Paris to Normandy: One Day Jaunt

[richardfinegold]

I had posted previously that I will be in London and Paris this summer.
Some of our party would like to see some of the D Day sites in Normandy, but we are interested in a day trip, and everything that I have read suggests at least one overnight stay in the area. This just isn't feasible, so I was wondering if any forumites had ever done a 1 day visit from Paris and any sugestions that they might have.

[Petrushka]

I had posted previously that I will be in London and Paris this summer.
Some of our party would like to see some of the D Day sites in Normandy, but we are interested in a day trip, and everything that I have read suggests at least one overnight stay in the area. This just isn't feasible, so I was wondering if any forumites had ever done a 1 day visit from Paris and any sugestions that they might have.

The D-Day sites cover a much larger area than you might think from St Mere Eglise in the west to Pegasus Bridge on the Orne to the east and you will see next to nothing in 1 day. My guess is that your party would prefer to see Omaha beach, where the American landings took place and possibly the village of St Mere Eglise where the American paratroopers landed.

For day trips from Paris this might give you an idea:http://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/No...ip/d479-2050NP

Seriously, though, there is so much to see that a guided tour is vital to get the best out of it. I went for 5 days in 2004 on a fully guided specialist tour that took in pretty well everything including Falaise and it was absolutely fascinating.

[richardfinegold]

[QUOTE=Petrushka;467250]The D-Day sites cover a much larger area than you might think from St Mere Eglise in the west to Pegasus Bridge on the Orne to the east and you will see next to nothing in 1 day. My guess is that your party would prefer to see Omaha beach, where the American landings took place and possibly the village of St Mere Eglise where the American paratroopers landed.

For day trips from Paris this might give you an idea:http://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/No...ip/d479-2050NP

Seriously, though, there is so much to see that a guided tour is vital to get the best out of it. I went for 5 days in 2004 on a fully guided specialist tour that took in pretty well everything including Falaise and it was absolutely fascinating.[/QUOTE

I know, Pet, but one day is probably all we have...personally, I could spend 5 days there.
I just tarted reading Das Reich, by Max Hastings. Have you read it?

[french frank]

Richard

You might study this - and see if it would suit (I've just googled it - no personal knowledge/recommendation).

http://www.linkparis.com/normandy-dday-tour.htm

[BBMmk2]

Come down south to my neck of the woods, if you time. Good train connections from Victoria!

[Gordon]

...I just tarted reading Das Reich, by Max Hastings. Have you read it?

I asume you mean the book about the SS Division - one of the several crack Waffen SS divisions - and its involvement in the Oradour massacre near Limoges which was in part reprisal for the harassment it received on its way up to the D day invasion from the S of France. It is possible that that harassment made a difference to the outcome. If you go to Oradour you will see the village as it was in June 1944, derelict but with a memorial at the end of the village. It is a sobering place to see and the book does well to describe the events leading up to it and the landings in Normandy. See here:

http://www.oradour.info/

Perhaps US people would be more interested in Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes? A massacre of US soldiers by the brothers in arms to Das Reich, the Waffen SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=malmedy&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Amalmedy

Anyway if you are in Paris you can enjoy the city that hosted the agreement of US independence from Britain!!

[richardfinegold]

Richard

You might study this - and see if it would suit (I've just googled it - no personal knowledge/recommendation).

http://www.linkparis.com/normandy-dday-tour.htm

I had tchecked that link out before I posted the question, ff. That tour company got decidedly mixed reviews on Trip Advisor.

[richardfinegold]

I asume you mean the book about the SS Division - one of the several crack Waffen SS divisions - and its involvement in the Oradour massacre near Limoges which was in part reprisal for the harassment it received on its way up to the D day invasion from the S of France. It is possible that that harassment made a difference to the outcome. If you go to Oradour you will see the village as it was in June 1944, derelict but with a memorial at the end of the village. It is a sobering place to see and the book does well to describe the events leading up to it and the landings in Normandy. See here:

http://www.oradour.info/

Perhaps US people would be more interested in Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes? A massacre of US soldiers by the brothers in arms to Das Reich, the Waffen SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=malmedy&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Amalmedy

Anyway if you are in Paris you can enjoy the city that hosted the agreement of US independence from Britain!!

