Caen attracts two kinds of visitors: those who are there specifically for the D-Day Landing Beaches and all things World War II…and those who land here after the Channel crossing…and leave immediately to drive furiously to whatever destination they’re making for. Here’s a guide to Caen to persuade you to make this a short break.

Having written extensively on D-Day both here (see my list/links at the end bottom of the article) and been the co-author of the Bradt D-Day Landing Guide, I well understand the former.

But those who just see Caen as a jumping off port are missing out on this delightful, lively city where visitors who defy the usual practice and make it a destination stop are well rewarded.

A Little History of Caen

William and Mathilda

2027 is an important year for Normandy – and Europe. It sees the international celebration of William the Conqueror and Caen is the perfect place to start their colourful story.

Two of the main buildings in Caen are associated with William the Conqueror (c. 1028-1087) and Mathilda of Flanders (c. 1031-1083), so please excuse this very short history (or scroll past).

William was known as William the Bastard, being the illegitimate son of unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. William’s chosen wife was the aristocratic Mathilda – granddaughter of King Robert II of France. Her reply to his declaration was pretty curt – she would not marry a bastard. The story then goes into Mills and Boon territory. William either rode to Bruges, forced himself into her bedroom and beat her. Or he dragged her from her horse and presumably declared his undying resolve in the mud.

Apparently fascinated by such a manly response, Mathilda consented. Historians, naturally, dispute this version, but let’s not get in the way of a good story.

William and Mathilda were married  in 1051-2 (probably in Rouen Cathedral), despite Pope Leo IX banning the union on the grounds of consanguinity – the couple were third cousins once removed. Four or five children later, Pope Nicholas II granted a dispensation after the couple agreed to found two churches as penance, the Abbaye aux Hommes and the Abbaye aux Dames.

Top Sights in Caen

Château de Caen

Begun by William the Conqueror in 1060 and fortified by his son Henry Beauclerk in 1123, it retains enough of the old buildings to show its size and importance. A walk over the moat into the citadel shows you how difficult the castle would be to attack. The greatest damage was done when Caen was bombed in 1944. Since then restoration work has brought the castle back to life.

A walk up to the ramparts reveals the city below, the church of St-Pierre and in the distance the Abbaye aux Hommes.

I’d advise you to start, if possible, with a visit to the Exchequer, a handsome stone building from the late 11^th century. Inside it’s empty but wait for the immersive show. The doors close behind you; the lights dim to blackness and the great salon is filled with the sounds and sights of A Journey through the 1000-year history of Caen based on the 2025 commemorative year.  It brings to life the history of the ancient city, taking you back into the lives of long distant ancestors, through the industrial era, on to World War II and beyond.

There’s plenty to see in the extensive grounds: the Musée de Normandie takes you at a gallop through the story of the region; the Fine Arts Museum takes you on a whistle stop tour of art through the ages and you can visit the sinister tower of Queen Mathilda.

If you can allow at least half a day.

Abbaye aux Hommes

The magnificent building, with glorious flowering gardens in front, is impressive. To one side stands the Church of Saint-Etienne, one of Normandy’s greatest Romanesque buildings. Don’t miss this out; it’s imposing and atmospheric. The west front is a wonderful mix of Romanesque; with three tiers in different styles flanked by two ornate towers.

The vast interior is plain, with an 18^th-century organ standing proud at the west end. At the east end you’ll find the tomb of William the Conqueror, though after the church was sacked by the Hugenots in the 16^th century, his remains were scattered. All that remains of him is a femur, which is buried beneath the stone.

The main building in the complex, designed in the 18^th century, is a wonderful example of the neo-classical style. Today it’s the town hall, but it also has a good exhibition space and cloisters which in their feeling of serenity and privacy take you away from the stresses of everyday life. Don’t miss the Chapter Hall where the monks originally gathered daily to listen to one (just one) of the 73 chapters of the life of St Benedict. Today it’s the wedding room of the city hall.

Abbaye aux Dames

Founded in 1062 by Queen Matilda and consecrated in June 1066, it stands about 1 mile away from the Abbaye aux Hommes. Step inside the Eglise de la Trinité, mostly built in the 11^th century in Romanesque style. Queen Matilda is buried here which I find rather sad; William and Matilda were a devoted couple. The building is a smaller version of the Abbaye aux Hommes; the grand façade looking more welcoming, the cloister smaller and more intimate. It was occupied by Benedictine nuns until the French Revolution then followed the usual path of such buildings. It first became a barracks, then housed beggars and the homeless, became a hospital in 1823, then a hospice in 1908 and today houses the Regional Normandy Council.

Take a guided tour to see the whole building, including the crypt. It’s surrounded by a large park with lovely views over Caen.

Walk the City

Caen is an easy city to walk around and the tourist office (in the Hotel d’Esceville), conveniently located south of the castle, is a good place to start from.

Walk down rue St Pierre, now mainly a shopping street with bland modern buildings…except for two half-timbered buildings at 52 and 54, stand out, rather incongruously.

If you’re feeling energetic and have time, take a left down rue Paul-Doumer to the Place de la Republique, laid out as a public garden. Then walk past the 17^th-Century Notre Dame de la Gloriette to Place Malherbe and into Place St Sauveur.

Stop for a coffee in Place Saint Sauveur and sit and look at the 18^th-century houses that march down the sides. Or shop at the market on Friday mornings for local Normandy cheeses, breads, meats and more. It’s all presided over by a statue of Louis XIV depicted as a Roman emperor rather than the Sun King. When I was there he was encased in a wooden box, decorated with some dubious Bacchanalian figures. You could see the regal figure but you could also see the back wooden wall as well. Hopefully it was temporary and he has now been restored to his real glory.

Then you are at the Abbaye aux Hommes.

Jardin des Plantes et Jardin Botanique

The collection was started in 1689 from the private garden of Jean-Baptiste Callard de la Ducquerle. Today there’s an impressive main building and acres of plant-filled gardens. You can grab something to eat here. While it’s popular with locals for its advice, lessons and information on plants generally, it’s also a delightful place for visitors o wander through. Check opening times and ticket prices here.

Where to Stay in Caen

We stayed at The People Caen, which is an upmarket hostel. Being of a slightly greater age than your normal hostel person, we were a little nervous. But it’s a fabulous place for people of any age and filled with families with the odd grandparent in tow.

Bedrooms are comfortable, light and airy though not large; bathrooms are good. There’s a rooftop bar with great views, good pizzas to order in the evening and the odd market inside selling all sorts of colourful, sometimes over-the-top kind of fashion that only suits somebody under 21.

Added to this, there’s a garage next door (though beware of using foreign credit cards; we spent a couple of hours with the very helpful receptionist trying to pay before succeeding). Once your car is safely stowed away, tram T2 starts its route here at Presqu’Île. There’s also a free shuttle bus taking you around Caen. The one from here goes through the centre of town ending up at the Palais des Sports.

There are plenty of hotels in Caen, from budget accommodation to luxury.

Where to Eat in Caen

Vaugueux is the district to make for. It’s an area of small streets just east of the Chateau with a whole pedestrianised street of excellent restaurants and bars. We walked there from the hostel, about a 20 minute pleasant stroll. Our destination? Horace.

Horace is a delightful restaurant located in one of the old houses that fill the district. We ate on the outside terrace, a people-watching magnet. The menu is traditional using local ingredients. An excellent €24 and €28 menu takes in crispy camembert with apple and Normandy sausage, mains such as confit of duck, salmon and pasta for vegetarians. Desserts might included warm chocolate cake with passion-fruit sorbet and almond cake with lemon and vervain. The €42 menu includes the likes of oysters, sea bream ceviche and duck foie gras for starters, scallops, sirloin steak and more.

Horace
15 rue du Vaugueux 
14000 Caen
Tel: +33 (0) 2 31 93 50 7
Open Thursday to Monday 12noon-1.30pm & 7-9.30pm

Le Carlotta
Located on the Bassin Saint Pierre quay, Le Carlotta is a delightful Art Deco brasserie, complete with all the glorious over-the-top decorated glass, mirrors and plush red seating you expect to see in a traditional brasserie. Take advantage of the seaside location and order seafood – from oysters to a groaning fruits de mer plateau (€49 or €70). Those after turf rather than surf might go for duck confit parmentier (with a potato topping), or a generous steak. It’s not the cheapest restaurant in Caen but it’s gracious, well positioned and serves excellent meals.

