• History (WWI & WWII)

• Day 1

  Bayeux / Landing beaches

  Today we will take you for a guided tour of the Landing Beaches including Arromanches where can be seen the remains of a Mulberry harbor.

  Built thanks to Churchill's vision within a few days after 'D.Day'. This temporary port was used to disembark an army with all the men and supplies necessary to liberate Europe. It is one of the most extraordinary industrial and maritime achievement of the war.

  Option: See the famous 'Tapestry of Queen Mathilda' in Bayeux, actually a 70 meters (230 feet) long work of embroidery woven by Irish monks a few years after the events and retracing the epic of William the Conqueror's expedition to England in 1066 (battle of Hastings).
  The work is the most accurate and lively document to survive from the Middle Ages and provides detailed information of the clothes, ships, arms and general lifestyle of the period

  On the way to Omaha beach, visit the site of the powerful German battery at Longues-sur-mer. In spite of the heavy bombing on the night before, the German 'pill boxes' and their 150 mm guns were still operational on the morning of 6 June and they began firing at the allied battleships.

  Continue with Omaha Beach and the moving Normandy American cemetery where 9385 Carrara marble crosses stand aligned. A memorial, inscribed with a map of the operations stands in the central alley.
  The name 'Omaha Beach' which until 6 June 1944 existed only as an operational code name, has continued to jointly designate the beaches of three villages, Colleville, Saint-Laurent and Vierville, in memory of the soldiers of the 1st American division who landed there and suffered the heaviest casualties on 'D.Day'. Drive and stop along the beach where your guide will show you some of the German bunkers and machine-gun nests.

  One of the most impressive site in Normandy, is perhaps Pointe du Hoc where the 2nd battalions of specially trained Rangers under the command of colonel James Earl Rudder captured the position by assault at dawn on 6 June, scaling the cliffs with ropes and extendible ladders but not without heavy losses – 135 rangers out of 225 – but key action for the success of 'D.Day'.

  Return to your hotel in Normandy, end of our services.

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• Day 2

  Cultural and gourmet Normandy

  Visit the charming port of Honfleur on the Seine estuary, from where Samuel de Champlain, founder of Quebec, and the cavalier de la Salle, founder of Louisiana, set sail.
  Honfleur inspired many famous painters such as Monet and his master Boudin. It is considered to be a cradle of the Impressionist movement.

  Visit of Pont-l'Evêque with its 17th and 18th century private mansions and half-timbered houses.
  Tasting of local Normandy products: andouille de Vire, Pont l'Evêque farmhouse cheese, teurgoule, Isigny caramel, cider and apple juice.

  Towards Lisieux, pass through one of the most beautiful villages of Normandy with its half-timbered houses: Blangy-le-Château, which organizes a painters' fair every year.

  Arrival in Lisieux, to discover the Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux basilica, one of the rare monuments of Normandy remaining from the bombings of 1944.
  Built in 1929, inspired by the Sacré-Coeur basilica of Paris and the Immaculate Conception of Lourdes, it is currently part of the most visited pilgrim site in France.

  Discovery of the most beautiful village of Normandy, Beuvron-en-Auge, with its half-timbered houses and halls.

  Return to your hotel in Normandy.

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