Normandy

[BlueDevilBaby]

I'll be spending a week in Normandy in early November on a self-guided driving tour. We have much on the agenda, including WWII stuff (all the beaches, cemetaries, museums, etc.), Bayeux, Caen (staying there), Mt. St. Michel, Giverny, Rouen.

It's our second time to the area, but we only spent a day the first time. Does anyone have recommendations on things not to miss?

Much appreciated.

[aimo]

You are covering a lot of good stuff already. Giverny is awesome. As I type, I'm looking at a picture I took of the Japanese bridge.

If you can, I would add a trip to the ruins at Jumieges, about 10 miles west of Rouen. One of my favorite side trips.

If you haven't already been to Mont St Michel, plan to spend more time outside the walls than inside. Inside to me was kind of cheesy/touristy, but the beaches and rocks near the water were great. And bundle up, it will be windy.

[Olympic Fan]

Obviously, a tour of the beaches and Point du Hoc would be on my list. The American military museum is in Caen, which is unfortunate, since that city was in the British zone. The true focus of the American effort in the area was the struggle for St. Lo.

I'd want to drive the backroads and get a look at the famous hedgerows. Also, when you visit Mont St. Michel, you might want to take a short drive inland to Mortain ... an area known as La Suisse Normandie.

On the bluffs surrounding the town, the North Carolina and Tennessee National Guard (the 30th "Old Hickory" Infantry Division) fought one of the most amazing battles of the war over four days in early August of 1944, beating off a major German counterattack while Patton's Third Army was breaking out to the south and east. The German plan was to smash four panzer divisions due west for 20 kilometers to Avranches (where Mont St. Michel is), cutting off Patton and part of the First Army to the south.

There's a little village just north of Mortain called St. Barthelmy, where one battalion of the Tennessee National Guard stopped two SS Panzer divisions for eight crucial hours on the morning of the attack before the fog lifted and Allied airpower could intervene. Just behind Mortain is a 1,000-foot hill (the highest point in all Normandy ... supposedly has a spectacular view of the region) where a battalion of the North Carolina National Guard held the high ground for four long days, surrounded and cut off while two more German panzer divisions battered at it. Down in the valley, you might visit L'Abbeye Blanche, where one anti-tank company and part of an infantry company held a roadblock the separated the two wings of the German counterattack and prevented a linkup for the four days of the battle.

That would be the focal point of my tour ... but I'm a WWII history buff.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Thanks, Olympic Fan. We went to the museum in Caen last year but will go back because we were rushed through. Thanks for the tidbits on Mt. St. Michel area. My friend, who is also a WWII buff, will love it. He started planning this trip on the very day we went to Normandy last year.