You can consider Barneville-Carteret too
http://www.tourisme.fr/office-de-tou...e-carteret.htm
http://www.barneville-carteret.net/

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/normandies/barneville.htm
(take a look at the links at the bottom of this page)

http://www.hotelmarine.com/index.php?l=en

And from there go to Jersey
http://www.jersey.com/

Juan-Elorza <[email protected]> wrote:

    > You should visit Mont Saint Michel if you did not before.
    > http://www.mont-saint-michel.net/

How is Mont-Saint-Michel related with WWII???


--
inversez "kertanguy" et "de" pour me joindre

Stanislas de Kertanguy a écrit :
    > Juan-Elorza <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >
    >>You should visit Mont Saint Michel if you did not before.
    >>http://www.mont-saint-michel.net/
    >
    >
    > How is Mont-Saint-Michel related with WWII???
    >
    >
It is not. So they should strictly avoid it.

"Charles" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]

Try: www.ww2dday.com for many, many sites to see.
Also a visit to the Museum of Peace in Caen is a must.
Hope this helps.
Steve Haberman
author of Murder Without Pity, a mystery where Paris's WWII Occupation
comes back to haunt a French state criminal investigator



groups.com...
    > My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
    > the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
    > etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
    > we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
    > recommend any interesting places we could visit.
    > Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    > Charles.

    > From: "Charles" <[email protected]>
    > Organization: http://groups.google.com
    > Newsgroups: rec.travel.europe
    > Date: 9 Apr 2005 10:32:23 -0700
    > Subject: Info Requested on Normandy
    >
    > My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
    > the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
    > etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
    > we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
    > recommend any interesting places we could visit.
    >
    > Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    >
    > Charles.

My favorite is still Arromanches. I have been to that museum half a dozen
times, and never get tired of it. I like it best on a rainy, windy day -
the kind of day they had on June 6, 1944. The view of the remains of the
Mulberries always moves me.

Donna Evleth
    >

On 18/04/05 15:26, in article BE898223.8200%[email protected], "Donna
Evleth" <[email protected]> wrote:

    >
    >
    >> From: "Charles" <[email protected]>
    >> Organization: http://groups.google.com
    >> Newsgroups: rec.travel.europe
    >> Date: 9 Apr 2005 10:32:23 -0700
    >> Subject: Info Requested on Normandy
    >>
    >> My wife and I are spending June and July in France and want to spend
    >> the first week or two visiting WW2 museums, war graves, landing beaches
    >> etc in the Normandy area. Having visited various museums in the past
    >> we have on occasions been disappointed and wondered if anyone could
    >> recommend any interesting places we could visit.
    >>
    >> Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    >>
    >> Charles.
    >
    > My favorite is still Arromanches. I have been to that museum half a dozen
    > times, and never get tired of it. I like it best on a rainy, windy day -
    > the kind of day they had on June 6, 1944. The view of the remains of the
    > Mulberries always moves me.
    >
    > Donna Evleth


The Arromanches museum is small and has a intimate aspect. Naturally
the memorial at Caen is a must but a big big. I liked Bayeux for its
WWII newspapers on the wall. If you have time hit the above three
plus the Ste Mère d'Eglise at Utah Beach. The town had a lot of
interaction with the paratroupers who landed there over the years
and one still has a person-to-person feeling there. The old
vets have contributed a lot of souvenirs to the museum.

Certainly that feeling is absent at the other museums.

A visit at the American National Cemetery at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
above Omaha beach is recommended. Perhaps early in the day
when there are few people. We were there on a cold early Spring day
two years ago, I prefer visiting these kinds of places nearly alone.

Earl

Earl Evleth <[email protected]> wrote:

    >On 18/04/05 15:26, in article BE898223.8200%[email protected], "Donna
    >Evleth" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>> Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    >>> Charles.
    >>
    >> My favorite is still Arromanches. I have been to that museum half a dozen
    >> times, and never get tired of it. I like it best on a rainy, windy day -
    >> the kind of day they had on June 6, 1944. The view of the remains of the
    >> Mulberries always moves me.
    >>
    >> Donna Evleth
    >The Arromanches museum is small and has a intimate aspect. Naturally
    >the memorial at Caen is a must but a big big. I liked Bayeux for its
    >WWII newspapers on the wall. If you have time hit the above three
    >plus the Ste Mère d'Eglise at Utah Beach. The town had a lot of
    >interaction with the paratroupers who landed there over the years
    >and one still has a person-to-person feeling there. The old
    >vets have contributed a lot of souvenirs to the museum.
    >Certainly that feeling is absent at the other museums.
    >A visit at the American National Cemetery at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
    >above Omaha beach is recommended. Perhaps early in the day
    >when there are few people. We were there on a cold early Spring day
    >two years ago, I prefer visiting these kinds of places nearly alone.
    >Earl

I would also add Point Hoc to the list of must sees. But one can
safely skip the number of small private "look what I found" museums.


Kristian

"Kristian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] t2net.dk...
    > Earl Evleth <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>On 18/04/05 15:26, in article BE898223.8200%[email protected], "Donna
    >>Evleth" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>>> Thanks in advance for any assistance given.
    >>>> Charles.
    >>> My favorite is still Arromanches. I have been to that museum half a
    >>> dozen
    >>> times, and never get tired of it. I like it best on a rainy, windy
    >>> day -
    >>> the kind of day they had on June 6, 1944. The view of the remains of
    >>> the
    >>> Mulberries always moves me.
    >>> Donna Evleth
    >>The Arromanches museum is small and has a intimate aspect. Naturally
    >>the memorial at Caen is a must but a big big. I liked Bayeux for its
    >>WWII newspapers on the wall. If you have time hit the above three
    >>plus the Ste Mère d'Eglise at Utah Beach. The town had a lot of
    >>interaction with the paratroupers who landed there over the years
    >>and one still has a person-to-person feeling there. The old
    >>vets have contributed a lot of souvenirs to the museum.
    >>Certainly that feeling is absent at the other museums.
    >>A visit at the American National Cemetery at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
    >>above Omaha beach is recommended. Perhaps early in the day
    >>when there are few people. We were there on a cold early Spring day
    >>two years ago, I prefer visiting these kinds of places nearly alone.
    >>Earl
    > I would also add Point Hoc to the list of must sees. But one can
    > safely skip the number of small private "look what I found" museums.
    > Kristian\\

Also the German Cemetery. Very stark and notice no ranks on the
gravestones.