Le Carlotta
16 quai Vendeuvre
14000 Caen
Tel: +33 (0)2 31 86 68 99
Open Monday to Friday noon-2.30pm & 7-11pm

How to Get to Caen

By Sea

Like most Brits we went on Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth, one of the best ferry companies. The Guillaume de Normandie, the second of their Hybrid-LNG ships, takes ferry crossings up another level. If you go overnight take a comfortable cabin with a good bathroom. And eat if you can, in the Bella Riva restaurant rather than the casual café to keep the cruise feeling. There are allergy free and pet friendly cabins as well. Public spaces are roomy and it’s remarkably quiet compared to the diesel engine ferries.  

Top Tip:
We travelled by day, landing at Caen around 10pm. We got through fairly fast (if you can take the right-hand lane exiting the ferry which gives you two control points. But with the new 2026 restrictions it might take longer to get out of the French port. With our late arrival we booked at the Hotel du Phare. It’s a basic 2-star hotel, with a charming staff. We arrived too late to have a drink in the bar, but the manager brought us glasses and biscuits as we opened the bottle of Calvados we had bought on board. Rooms are fine for a quick overnight stay; there’s a good breakfast and you can park right outside the hotel. If you take a front view room you can see the port and the ferry, a 2-minute drive away.

Hotel du Phare
10 Place du Général de Gaulle
Ouistreham 14150
Tel: +33 (0)2 31 97 13 13
Normandy Tourism Website information on Le Phare
Rooms from  €75 a night

Caen and World War II

Caen was the great objective of the D-Day Landings in June 1944. But it took far longer for the Allies to take than originally planned. On June 7, on their way from the Normandy landing beaches, the British and Canadian Divisions ran into the formidable German 12^th SS Panzer Division, the infamous Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth). Fighting in the villages all around Caen took an extremely heavy toll and there are memorials in all these areas. You’ll find Commonwealth War Graves Commissions graveyards, places kept beautifully where the ages of those killed make you weep. There are memorials like the one dedicated to the Typhoon pilots, a dramatic black marble monument shaped as two arrows meeting, commemorating the 151 Typhoon pilots killed in Normandy between May and August 1944. And the emotive Abbaye d’Ardenne, where the Canadian Massacre memorial in a small peaceful garden is witness to the 15 Canadian prisoners of war murdered on June 7.

If you want to see these, and a whole lot more, then (excuse the blatant advert), please buy a copy of the book I wrote with Alastair McKenzie, D-Day Landings, A Travel Guide to Normandy’s Beaches and Battlegrounds. It‘s published by Bradt Travel Guides and you can get it in bookshops or through Bradt Travel Guides website, or Amazon.  

Mémorial de Caen 

If you have just one museum to visit outside the centre, make it the Mémorial de Caen. It covers both world wars in detail, but is particularly strong on World War II. Superb themes, artefacts, videos and more will really bring history to life. But be warned, some of the story is very uncomfortable. The museum moves from One War to Another, through France in the dark years of the 30s, from European to World War and more to finish with, through Genocide, and propaganda to the end of the war…and what impact it had. There’s an excellent section on the D-Day Landings which I recommend you see before setting off around the sites around Caen. It ends with a 19-minute film.

The museum then continues to the Cold War and more. Don’t miss General Richter’s Underground Bunker which is a separate building.

Le Mémorial de Caen
Esplanade Général Eisenhower
CS 55026
14050 Caen Cedex 4
Tel : +33 (0) 2 31 06 06 45
Website
Opening times vary during the year so check the website. But mainly the museum is open daily 9am-6pm.
Tickets: Adult €20.80; child and seniors €18.50; Family €53. Other rates valuable.
Combined tickets with other attractions also available.

More about Normandy

Normandy Impressionist Festival 2026
Normandy and Impressionism – A general overall look at the great Impressionist art movement and what to see in Normandy
Guide to the Impressionist Painters
Normandy Travel Guide – What to see and Do in Normandy
Getting to Normandy

World War II in Normandy

D-Day Landing Beaches from Utah to Sword

Caen Tourism Website

The post Guide to Caen in Normandy appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

May is such a lovely month and still relatively quiet so you can see the sights at your own pace before the crowds arrive. The weather is good and the parks and gardens have woken up and are blossoming. Look out for these major events in France in May 2026.

To May 11, 2026: Foire de Paris. The annual Paris Fair has around 400,000 visitors and 1,250 exhibitors. Held at Paris Expo, Porte de Versailles, it’s the place for a huge shopping binge for your house, garden crafts, second hand clothes and more…and don’t forget the entertainment.

To Sep 20, 2026: Normandy Impressionist Festival celebrates the 150^th anniversary of the birth of the Impressionists. Around 150 to 200 events are organised in the main cities celebrating the art: Rouen, Caen, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Giverny, Honfleur, Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, Fécamp and Saint Lô and in other smaller towns. Events are still being confirmed which I will add as they appear.

This year, Normandy and Paris commemorate the death of Claude Monet in 1926. More details later.

More about Normandy and Impressionism
Normandy and Impressionism
Guide to Impressionist Painters

To Nov 1, 2026: Giverny, Claude Monet’s house and garden open for the season. A visit is a must on most people’s itinerary and this year with so many great events in Normandy it will be busier than ever.

To Nov 1, 2026: International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire Château in the Loire Valley is a fabulous, huge Festival, equivalent to (and bigger than) the Chelsea Flower Show in London. The Château and its grounds are lovely and the festival of a series of gardens from international designers always delivers inspirational sights. This year’s theme pays tribute to cinema.

To Jan 2027: Chartres en lumières (Chartres Illuminated). The first night of this great festival starts with a 10km-long walk which you can join. This was the first city to light up its glorious buildings every night and it’s still one of the best light shows in France. Wander the streets to see monks walking, the theatre resplendent and the cathedral turned into the story of its past.

Events in France starting in May 2026

May 1, 2026: Labour Day (Fête du Travail or Fête du Premier Mais). As with other French public holidays, some attractions and museums will close. (For all French public holidays, see the link at the end of the article).

May 1, 2026: La Louche d’Or. The Golden Ladle Festival celebrates soup – over 100 different varieties in Lille, Nord. Streets and squares are full of stalls with their offerings. And there’s also a special Le Ptit Bouillon in the Square Ghesquière for children, with special events, music and of course…soup.

May 1-3, 2026: Fiera di u Casgiu. This fabulous cheese fair in Venacu, Corsica, offers great cheeses and a competition to find the best cheese on the island.

May 8, 2026: VE (Victory in Europe) Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945 or Jour de la Liberation) Like all public holidays in France, public offices and banks are closed, but you’ll find attractions and shops open. Many cities also hold parades.

May 8-10, 2026: The French Motorcycle Grand Prix takes place every year in Le Mans on the main racetrack. It’s an important event with around 100,000 people coming to the Bugatti circuit. You can see the race on giant screens. There’s entertainment including concerts, and a shopping village where you can buy all that gear. On Saturday evening there’s a special motor show where you can see and hear the riders talking about the sport and the race on stage.

If you’re in Le Mans, check out the fabulous 24-Hours of Le Mans car and motor bike museum. There’s plenty to see.

Here’s a general guide to Le Mans, a Tale of Two Cities: what to see and do, where to stay, eat and more. What surprised me (and many first-time visitors to Le Mans) is the beautifully preserved, and extensive, mediaeval quarter at the heart of the city. Guide to Plantagenet Le Mans.

8-10 May, 2026: Expo Rose. The annual Rose exhibition held in Grasse is a wonderful, fragrant event. Over 25,000 cut roses fill the streets, fountains, squares and gardens, turning the city into a garden.

May 10, 2026:  Fete de la Fraise in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne  celebrates strawberries with a huge variety of cakes to try. And…the biggest strawberry tart in the world which is made specially for this festival, which you can have a slice of.  

May 12-23, 2026: Cannes Film Festival. The most famous film festival in the world is a glittering occasion on the Cote d’Azur. Prizes include the best film, best director, best actor, best actress, Jury Prize, Grand Prix and the famous Palme D’Or. The main screenings take place on the Boulevard de la Croisette, in the Festival and Conference Centre. It’s for professionals but many go to Cannes to catch sight of their favourites. And the outdoor Beach cinema is open to all and shows a different film every night.

