AMERICAN SECTOR TOUR
American Tour
This tour is possible as a day trip from Paris (Monday to Friday).
I will greet you at Bayeux train station or at your hotel/accommodations and we’ll travel in my comfortable 9 seater, air-conditioned van, solely for you and your travel companions.
This is a typical American tour but it may be possible to integrate any special requests, visits to museums or other sites – please contact me.
On our way towards Sainte Mère Église, we will discuss the events leading up to D-Day. This was the first town to be liberated by the Americans on June 6th, 1944. From the market place, we will talk about the crucial objectives of the airborne forces and you will have some free time to see the historic town center before moving on to Utah Beach.
Utah was the most successful landing beach of the invasion due to multiple reasons which we’ll discuss on-site. I will tell you more about the famed ideal behind the Atlantic Wall and the Allied preparations to ensure the success of the landings, wave after wave, which would establish the beachheads. We will have some free time before taking a quick lunch break to maximize our time.
After lunch, we head out towards Omaha Sector . . . first stop the Pointe du Hoc. Truly an amazing and unique setting for this overseas American memorial site, with its 100ft high cliffs and the hundreds of bomb and naval shell craters. I will explain the utmost importance of this German long-range coastal artillery site, the Ranger Task Force, its missions on D-Day, and more.
We’ll then drive along the coast to Omaha Beach and I’ll explain why the morning assault was so costly but how, overall, the landings were a success. It’s impossible to understand the difficulties of Omaha until you have seen the expanse of open beach and the imposing bluffs. Some free time allows you to reflect on these momentous events.
Our last stop will be to honor the fallen at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. This unforgettable scenery truly pays homage to the 9,387 American servicemen and women who stayed behind in burial.
The scenic return route is an ideal opportunity to expand on the Battle of Normandy and the particularities of its famous hedgerow countryside which was such an ordeal for the allied troops.
We will have covered a lot during the day – but it is only really a brief insight into the mighty endeavors of the Americans during this historic event.
Useful Information
Pick-up/drop-off: At your accommodations in or near Bayeux. Other pick-up locations by arrangement.
Start: 8.30-9.00 am.
Duration: 9 hours approximately.
Vehicle: Comfortable air-conditioned van.
Passenger capacity: 1 to 8 people.
Price: €600 (for the tour, not per person).
Lunches and/or museum entrances are not included in the tour price.