I think I am the only History buff in the group, although many of the men want to see the D Day Beaches. I had just started reading Das Reich a couple of days ago. Apparently Hastings wrote in 30 years ago but chose not publish it then, for reasons that are to me unclear.

[french frank]

That tour company got decidedly mixed reviews on Trip Advisor.

What doesn't!?

[richardfinegold]

What doesn't!?

This companies reviews included several comments about guides not showing up, then the company refusing to pay refunds and not returning phone calls

[Gordon]

I think I am the only History buff in the group, although many of the men want to see the D Day Beaches. I had just started reading Das Reich a couple of days ago. Apparently Hastings wrote in 30 years ago but chose not publish it then, for reasons that are to me unclear.

My edition was published in 1981 which is 30+ years ago; I could understand why he may have hesitated. If you look at some of the pages of the Oradour link I gave above you'll see that the story is controversial and on one in particular that Hastings' account is challenged as is the behaviour of the resistance. By this time Das Reich was not what it was as a fighting machine and some of them were raw recruits, but some had also served in Russia where atrocities seem to have been the norm on both sides.

[Dave2002]

I had posted previously that I will be in London and Paris this summer.
Some of our party would like to see some of the D Day sites in Normandy, but we are interested in a day trip, and everything that I have read suggests at least one overnight stay in the area. This just isn't feasible, so I was wondering if any forumites had ever done a 1 day visit from Paris and any sugestions that they might have.

I'm beginning to wonder if you shouldn't allocate much more time to your trip, or arrange to come back again, next year perhaps. We "did" some of the beaches many years ago, but I'm prepared to admit that we probably didn't do them properly.

Perhaps not so relevant to your party, but we also "did" the WWI trenches at Vimy Ridge - of interest to Canadians, not too long ago - that was really interesting for several reasons. One was the peculiar form of warfare, using miners, and it turns out that one of our moderately distant relations was a miner, and was sent there to help with some of the tunnels. We were also very surprised at the size (minute) of the battlefield - probably not too much bigger than our back garden - it was possible to walk from the German side to the other side in a minute or two - and of course also the very windy construction of the trenches - this being to reduce the blast effects of a direct hit on any trench.

A further interest only emerged very recently, afterwards. Several members of our family emigrated to Canada sometime around 1900 and one of them came back to fight in WWI. He was sent out to France, then returned injured to the UK, but was sent back again when he recovered, and his name is now on one of the memorials at Vimy. I was completely unaware of this until talking to some other family members who had visited the site.

It is possible that several members of the expeditionary party may have more than an interest in history - a more personal connection - with the WWII sites in Normandy. One family friend was one of the last surviving members of the UK Normandy landing party - I think he went in on day 2. He died a few weeks ago, aged exactly 100.

There is quite a lot to see in Europe - even just focusing on the UK and France, and even narrowing in on very particular historical sites. A few weeks will only scratch the surface, which is of course the same for us in the UK visiting the USA.

[Anna]

Putting 'Paris Normandy day trip' into google produces so many sites offering day tours either by coach or train to Normandy, so it is feasible although at 14 hours it's a long day. I think it's better to give one of them a go rather than regret not not trying, particularly if you're not likely to be in Europe again.

However I suppose one option is earliest train from Paris to Caen then car hire and go just where you want to go and return to Paris on the last train?

[vinteuil]

There is quite a lot to see in Europe

... you're not wrong.

[richardfinegold]

Putting 'Paris Normandy day trip' into google produces so many sites offering day tours either by coach or train to Normandy, so it is feasible although at 14 hours it's a long day. I think it's better to give one of them a go rather than regret not not trying, particularly if you're not likely to be in Europe again.

However I suppose one option is earliest train from Paris to Caen then car hire and go just where you want to go and return to Paris on the last train?

Tour guides recommend against renting a car for the day, due to the time needed with the paper work, etc.
You are right, entering a search for this produces a lot of options. I was wondering if anyone had experience at doing this and could recommend any in particular. The recommendation from ff is the first that pops up on Google, but they pay to get that posting, and their customer service seems to be a bit lacking judging from their reviews.