May 8-16, 2026: Jazz Sous les Pommiers (Jazz under the Apple Trees). This well-established, important jazz festival is held at Coutances, in Normandy. Established and up-and-coming artists take part; there are performances in the streets and more. It’s spread over 7 stages including one for amateur musicians and it ranges from New Orleans jazz to electronic music.

May 13-17, 2026: Nuits Sonores is an urban-oriented electronic music festival in Lyon. The innovative and exciting programme welcomes performers from around the world. It takes place in museums, disused factories, a theatre and the city hall. And along with the music come contemporary art, exhibitions, films and more.

May 14, 2026: Ascension Day when public offices and banks are shut, but many attractions and shops stay open.

May 16-17, 2026: Coutellia is an extraordinary knife-makers event that attracts exhibitors from all over the world. It takes place in Thiers, one of the great knife-making centres in the Auvergne. There’s more about Thiers and Coutellia on MechTraveller’s excellent website.

May 16-17, 2026: The Sedan Medieval Festival takes over one of Europe’s greatest fortified castle. Make your way among camps, shows, workshops, children’s play areas, re-enactments of daily life and a medieval market with over one hundred stalls. Walk past the street musicians and watch the street theatre. On Saturday there’s a grand procession, followed by a show with 400 other costumed participants.
And you can stay here, in the 4-star hotel within the fort.

May 18-Jun 7, 2026: Roland Garros in Paris is one of the 4 major world Grand Slam tennis tournaments. It began in 1925 and today takes place on 20 clay courts. Each match is five sets with no deciding game in the last set. 

There are two major awards: the Musketeers’ Cup for men and the Suzanne Lenglen cup for women. The womens’ cup is named after the great tennis player who (among other things) was one of the early famous women wearing a bra invented in 1889 by Herminie Cadolle. There are also trophies for the winners of the men’s doubles, ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles.

May 21–24, 2026: Taste of Paris. Taking place at the Grand Palais, this is a great festival for gourmets. Top chefs serve signature dishes in small portions to sample. There’s also a gourmet market, tastings and demonstrations.

May 23, 2026: European Museum Night. Taking place throughout Europe, over 1,200 French museums open their doors, most free from 6pm to midnight.  There are often special events from storytelling tours to screenings and fireworks. There’s a specially intriguing one for me: a night walk and exploration of the Museum of the Battle of Gergovie when the Gauls overcame the Romans. The Auvergne is my region of France, though sadly I won’t be at my house on this occasion.

May 23-25, 2026: Gypsy pilgrimage to Les Saintes Maries de la Mer.  Romany community from around Europe gather to venerate their Saint Sara-la-Kali  (Sara the Black) who guards the Romanies where ever they live. The remains of Saint Sara are said to be in the crypt under the church in the town. Religious ceremonies honour the saint; children are baptized; there’s music, parades and celebrations. Why here? A boat with the two Biblical Marys and Sara on board was cast out of Palestine and drifted across the Mediterranean to land in the Rhône estuary.

May 28-Jul 25, 2026: Les Nuits de Fourvière in the Gallo-Roman theatres of Lyon is a magical feast of theatre, music, dance, opera and circus. Around 60 performances are watched by over 130,000 spectators.

May 28-Jun 23, 2026: Saint-Denis Festival is a superb festival in the great basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris and other buildings in the arrondissement. Classical music concerts from French and international orchestras range from the classics to contemporary. Some concerts are broadcast on a giant screen in front of the basilica and there are plenty of events for children as well. It’s not every day so check the website for dates and times.

May 30-31, 2026: Joan of Arc Festival (Fêtes Johanniques) in Reims, Champagne. Joan of Arc persuaded the dauphin Charles to be crowned in Reims cathedral on July 17, 1429. The Festival celebrates the event with a huge medieval fair, culminating in a historical re-enactment of them arriving in Reims. But there’s much more – a medieval village with craftspeople, minstrels and jugglers in the streets and everyone in period costume.  Or watch a falconry display, wool-spinning and stone-cutting workshops.

May 30-Jun 30, 2026: D-Day Commemorated. The official events begin on Jun 1st, but there are many events starting the day before. Check out the local tourist office. Events around Caen run from June 1st to 14th, 2026.

Read the D-Day Landing Beach Tour from Utah to Sword
For accommodation near the D-Day Landing Beaches, check my article here.

May 31–Jun 6, 2026: CIC Normandy Channel Race starts in Caen on Sunday May 25 though the yachts gather from May 23. The 1000 mile race goes to the Fastnet Rock and back.

Events in France in 2026

Have I missed an event you think I should include? Please do let me know.

Events in France in January 2026
Events in France in February 2026
Events in France in March 2026
Events in France in April 2026
Events in France in June 2026
Events in France in July 2026
Events in France in August 2026
Events in France in September 2026
Events in France in October 2026
Events in France in November 2026
Events in France in December 2026

Major New Events and Openings in France in 2026

More about great Food Festivals in France
Public holidays in France

Here’s a quick guide to the French regions and departments to help you find where the events are taking place.

Regions of France
French Departments

The post Events in France in May 2026 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

Here are some top Normandy Events in 2025 to look out for.

Caen Millennium in 2025

Caen celebrates its Millennium in great style in 2025. There are plenty of exhibitions and some wonderful events like the weekend June 27-29 when the tall ships gather at Caen port and la Presqu’île. The celebration continues into the autumn.
Read more about the Caen Millennium

Last Chance to See the Bayeux Tapestry

To Sep 1, 2025: The Bayeux Tapestry Museum is closing as a new museum is built. The extraordinary 11^th-century tapestry will be kept in a specially designed storage area. It’s a classified Historic Monument, listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register.
The new museum is scheduled to open in 2027.

D-Day Landings

Apr 12-Sep 12, 2025: Standing with Giants. Get to the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach for a return of Standing with Giants. The extraordinary installation of 1,475 figures includes soldiers as well as radio operators, medics and a Scotsman playing the bagpipes. There are also figures representing the only two women on the Memorial. Nurses Sisters Evershed and Field died while saving 75 men from a sinking hospital ship, plus 50 French resistance fighter. The figures in the meadows of the Memorial are extraordinarily moving. This is one of the must-see events in Normandy 2025.
Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches from Utah to Sword

‘I Must Go Down to the Sea Again…’

There are some wonderful events in the sea around Normandy in 2025.

May 23–Jun 1, 2025: CIC Normandy Channel Race starts in Caen on Sunday May 25. Sailors take their Class 40s up the Canal de l’Orne into the English Channel then make a detour via the Iles Saint-Marcouf in the Utah beach section of the D-Day Landings in 1944. Then it’s up around the Isle of Wight before heading west to sail around the Tuskar Rock and Fastnet Rock to the south of Ireland. The yachts then return to Caen via Guernsey where they’ll encounter the strong currents of the Raz-Blanchard. Past the Goury Lighthouse, situated at ‘the end of the world’ off Cape Hague, and they’ve completed the 1000-mile race.

July 4-7, 2025: The 2025 Tall Ships Races begins in Le Havre. Over 40 of these magnificent boats are moored in Le Havre for four days of celebration and discovery. There’s a boat and a crew parade, concerts and fireworks before they set off for Dunkirk. From there they’ll go to Aberdeen in Scotland and Kristiansland in Norway before finishing in Esbjerg, Denmark.
The Tall Ships Races are more than great voyages; they’re designed to train the young (over half of each ship’s crew must be between 15 and 25 years old) and encourage international friendship.

Jul 26-Aug 2, 2025: Start of the 100^th Rolex Fastnet Race on July 26. Setting off from Cowes, the race celebrates 100 years both of the race itself, and the founding of the Royal Ocean Racing Club in 1925. The 695-nautical mile course is one of the world’s great offshore races around the Fastnet Rock south of Ireland. It finishes at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. The fastest sailors take a couple of days; others can take five to eight. Cherbourg welcomes them all with a week’s celebration.
The first race in 1925 had just 7 boats, a select bunch who went on to form the Royal Ocean Racing Club. This year it’s anticipated to be over 400 boats of all ages, monohulls and multihulls and all classes.  
It’s a gruelling, demanding race with strict rules for entry, aimed at experienced sailors who have competed in a fixed number of races in the year leading up to the race.

On Two Wheels

July 8-10, 2025: On Jul 8, the Tour de France takes to the road for the 173 km ride from Amiens to Rouen. Jul 9 it’s in Caen for an individual time trial, and on Jul 10 the 210 km course goes from Bayeux to Vire-Normandie before heading for Brittany.

