Normandy advice required

mike w

mike w

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Hi All, we are planning to visit the D Day beaches and memorials. While we are in that part of France are the any other must see parts?
I thought it may be worth following the Seine inland from Le Havre to Rouen, it looks wooded and picturesque. Hoping to find beauty spots etc.
Would the toll for the Pont de Normandie be worth the view?
Any tips would be more than welcome.
Mike
 
mikewroe said:
Hi All, we are planning to visit the D Day beaches and memorials. While we are in that part of France are the any other must see parts?
I thought it may be worth following the Seine inland from Le Havre to Rouen, it looks wooded and picturesque. Hoping to find beauty spots etc.
Would the toll for the Pont de Normandie be worth the view?
Any tips would be more than welcome.
Mike
Click to expand...

We're going down that way next week and may elect to go from Dieppe due south into the wooded area west of Rouen - particularly to see the abbey at Jumièges. After that we'll cross the Seine on the little car ferry (height restriction 3m) just a couple of miles down the road from the aire.

The view from the Pont de Normandie is good as views from big bridges go but maybe not worth paying to cross specifically for the view. I'm going to check out the view from the Pont de Tancarville sometime soon.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@49.4...80&yaw=55.358894&pitch=0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Johnny A
 
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For the last 4 years, we've used the ferry to Caen.
Ouistreham is well worth visiting, particularly for the Pegasus Bridge Museum. What a story ! How close they were to failure.
Lots more to see, nearby and decent grub if you avoid the ones close to the ferry terminal.
 
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And if you're going down Rouen way you could call on any lavatorial sense of humour that you have and check out the village of Pissy-Pôville.
 
Arromances-Les-Baines is a good stopover.
You can pay for the day in the car park at the top of the hill just before the village and then overnight there. Great views over the bay of the Mullberry Harbour and remnants of same are still on the beach.
Museum down in the town is worth a visit.
 
There are tons of nice villages and points with stunning views.

If you're close to the Normandy bridge, there's a village called Honfleur:
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Etretat is surely worth a visit and some miles of walking along the coast:
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Sometimes you see bunkers that fell down to the sea. This one is close to Quiberville:
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The beach next to Courseulles:
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If you don't suffer from fear of height, visit le phare de Gatteville, one of the tallest lighthouses. Yes, you can walk up to the top:
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CR Longues Sur Mer is a nice place to spend your night! Here's a picture:
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And that's how it looks if you walk to the bech from there:
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If you're fed up with bunkers and war stuff, head to the west coast of Normandy. You'll find miles of wide sand beaches, and you'll have a square mile of sand for you alone!
There's also a 'route de caps' in the north, where you will see many nice capes. My favourite one was Cap de Carteret. If you're there, take a look at the long beach next to Vauville.

If you need good maps, buy that one: Carte Michelin Region 512 (Bretagne) and 513 (Normandie). In general, just drive along the street closest to the sea and you'll discover dozens of nice places.

For funny names, I always liked Hautot(-sur-mer), which means in german "Beat to death"

Cheers, Marcel
 
topefisher said:
Arromances-Les-Baines is a good stopover.
You can pay for the day in the car park at the top of the hill just before the village and then overnight there. Great views over the bay of the Mullberry Harbour and remnants of same are still on the beach.
Museum down in the town is worth a visit.
Click to expand...

See thread http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums...ow-no-overnighting.html?highlight=arromanches indicating that you can't overnight there if you're referring to the same car park.

Tom
 
Horbach said:
<snip>

If you don't suffer from fear of height, visit le phare de Gatteville, one of the tallest lighthouses. Yes, you can walk up to the top:
<snip>
Cheers, Marcel
Click to expand...

And if you go there, visit Barfleur, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France; try to be there when the tide's in.

Other recommendations dependent on how you define "that part of France", but many WC spots in the Cotentin.

Tom
 
If you are thinking of cycling there is a great cycle path from Ouistreham to Pegasus Bridge alongside the river.

We stayed at a little free aire behind the Post Office at Hermanville-sur-Mer & cycled along Sword Beach, through Ouistreham to Pegasus Bridge & back.
A drink at the little cafe by Pegasus Bridge is a must. The little girl who was there when they were the first to be liberated is now running the cafe, but a little older now.
 
snowbirds said:
Hi,

The Bayeux Tapestry is amazing and worth a visit.

Snowbirds.
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Seconded :dance: you can park the van at AF Bayeux ( in our POI`s ) and walk to the museum which is well signposted.

You might want to get there early as it can fill up pretty damned quick :wave:
 
Well worth a visit the Bayeux Tapestry. You get a recorded guide of the tapestry your best bet is to follow the guide but don't bother too much if you loose the story line a little, follow it to the end and you will have the gist of how to follow it properly, turn around and walk back to the start and the recording will start again. This time you will be able to follow it in detail and is worth doing.
 
Many thanks

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and taking the time to supply photos and links.
Mike
 
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