Catching the train in France to a little town that most people had never heard of but is quite famous in reality is something a bit different. This little town by the name of Bayeux near the Normandy Coast is the home base for a lot of the Normandy tour operations. It was also the Capital of France, twice, during the days of William the Conqueror & also after the invasion of Europe when Charles De Gualle returned to France.
I had originally planned with coming and doing some tours on my own but the Fabulous Miss Yena (hereafter known as FMY) decided to join me. I choose a company called Overlord Tours to handle our touring of the D-Day (well that’s what everyone knows it as I won’t get technical and call it the Overlord/Neptune sites) sites and Yena choose the hotel, The Chateau Bellefontaine. Getting down here we did by train as it was the easiest way (see the trip report for more info on that) but otherwise it was going to be a pretty easy 5 days (well 4 full days really as the train goes home tomorrow at 840am and we are back in Paris by 11am. The first day we got down here a short 10 minute walk from the station to the hotel. It was a touch annoying dragging all my crap and even that was cut down but to be honest, the cab line was about 20 people as we left the station as there really aren’t that many cabs here in Bayeux.
The hotel is beautiful. Nicely manicured grounds, a kind of pond/lake/canal looking thingy in the middle of the garden with swans and ducks, lots of lounges out in the sun and two buildings. The main Chateau which dates back to who knows when and then the “Annex” where we are staying. We have a “Duplex Suite” which is a 3 story room, a room upstairs, bathroom on the middle floor and living area with Sofa Bed on the bottom floor. Shotgun top floor was heard from my mouth within sight distance of the hotel because as FMY put it… “Im a jerk.” Then again it was quite hot on the top floor, but that’s not a big deal.
That day we pretty much checked out Bayeux with lots of strolling around town, working out where we need to go etc to meet tours, sussing out the good pastry shops for breakfast (we found a good one) and then also getting some essentials like fruit, water, chocolates. I also treated myself after checking out some of the sights like the Cathedral to my Birthday Cake. A French pastry Frog. It was DELICIOUS!!
That night we planned on dinner at the Hotel Lion D’or in town. We were originally going to walk up from our hotel in our finest but unfortunately it rained. So we got a cab. But the dinner was amazing. The food so good and so cheap for what we got! AMAZING! The Hotel Lion D’or is also the place that many celebrities and famous royalty, soldiers etc have visited or stayed in over the years. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Charles De Gualle, Jacque Chirac, John Wayne, Lauren Backall, Tom Hanks and heaps more, have all stayed or visited or eaten here. Trip list tick! Such good value for what it was!
The first day of our touring with Overlord was the British Sectors, our guide for the next 2 days as it turned out to be was Julian who showed us around. We focused mainly on the canadian’s involved as we had a Canadian family on the tour with us (Overlord are maximum 8 people which is awesome) and the day was fantastic. We got to eat lunch next to Pegasus Bridge and also step foot on the Original Bridge. I had the best day. Day 2 (yesterday) was the American Beach sectors so Omaha & Utah along with Point Du Hoc. This was the big day, only a small group again but this time all Americans apart from us. A lovely couple from San Francisco and also another Lovely Couple from Texas. We toured the sites and also visited the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach. The time in the Cemetery was just totally mind blowing. 9348 people are buried at this cemetery and seeing the size and expanse of this cemetery can bring a tear to some peoples eyes. What is shocking to me is the actual size and expanse of the cemetery grounds. It takes up more space than I imagined and was blown away by the scale and the beauty of the grounds.
Then the last day of touring (today) was focusing on the American Airborne sectors behind Utah Beach. Today was the day I was really looking forward to more than the other two (not to say I wasn’t looking forward to the other days). We changed drivers but the Texas couple Rick & Laverne joined us again and this time we were with Sean. It was a great tour with lots of different sites visited that I was familiar with thanks to Band of Brothers (both the book and the TV show). Getting to see these sites in the flesh of where the actual events happened (like Brecourt Manor etc) was fantastic, but also getting to see the more personal side of other events that transpired to other units in the 101st & 82nd Airborne. It has been an amaing last few days and the touring has wiped off another thing I have always wanted to do in my life.
Tomorrow unfortunately we are back on the train early in the morning, back to Paris but it also means I can do another thing from my trip list. Walk up the Eiffel Tower. So after a bit of time alone to explore the Champs Elysees and hopefully not get myself to lost, I will meet up with FMY after she does some Visa stuff and we will hike our way up the 600-800 stairs of the Eiffel Tower… more to come!
Current Location: Bayeux
Countries: 5