Other News about Normandy

UNESCO AND THE D-DAY LANDING BEACHES

The D-Day Landings on the beaches in 1944 are in line for UNESCO World Heritage Status. All five sectors are included, as, according to the Ministry of Culture, the beaches represent a “place of gathering around a universal message” and carry “the memory of a fight for freedom and peace”.

Brittany Ferries Goes Green with New Hybrid Ships

Brittany Ferries have launched two new hybrid ferries. Guillaume de Normandie runs between Portsmouth and Caen. Saint-Malo goes between Portsmouth and Saint-Malo in Brittany.

Events in Normandy 2026 & 2027

Jul 1-Aug 31, 2026: The Normandy Impressionist Festival is spectacular with exhibitions and events all over the region.

Normandy and Impressionism
Guide to the French Impressionist Artists…including three great female painters.

2027 sees a huge celebration for the Millennium of William the Conqueror. Normandy will be pulling out all the stops for this, and it will be a fabulous commemoration. One fabulous site I urge you to visit is the romantic ruined abbey of Jumièges. Founded in 654, the Benedictine monastery was rebuilt in the 10^th century and was consecrated in 1067 in the presence of William the Conqueror who had returned from England. It’s on my list of the great sacred sites of France.

June 17-27, 2027: Tall Ships Race. The largest gathering of tall ships returns to Rouen.

More Events in France

Events in France in May 2025
Events in France in June 2025
Events in France in July 2025

More about Normandy

Normandy Travel Guide
Best ways to travel to Normandy’s ports and major cities
Where to stay near the D-Day Landing Beaches
Guide to Courseulles-sur-Mer at the centre of the Landing Beaches
New Travel to and around Normandy: new flight and shuttle bus along the D-Day Landing Beaches
Normandy D-Day Festival 2025

More about Normandy on the official Normandy Tourism website

The post Great Normandy Events in 2025 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

The Pas-de-Calais region was crucial in World War II. Hitler believed that this would be the place for any invasion of France by the Allies, so it was vital to wrest control of this part of north France early in the war.

In 1940 the Germans launched their devastating attack on Calais. The Siege of Calais lasted from May 22 to 26. It was the beginning of a nightmare that lasted 4 years for the population of Calais itself and the surrounding villages and towns. 73% of old Calais was destroyed.

Map of World War II Sites in Pas-de-Calais

World War II Sites in Pas-de-Calais

Calais Memorial Museum 39-45

Start with this museum (Musée Mémoire 39-45) which tells you about Calais itself and the surrounding region in World War II.

The museum is housed in a long concrete bunker, built by the Germans after the Siege of Calais in 1940. The Marine Kommando bunker (Widerstandsnest 13) was the command post for German troops with a telephone exchange controlling the whole of the region.

It’s an evocative museum, with small rooms that originally housed the German troops and their equipment stretching down two sides of a long corridor. Each room tells a different story, covering parts of the war, airplanes, heroes and heroines, the lives of the civilians of Calais, Charles de Gaulle (who married a local girl, Yvonne Vendroux), secret weapons, the Resistance and more. It’s well worth a visit if you go to Calais, one of my favorite small cities that most people ignore.

More about the Museum; what it has and how to visit.

La Coupole

La Coupole is one of the great sites of World War II and should be on the list of anyone interested in Hitler’s terrifying new weapons. Built into a hillside so virtually hidden from the sky, it took over 7 kilometres of underground galleries. Today it’s an impressive museum that takes you from World War II into the space age. 

La Coupole was one of the secret locations built to launch the V1 and V2 bombs on London. The Germans called them revenge weapons (Vergeltungswaffen) or wonder weapons (Wunderwaffe). 

The V1 flying bombs were known as ‘doodlebugs’ or ‘buzz bombs’ after the sound they made when in flight. Powered by a jet engine, they were originally launched from a ramp. I can remember my parents describing the sheer terror of the sound. But as the V1 had a straight, level trajectory, they were relatively easy to shoot down. They were most effective psychologically rather than practically. 

The V2 was a hugely tall streamlined rocket, powered by an engine burning a mix of alcohol-water and liquid oxygen. It blasted away to the edge of space then fell back to earth at supersonic speed. The first V2 hit London on September 8, 1944.

More about La Coupole and Hitler’s V2 Rockets

Eperlecques Blockhouse

Planned in 1942, and built between March 1943 and July 1944, Eperlecques blockhouse sits in the middle of a wood.  Kraftwerk Nord West (Powerplant Northwest) is a sinister, frightening place, designed as a liquid oxygen factory and an assembly and launch facility for Hitler’s V2 rockets aimed at London. It could contain over 100 missiles at any one time and launch up to 36 daily. 

You walk through the woods up small paths past semi-hidden abandoned military vehicles. Nothing prepares you for the massive concrete block and its gloomy interior, built by thousands of prisoners of war and conscripted workers. In essence they were used as slave labourers. 

Dark tunnels lead you further into the site and you walk past tunnels leading off to left and right. But it was never completed. By 1944 the Allies were aware of the sites and repeatedly bombed Eperlecques as part of Operation Crossbow.

More about Eperleques Blockhouse

Mimoyecques Fortress

Mimoyecques is far less known than the other two revenge weapon sites. It was here that the Germans were trying to develop the V3. Had it been developed it would, according to Winston Churchill, have created the ‘most devastating attack of all’. The site the Germans codenamed Wiese (Meadow), or Bauvorhaben 711 (Construction Project 711) was specifically aimed at London, 103 miles/165 kms away. 

A walk down the long dark, dank tunnel takes you past boards with diagrams showing you how the weapon was designed. It’s an extraordinary idea: shafts holding the V-3 guns fired ten explosive projectiles a minute.

News of planned firings reached British intelligence on July 5, 1944. The next day, two squadrons carpet bombed the area, one led by Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire. They released 16 Tallboy bombs, designed by Barnes Wallace. It worked and the building was stopped.  

You see memorials to Canada’s 3rd Infantry Division which captured the site on September 3, 1944. 

And there’s an intriguing, and tragic story told here about a war hero – Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., (1915-1944), older brother to President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).

Read more about Mimoyecques Fortress

Batterie Todt – Museum of the Atlantic Wall

The Batterie Todt, Museum of the Atlantic Wall sits on the Cap Gris-Nez on the coast. It was part of Hitler’s plan to attack England and was designed to contain four 380mm (15″) guns. Started in 1940 and opened officially on February 10, 1942, it could fire rocket and shells up to 42 kilometres, easily reaching the English coast and Dover in 42 seconds. It was officially Turm 1 – one of four such defences. (The three others cannot be visited.)

Its main action was after the Normandy D-Day landings in 1944 when the First Canadian Army was advancing along the coast, retaking the ports and fortifications. A bombing raid on September 26 was followed by another one on September 29 when the garrison surrendered.

The museum has outside exhibits including a German flak gun and a huge impressive Krupp A5 (E) railway gun. Inside the former stores, barracks and more have been transformed into rooms containing both German and Allied artefacts . At the centre, the huge gun room (the ‘rotunda’) has more displays.

Read more about Batterie Todt

Siracourt V-1 Bunker

Siracourt was one of the four launching sites in Pas-de-Calais with its ramps pointed at London; the others were aimed at Brighton, Dover, Newhaven, Hastings, Southampton, Manchester and Portsmouth. The two aimed at Bristol and Plymouth were built on the Cherbourg peninsula. 

Built in 1943-44, the Siracourt bunker was codemaned Wasserwerk St. pol (St Pol Waterworks). Bombed intensively by the Allies, it was never used.

It’s on the Rue du Blockhaus in Siracourt but you can only visit inside on a guided tour.

World War I & II Cemeteries

Travelling through Pas-de-Calais you’ll see a huge number of Commonwealth War Graves Commissions cemeteries from both world wars. Some are small; others are large. All of them have tragic stories to tell.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitor Centre

The CWGC Centre is not as well known as it should be. It’s a fascinating place that shows you what exactly this guardian of war graves and memorials at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries and territories does. It began in 1918 locating bodies and finding details about the war dead. 

At the centre you can look into a series of workshops from stone masons engraving headstones from Portland stone to carpenters, sign makers, gardeners, blacksmiths and more. Bodies from both world wars are still being discovered. And the CWGC centre researches everything they can to identify the remains before their final reburial. That is just part of its remit; today it also looks after the cemeteries all around the world.

Well worth the detour!

