9. Paris: Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches Day Tour with Lunch
Explore the beautiful Normandy countryside on a full-day tour of the D-Day landing sites, and discover the rich traditions of Normandy at a typical cider and Calvados farm.
The tour departs Paris for the historical battlefields and landing beaches along the coast, including the Utah Beach Museum, housed in an original German bunker on the very beach where the first American troops landed. Learn about the complicated planning behind Operation Overlord, and hear touching stories of ordinary men and women whose actions shaped the face of Europe as we know it today. The museum also offers unparalleled views over Utah Beach and is home to one of the only remaining B-26 airplanes in the world.
Stop at a traditional cider-making orchard, and taste the ciders and Calvados (apple brandy) typical to the region in a 17th-century barn. Next, enjoy a Norman-style lunch of freshly prepared seasonal produce in a restaurant overlooking the port of Grandcamp Maisy.
After lunch, travel to Pointe du Hoc to see the German cliff-top defense that was heroically taken by US Rangers during the D-Day landings. Overlooking the English Channel, the site remains much as it was over half a century ago, with original German fortifications and the crater scars of bombs.
Pay your respects to the fallen at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Roosevelt, and a Medal of Honor recipient, is buried here, along with almost 10,000 soldiers.