More about the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitor Centre

Visit details for the CWGC

List of CWGC Cemeteries in Pas-de-Calais
Visit CWGC cemeteries in France 

More about Pas-de-Calais

Guide to Calais
The Calais Dragon

Declaration: I travelled to France courtesy of DFDS from Dover to Calais on a self-driving press trip as a guest of Pas-de-Calais Tourisme.

More Information on Ferries to France including DFDS details.

The post World War II Sites in Pas-de-Calais appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

The Calais Memorial Museum 39-45 (Musée Mémoire 39-45) is hunkered down in a park in the middle of Calais. Unless you know it’s there you might miss it. But do visit this huge bunker. The museum it holds inside its imposing thick concrete walls tells a fascinating tale of Pas de Calais during the war, particularly revealing the lives and suffering of the citizens of Calais.

The Beginning of the Nightmare

On May 26, 1940, the German army entered Calais. They were to occupy the city and the Pas de Calais region until September 1944. During the offensive, Calais itself was so heavily bombed that 73% of the old town was destroyed. For five long, violent days, 3,000 British and 800 French troops held out against the German 10^th Panzer Division.  

The Allied forces lost the battle, but the siege diverted the formidable Panzer Division from reaching Dunkirk and was of vital help to Operation Dynamo. What Winston Churchill called the ‘miracle of deliverance’ saved 330,000 Allied and French troops. From May 26 to June 4, the Little Ships of Dunkirk, a flotilla of hundreds of merchant navy boats, fishing boats, yachts, lifeboats and small pleasure craft ferried the troops across the Channel. It prompted Churchill’s famous We shall fight on the beaches speech on June 4 to the House of Commons.

But for the inhabitants of Calais and the surrounding beaches, the German victory marked the start of a horrifying four years of privation and humiliation. And Calais was at its heart.

The Germans believed that the invasion of France would take place in Pas de Calais and heavily fortified the coastline; a belief they held right up to June 5, 1944 when the Allies launched the invasion of France…in Normandy.

In Calais itself, the Germans built the Marine Kommando bunker (Widerstandsnest 13), believed to be the longest in Europe. It was the command post for German troops with a telephone exchange controlling the whole of the region.

Visit the Memorial Museum 39-45

The massive concrete bunker is just one storey high but it dominates one end of the park. Inside it’s set up just as the Germans built it. There’s no natural light; if the power failed it became a claustrophobic, frightening place. 20 rooms stretch down the two sides of the long corridor, each telling a story about the war in Calais and the region.

Each room is small but packed with posters, models, photographs, weapons and boards explaining the action. It’s not a particularly sophisticated museum, and many of the posters and photos are old, some of them faded. But this brings home the reality much more effectively; you really are taken back and get a sense of what the war was like.

Different Rooms in the Calais Memorial Museum

There are rooms dedicated to aircraft, covering the RAF and its planes, complete with a smashed engine and a room full of model aircraft.

Rooms dedicated to Calais cover the resistance and the call to arms for the liberation of the city.

There are rooms full of models of German soldiers – some asleep; some eating; and an impressive communications room. Rooms themed on secret weapons, the Lindemann battery, Charles de Gaulle, coastal support positions, World War I and of course, Liberation.

You see the lives of the civilians under German rule and what they were allowed, and not allowed, to do.

Lindemann Battery and Prisoner of War Camp

And there’s also a great model of the nearby Lindemann Fort with its prisoner of war camp. It fascinates children who stare (along with their equally interested parents) at the tiny figures, guns, battlements and horses pulling carriages in and out of the gates.

The French Resistance

One particularly impressive, and tragic room shows the stories, and pictures, of civilians caught up in the war and killed as a result of their activities. The women are impressive:

Odette Bader Gerschel, born on October 14, 1914. Arrested on February 1, 1944, deported to Auschwitz and killed on February 10, 1944. Her crime? Being Jewish.

Raymonde Boetzle-Basser, born on July 17, 1920 in Ardres. Arrested on July 17, 1942, deported to Loos, then Essen and killed on May 1, 1945. She was heavily involved in espionage and was given various awards posthumously like the Légion d’Honeur, Croix de Guerre, Medal of France Libre and others.

Yvonne Barbier, born May 24, 1892 in the barracks of Blériot-Plage. She hid, housed and fed English soldiers and airmen shot down in the region. Arrested on March 21 in Lille she was taken to Loos and tortured. Condemned to death she was deported on May to Berlin and warned she would be beheaded by axe. She asked for a lesser punishment and received a sentence of five years of forced labour at different concentration camps. On May 28, 1945, she was liberated by the American 101 Airborne. She died on July 28 1966.

The Memorial Museum 39-45 might be small but it’s impressive and you emerge into the park with a better idea of the hell that Calais residents, and Allied forces, suffered.

The Liberation of Calais

Calais was liberated between September 25 and October 1, 1944 by General Daniel Spry’s 3^rd Canadian Infantry Division. Other Canadian forces were liberating the surrounding towns and countryside.

During the liberation, many of the 20,000 civilians who had stayed in Calais came out of their hiding places and began singing the Marseillaise.

More Information about Calais

Calais is one of my favourite north France cities. While most people just use it as a ferry port, I have spent many weekends enjoying the city and the nearby coast.

Guide to Calais
The Calais Dragon

More about World War II around Calais

La Coupole and Hitler’s V2 Rockets
The secret and brutal blockhouse of Eperlecques
The strange story of the V3 weapon, and Lt. Joseph Kennedy’s part in the bombing of Mimoyecques

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to see how this great organisation looks after the cemeteries of the great wars, and deals with newly found bodies.

Declaration: I travelled to France courtesy of DFDS from Dover to Calais on a self-driving press trip as a guest of Saint Omer/Pas-de-Calais Tourisme.

More Information on Ferries to France including DFDS details.

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The D-Day Festival in Normandy happens every year but this year it’s special, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. There are special D-Day Festival in Normandy events from May 27 to June 18 but the most important dates are from June 1 to 9. Towns, villages, museums, military sites put on exhibitions, events and a whole lot more. It happens all along the coast where the D-Day Landings took place as well as inland.

The Festival runs from the east at Merville-Franceville, to Caen, Audrieu, Montfiquet, along all the beaches then into the Cotentin Peninsula up to Cherbourg and down the west side to Portail-sur-Mer.

From June 1 to 9, Normandy will be packed with visitors attending the exhibitions, concerts, picnics, military vehicle parades, dances, films, special camps, parachute drops and a whole lot more. 

What to See and Do

Every Tourist Office in Normandy will have the booklet of all the events. So pick one up, look at the dates you will be there and choose what to see, experience, visit and take part in.

What Caught My Eye for the D-Day Festival in Normandy 2024

Saturday 1 June: Picnics are being organised, as well as concerts and re-enactments.

Arromanches-les-Bains: Huge artwork will be created from 9am on on the beach by Sébastien Yondo Makembe (Sym Arts). Picnics, concerts and ere-enactments.
Vierville-sur-Mer: Omaha Beach Freedom Picnic Concerts. Three concerts give you nearly 6 hours of live music, followed by fireworks at 11.30pm.

All Five Landing Beaches: As night falls, over 20 huge firework displays will light up the sky simultaneously over the five Landing Beaches. A fantastic family-friendly and free event.

June 2, 4, 6, 7: Paratrooper demonstrations at the Merville Battery. You’ll see how paratroopers prepared for their D-Day jumps.

June 4-9: Sainte-Mère-Église offers 6 days with demonstrations, exhibitions, concerts, jumps, re-enactments, music, dancing and more.

June 5: Saint-Lô: International Ceremony in tribute to the civilian victims.
Sword Beach: Around 200 musicians from 13 different nations will parade along the beach for the international Pipers Parade. 3.30pm to 5pm. Look up into the sky for a flight of vintage British Piper aircraft.

Events on June 6, 2024

The official international ceremony of the D-Day Festival events in Normandy takes place on Thursday 6 June 2024 on Omaha Beach. Heads of state, veterans and officials will commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day (by invitation only). If you’re there, remember that many beaches and roads will be cordoned off with no access to visitors, vehicles etc.

Special events before and after: Franco-American Ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer, before the official International Ceremony.
Franco-Canadian Ceremony in Courseulles-sur-Mer, after the official International Ceremony.

King Charles and Queen Camilla join French President Emmanuel Macron, PM Rishi Sunak and labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at a special celebration at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer. The British King and Queen then open the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning. This is the first official and very important ceremony at the Memorial.

Prince William is at the Canadian commemorative event at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer. He will then join over 25 heads of state and veterans for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach. 

In Arromanches-les-Bains
World War II military uniforms and vehicles on display 10am-6pm
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band: an association dedicated to promoting the music and history of Scottish soldiers. Their musical repertoire consists mainly of traditional Scottish tunes, with a few Irish, American, Canadian and Australian tunes. 5-6pm
Fireworks at Arromanches-les-Bains 11.30pm

Everywhere in the World: Listen at 7.44pm (French time) as Liberty Bell Towers in France and around the world will ring out the message for memory, liberty and peace.

June 7: Two very special events will take place though only to an invited audience and with huge restrictions and security:
Ceremony with American President Joe Biden in Cherbourg
Bayeux Liberation Ceremony with President Macron in Bayeux

Jun 7: Arromanches-les-Bains: As part of British D-Day Week, display of 300 historic D-Day vehicles, opposite the remains of the Winston Churchill artificial Mulberry harbour.
Musical stages: Jazz band, Pipe band, French songs.

June 8
Arromanches-les-Bains: The Patrouille de France Air Show takes to the skies above the town from 3pm to 6pm.
Douvres-la-Déliverandes: The 35-strong brass band Le Bagad de Lan-Bihoué will march in front of costumed people on foot and on bicycles, followed by vintage military and civilian vehicles. Evening ball; refreshment bar and food trucks. 4 to 11pm.

June 8, 9: Isigny-sur-Mer. Isigny Swing festival, a free two-day festival of concerts and swing dancing in the Parc de l’Hôtel de ville.

June 9: La Fière. From 10am watch the large parachute drop with characters in period costume jumping from several C-47s, historic aircraft. Followed by military troop drops. Bring appropriate clothing and a picnic.

Bayeux Liberty Parade. As part of British D-Day Week, a traditional parade of 300 historic vehicles, including British ones, will drive along the southern ring road (Liberty Alley) of the first liberated town in mainland France. 11pm-12.30pm.
Port-en-Bessin. Display of around 100 historic D-Day vehicles, in the centre of the first oil port of D-Day. Musical stages: Jazz band, Pipe band, French songs. 4-6pm.
Longues-sur-Mer: Display of around 100 historic D-Day vehicles, near the German Coastal Defense Battery.

More D-Day Festival Events after the Big Ceremonies

Don’t worry if you come after June 9 and the big events; there’s plenty to see and do in Normandy along the D-Day Landing Beaches, lasting until November, 2024. Here’s a very small selection but you will discover a whole lot more from the local tourist offices.

June 11: Caen. Girly Swing Band. Dance to pre-war music (Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf, Mistinguett). 8pm to 10pm.

June 27: Caen, Utah Beach and other D-Day landing sites. Grand Choral pour la Paix sees a full orchestra and 250 singers perform music and songs around the theme of peace from Queen, Beethoven, Balavoine, Voulzy, Karl Jenkins and many more, plus an original creation for this project. Le jour où tu reviendras (The Day You Return) recounts the war from the point of view of the mother of a young soldier at the front, who trembles every day as she listens to the radio. 8pm to 10.30pm.

Reconstructions of Military Camps

Jun 2-6: Walk around the military camps specially reconstructed to show what life was like. Tents, vehicles, displays and more at Bloody Gulch, Meutis, Normandy Victory Museum at Carentan-les-Marais, Camp Géronimo at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Arromanches-les-Bains, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Omaha (Vierville-sur-Mer), Merville-Franceville Plage and Camp Hillman at Colleville-Montgomery.

Military Fairs

For the real enthusiasts these take place in different places: June 2 at Grandcamp-Maisy and Carentan-les-Marais; Sainte-Mere-Eglise; in the command post in Crisbecq and Jun 7 at Vierville-sur-Mer.

Special Exhibitions of the D-Day Festival in Normandy

Caen:  Apr 15-Aug 23: Calvados, 6 June 1944. D-Day through the eyes of civilians. Exhibition at the Calvados Archives (free admission).

May 8, 2024-January 5, 2025: Caen Memorial Museum has a major exhibition dedicated to the United States between the wars: The Dawn of the American Century, 1919-1944. The museum will also be showcasing its new space, which has been transformed into a London Underground corridor. There are also exhibits devoted to the Resistance movement in Normandy.

Deauville: May 25-October 31: Robert Capa, Icons shows the photographer’s images shot on the beaches of Normandy, in partnership with Magnum Photos. At the Franciscaines de Deauville in the seaside resort of Deauville which is well worth a visit.

More on D-Day and Normandy

Major article on the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches

Practical Information

All the events are listed in the D-Day Festival Brochure you can pick up at any tourist office in Normandy. It’s online here.

Events in France in May
Events in France in June

More about Normandy

How to Get to Normandy from the UK
New Travel to and around Normandy: new flight and shuttle bus along the D-Day Landing Beaches
Guide to Normandy
Guide to Courseulles-sur-Mer at the centre of the Landing Beaches

Accommodation & Hotels

Pierre et Vacances Self-Catering Apartment in Courseulles-sur-Mer and Normandy
Hotels and Accommodation near the D-Day Landing Beaches

The guide book D-Day Landing Beaches Guide Book by Mary Anne Evans and Alastair McKenzie published by Bradt Guides in March 2024.

The post D-Day Festival in Normandy 2024 appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

Courseulles-sur-Mer is a charming seaside resort on the Normandy coast. The French love the small town with its marina for small yachts, its fish market, glorious beaches and good restaurants and shopping. Foreign visitors come to visit the Juno Beach Centre, the museum commemorating and revealing the role that Canada and their armed forces played in the great D-Day Landings that began in the early hours of June 6, 1944.

I came to Courseulles-sur-Mer while researching a guide book to the Normandy D-Day landing beaches for 2024 with my partner and fellow author. We had visited the Juno Beach Centre before, but like so many visitors, had sped our way on to the other famous beaches. Thank goodness we had booked a long stay here, using Courseulles as a base for our trips to the beaches, museums, memorials and sites of this glorious stretch of the Normandy Coast. In between we managed to enjoy the resort.

Courseulles-sur-Mer makes a perfect short break. It’s located very near Sword, Gold and Omaha beaches and is just a short hop to Caen and Bayeux. It really is a small gem on the Coeur de Nacre (Mother of Pearl) coast.

What to Do in Courseulles-sur-Mer

Juno Beach Centre

Juno Beach Centre has a two-part story which sets it apart from the other D-Day museums. It starts with why and how did the Canadians become part of the Allied forces? They didn’t have to; though part of the Commonwealth there was no legislation for Britain to call on Canada. And unlike the USA there was no direct attack on their country as the Americans had suffered at Pearl Harbour.

The decision to enter the Second World War was a result of a mix of political and social causes, stemming from the difficulties and deprivations in Canada in the 1930s. Equally as strong were the ties of loyalty between Canada and Great Britain. On September 10, 1939, Canada declared war on Germany, a week after Britain had done so.

14,000 of the 135,000 allied troops taking part in Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944 were Canadian. They captured the towns of Graye-sur-Mer, Courseulles-sur-Mer, Bernières-sur-Mer and part of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. 1,079 were injured of whom 381 were killed on D-Day itself; 5,500 during the Battle of Normandy during July and August 1944.

In total, 45,000 Canadians lost their lives during the war.  

What You See in Juno Beach Centre

There’s plenty to see in the museum with artefacts, models, uniforms and a lot of impressive video and audio showing both the war in Europe and the way Canada mobilized and supported their troops throughout the war.

You start with a video in a room designed to resemble a beach landing craft before entering the main museum.

You leave after watching the 12-minute film called They Walk With You about the Canadians’ experience in Normandy. If you’re even slightly emotional, take tissues with you. The film is a real tear jerker but it also takes you into th wider perspective of war, bravery and the world.

You can also take a guided tour of the bunkers in Juno Park, or walk around them yourself.

The Geography of Courseulles-sur-Mer

Courseulles-sur-Mer has an interesting layout. Juno Beach is directly on the sea and is the place for D-Day memorials and crosses as well as Juno Beach Centre. Just inland is Ile de la Plaisance, a small island where Le Chant des Oiseaux (where we stayed) and various restaurants are located. You get to it via one road or foot bridges. To the east lies the main town, with shops, small restaurants and hotels and the Tourist Office.

Beach Life in Courseulles-sur-Mer

Courseulles-sur-Mer forms part of the 12 km-long Coeur de Nacre coastal stretch that runs east, taking in other delightful small resorts: Bernières-sur-Mer, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Langrune-sur-Mer and Luc-sur-Mer.

You can walk along the beaches that stretch out along the bay or cycle this part of the 1,500 km-long Vélomaritime route that runs from Roscoff in Brittany up to Dunkirk. It’s part of the ambitious 4,000 km-long Central European Cycle Route that links Roscoff to Kyiv in Ukraine.

Families can ride on horseback (or pony for smaller ones) along the beach, or perhaps try your hand at sports like land surfing or sailing; check at the Tourist Office for details.

Port Life in Courseulles-sur-Mer

Some 20 fishing boats are based here in Courseulles, bringing fish and shellfish to the fish market along the quay. From Monday to Saturday both locals and visitors come here from 8am to 1pm to buy directly from the fishermen. For a local speciality buy the scallops – apparently 7 out of 10 scallops sold in France come from Normandy. And if you’re here in the winter, don’t miss the Fête de la Coquille (Scallop Festival) here on Saturday and Sunday Nov 18 & 19, 2023. (It’s always the third weekend of November).
For fresh oysters (and all fish), go to Régals de l’Ile run by the Benoist family and Maison Daubert.

Where to Stay in Courseulles-sur-Mer

As we were staying for a week, we took a Pierre et Vacances self-catering apartment, Le Chant des Oiseaux, which suited us perfectly. Read about it here.

La Crémaillère Hotel, a favourite with the British, occupies several buildings. Ask for a room with a sea view or looking onto the garden. All rooms are pleasantly decorated and a good size and there’s a cottage as well. They do some good special offers on a dinner, bed and breakfast formula; there’s a good outside terrace for summer wining and dining. However we ate at the restaurant and were not impressed with the cooking, though the waiter was one of the best we’ve come across.

La Cantellerie is a substantial 19^th-century red brick house offering bed and breakfast. There are 6 rooms, a peaceful garden and welcoming breakfast room. Prices per room are from €85 to €119 per night (the more expensive rooms can sleep 3 people). At popular times of the year, you have to book for a minimum of 2 nights. It’s in the centre of town but you might prefer to book dinner here.

Where to Eat in Courseulle-sur-Mer

We ate at Restaurant de l’île Benoist on Ile de Plaisance, sitting at a window table looking out of wide windows over the waters surrounding the little island and witnessing a spectacular sunset. The meal was as spectacular. The restaurant is part of the Benoist fish and shellfish specialists so choose fish. It’s as fresh as it gets, is cooked with care and presented with style. Excellent meat options also. Menus: lunch €25; 3-course set menu €40; child menu €15. Open Wed to Sun lunch & dinner.
Rte de Ver. Tel: +33 (0)2 31 77 35 16.

Also recommended

La Maison Bleue, also on Ile de Plaisance, offers something for everyone: fish dishes and traditional cooking using seasonal local ingredients. It has a great location and terrace looking out over the surrounding waters. Menus Lunch €29.50; child up to 10 years €14. It’s open daily lunch & dinner.
Rue Marine Dunkerque. Tel: 09 74 56 58 86.

Le Quai Est opposite the island, is a simply decorated restaurant where the cooking takes centre stage. Again, good very fresh fish and some meat dishes. They have an excellent and well-priced take away menu which you have to order before service starts. Menus €35 & €45. Open Wed to Sun lunch & dinner.
13 Quai Est. Tel: +33 (0)2 31 97 20 90.

Practical Information

Courseulles-sur-Mer Tourist Office
5 Rue du 11 Novembre
Tel: +33 (0)2 31 37 46 80
Website

How to Get to Normandy from the UK
Guide to D-Day Landing Beaches
Hotels near the D-Day Landing Beaches

The post Courseulles-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast appeared first on Mary Anne's France.

In May my partner and I, researching the Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches for a Bradt guide book, stayed in a Pierre et Vacances self-catering apartment. This was our third research trip and while we’ve stayed in great hotels in the past (and there are many along the coast), this time we needed a place where we could work when we wanted, particularly in the evening, make cups of tea and coffee when we needed and have flexibility. We needed accommodation near the beaches which had good WiFi, a kitchen and if possible a view.

I already knew about Pierre et Vacances who have holiday residences all over France. Guest writer Fiona Quinn stayed in Presqu’île de la Touques for her guide to Deauville and Trouville on the east coastal stretch of Normandy.

Pierre et Vacances Self Catering Apartments – Le Chant des Oiseaux

There are eight Pierre et Vacances resorts in Normandy, most of them near the coast. Le Chant des Oiseaux in Courseulles-sur-Mer was ideal. Not only is Courseulles in the middle of four of the Normandy beaches: Sword, Juno (a 4-minute drive or 10-minute walk from the apartment), Gold and Omaha, it’s also a delightful small resort with a lovely long sandy beach, a marina, fishing port, good restaurants and shops.  

 No problem checking in. We arrived at 6.30pm, were given our keys and information on the resort. The nearby well-stocked Carrefour Market stayed open until 8pm which meant a quick dash (3 minutes away by car) for stocking up on essentials for our stay.

Reception

The reception desk, open from 9am to 7pm, has two helpful and friendly assistants who speak English. For late arrivals, instructions are emailed in advance on how to get the keys and apartment details.

We ordered baguettes and croissants each evening for the next day and they supplied a couple of emergency coffee filter papers for the machine (we hadn’t thought that far ahead). The receptionists can order pizzas for an evening meal and make restaurant bookings for you. Reserve through them; you get a small reduction on the restaurant bill.

Our Self-Catering Apartment

Our 2-bedroom apartment was on the second floor up an exterior staircase (ground, first and second storeys). The master bedroom had a good sized double bed, a large wardrobe with hangers and a wall-mounted TV, though there’s very little space around the bed. The second bedroom, off the main kitchen/reception area, had bunk beds for kids. The apartment can sleep six with sofa beds in the main room though that would be a bit crowded.

The kitchen area was equipped with a fridge with a small freezer, hob, microwave, dishwasher and plenty of plates, glasses and cutlery, plus a coffee machine and dishwasher. In fact so many plates, glasses and cutlery that we only ran the dishwasher once – on our departure.

You sort your rubbish using one container for food waste, one for recycling paper and plastic bottles and one for household waste; bottles go into the bottle bin. Then you take it all to the waste shed. You’re in eco-conscious France. Like many French companies Pierre et Vacances has its own agenda. It follows low-carbon solutions, supports local communities, is in the process of insulating all the buildings, uses renewable energies and is partnering with SNCF to encourage train rather than car travel.

But back to the apartment: the main room has a large table (with six chairs), the two sofa beds, cupboards and shelves plus a TV. Two bathrooms, one with toilet, basin and shower, the second with bath and basin had enough hooks and shelves for toiletries, dressing gowns etc. (Sorry guys, I think the designer must have been a woman).

All apartments have bed linen, towels, a welcome cleaning kit and free cleaning on departure.

A balcony with table and chairs looked out onto the back of the resort and beyond to open fields. There’s ample parking outside each house.

Amenities

We didn’t have time to swim in the heated indoor pool, nor use the laundry room. Offered, but not taken up by us, was a weekly guided discovery tour of the area. There are also pedal and electric bicycles and if needed, trailers and baby seats (extra cost). Maybe next time.

Practical Information

You can book for one night, five, eight or however many you want depending on availability. And you can book to start your holiday any day of the week.

A seven-night stay costs from £543 for a one-bedroom apartment which sleeps up to five people and the total price includes accommodation, taxes and charges except for the national tourist tax of €1.50 per person per day (free for children up to 18 years old).

Pierre et Vacances in Normandy

Each of the eight destinations in Normandy is different, with most of them located near the beach. Some are new build; others are old renovated buildings.

Holiday Village Normandy Garden in Branville, Residence et Spa in Houlgate, Residence Les Embruns in Deauville, Presqu’Ile de la Touques also in Deauville, Le Chant des Oiseaux in Courseulles-sur-mer, Residence Les Tamaris in Trouville, Residence Port Guillaume in Cabourg and Residence Le Green Beach, Omaha Beach (a golf destination).

More about Pierre et Vacances Self-Catering Apartments

Pierre et Vacances is well known in France though less of a household name in the UK and USA. It’s been going since 1967 and now has over 383 destinations and almost 24,500 holiday accommodations in France and the Caribbean, Spain, the Canary and the Balearic Islands, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Mauritius. The company has recently added accommodation in Montenegro, Greece, Crete, Morocco and Madeira.

To book with Pierre et Vacances tel: 0870 0267 145 or visit www.pierreetvacances.com  

Guide to Courseulles-sur-Mer

More Information on Normandy

Ferries to Normandy from the UK
Guide to Normandy
Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches
Hotels and Accommodation near the D-Day Landing Beaches

The guide book D-Day Landing Beaches Guide Book by Mary Anne Evans and Alastair McKenzie was published by Bradt Guides in March 2024.

Declaration: We were on a press trip and were hosted by Pierre et Vacances. However my opinion is my own, and we were so impressed by the accommodation we are booking another stay which we will pay for.

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Between June 1944 and March 1945, Hitler’s V1 and V2 rockets hit London. But there was a third weapon being developed, the V3, in the secret Mimoyecques fortress in Pas-de-Calais.

There isn’t a whole lot to see at Mimoyecques, but it is an odd, disturbing place and completes the story of the Vengeance weapons Hitler developed. And who do you know has seen it?

Visiting the secret Mimoyecques Fortress, the base of the London gun

The site is tucked away in the countryside near the north France coast and there’s little to tell you that this was one of the major sites for Hitler’s rockets aimed at the heart of London. There’s a small building at the entrance where you get your ticket and the story of the site, well worth a read.

You walk down into a huge tunnel that stretches ahead of you into the distant gloom. It’s dank, cold and dusty with flickering lights and panels on the walls telling more about the place. Tunnels lead off to right and left, some of which you can walk down.

At the end there’s a small exhibition about the Canadian 3^rd Infantry Division which finally took over the site on September 5, 1944.

The Canadians landed on Juno Beach in Normandy as part of D-Day Landing operation.

An unexpected hero

In August 1944 an Allied raid was sent from England to bomb the Fortress. There’s one more twist in the tale. Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., (1915-1944) was the eldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (1888-1969) and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890-1995) and older brother to President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). By 1943 Lieutenant Kennedy was flying with the British Naval Command in a B-24. He volunteered for the bombing campaign to Mimoyecques, code named Operation Aphrodite. He flew from Suffolk on August 12, 1944 but never reached France. The explosives in his plane detonated prematurely on the flight and he died age 29.

It’s an eerie place, made even stranger by the fact that this is a bat sanctuary which means that it has limited opening times.

History of the V3 Gun

From 1943 to 1944, Hitler used the north of France as the location for building the V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets, the German’s Vengeance weapons. The blockhouse at Eperlecques was followed by the vast firing site of La Coupole.
At the same time the Nazi Reich, failing on the Eastern front, was developing the V3 in the secret Mimoyecques fortress, which, had it been successful would have been the ‘most devastating attack of all’, according to Winston Churchill.

The V3 gun

The ‘multi-charge gun’ was an extraordinary concept. The idea was to increase the range by increasing the speed of the shell which would be fired from an extremely long barrel. This was to be achieved by constructing multiple secondary propellant charges along the length of the barrel. As the shell shot through the barrel, the secondary charges would fire immediately after the shell had passed them, giving great impetus and speed.

It was an ambitious plan, aiming to produce 50 such guns, firing 2.5 rounds an hour. This, the Germans calculated, would mean 3,000 rounds carrying 90 tonnes of explosive striking London within the 93 mile (150 kilometer) radius.

It may have sounded terrifying but in reality it was impossible to achieve, particularly in the very short time span the German Minister of Armaments, Albert Speer, had allowed for the development and building.

Operation Todt was responsible for building the multi-charge gun firing site. Just 8 kilometers from the coast, so back from the danger of the Royal Navy bombardments, the secret Mimoyecques fortress was 165 kilometers from London. The first workers arrived in June 1943. It was a huge task, needing between 1,200 and 1,500 men building galleries below ground to house the gun shaft and the side galleries for the secondary firing.  By September 1943 the first tunnels were built.

The British War Office was aware of the activity in north France. Using information gathered by the French Resistance and RAF reconnaissance aircraft, they identified the area and began Operation Crossbow (the codename for the Allied offensive against all the German weapon-firing bunkers).

From December 1943, the site was targeted. They might have devastated the surrounding area but much of the work was underground and this remained safe.

On July 5, 1944, the British learnt of three planned firings from the Mimoyecques site, aimed right at the heart of London. On July 6, two squadrons attacked. 100 Halifax planes carpet bombed the area. In the afternoon 16 Lancasters of the elite 617 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, released 16 Tallboy bombs, designed by Barnes Wallis. It was decisive, destroying enough of the underground passages to stop the building. On July 16 1944, the labour force was evacuated. 

To complete the trio of Hitler’s weaponry, visit La Coupole, and the Blockhouse at Eperlecques.

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to see how this great organisation looks after the cemeteries of the great wars, and deals with newly found bodies.

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The story of the Eperlecques blockhouse in World War II is an extraordinary one. Planned in 1942, and begun in 1943, Eperlecques was designed as a liquid oxygen factory and an assembly and launch facility for Hitler’s V2 rockets aimed at London.

Visiting the site

The Eperlecques Blockhouse in north France north west of Saint Omer looks pretty ordinary: there’s a car park and in front of you a small wooden building where you get your tickets with a wooded hill rising behind it. There’s the sound of birdsong and the scent of the trees.

The first time I visited it was off season at the beginning of March, getting cold and with dusk closing in and I was completely alone. It was an eerie experience, walking along the paths and stopping at different points where a loudspeaker system tells you the story in your own language.

There are good signs everywhere explaining the different aspects and the various weapons. But I advise taking a guided tour which I did the second time and which explained so much about the bunker’s history.

The Story of Eperlecques Blockhouse

Built with slave labour under appalling conditions, the Eperlecques blockhouse went up fast and in relative secrecy but the deforestation of the forest and its proximity to La Coupole set alarm bells ringing in London. Reconnaissance flights followed and in August 1943 the RAF launched a huge bombing raid, destroying part of it.

In November 1943 the Germans started work again on the south part of the bunker which was to be used just to produce the liquid oxygen needed as fuel. The engineer devised a system of pouring concrete into shells then lifting the shells one by one, with the bunker protected from bombing.  

It was effective against the Allied bombing raids – 25 of them between 1943 and August 1944. Finally it took a Tallboy bomb smashing through the roof to create enormous damage and the Germans finally abandoned the site. The Canadian 3^rd Infantry division captured Eperlecques in September 1944.

Start the Visit

You start by stepping into a railway carriage, one of the kind used to transport slave labour from concentration camps to work here. The guide shuts the door and it’s horribly claustrophobic even with just a few people.

Through the forest

The path you take is littered with old weapons that look recently abandoned though in reality they are cannons, bombs, vehicles and old weapons collected by the owners.

The Blockhouse

I hadn’t expected the shock when I climbed the path and emerged at the top. The bunker looks like something straight out of a James Bond film. It’s an enormous, ugly and menacing concrete structure though it’s only a third of its intended size.
V2 rockets were to be assembled here, then fueled with liquid oxygen tanks.

You walk around it then enter the damp vast echoing building through a 2-metre thick door; at 17.5 metres high it was big enough for a railway carriage. It’s damp and deeply depressing even on a warm day. What it must have felt like for the labourers is unimaginable. 

Inside a film and a description of how the V2 rockets were moved shows you the mechanics.

Finally you come to a model of the Tallboy which destroyed the bunker. It hangs suspended over water endlessly reflect a hellish vision.

Outside the Bunker

Walk out of the blockhouse, with a huge sense of relief, and you’re faced with a replica of a V1 launch pad with a V1 at the end.

Between June 1944 and March 1945, 22,384 V1 flying bombs were launched mainly towards England, though there was also a campaign against Liege, Antwerp and Paris.

Practical Information

Part of World War II History

Eperlecques Blockhouse should be visited along with La Coupole (the most complete of the German ‘Vengeance’ weapons sites, and Mimoyecques, where the V3 was meant to be launched.

For an expert’s view of the site, its weapons and history, check out the MechTraveller Eperlecques Review.

For an expert’s view of La Coupole and its technical aspects, check out MechTraveller La Coupole Review.

Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to see how this great organisation looks after the cemeteries of the great wars, and deals with newly found bodies.

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