Editor Pick
Hand Maid Tours (Battle of Normandy)
- December 15, 2005
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Ed Hahn from Hong Kong, China
Hand Maid Tours is owned and operated by John and Elaine Flaherty, who are English, but who have known France for many years and now live in Normandy.
I’ve used them twice: 3 days in March 2003 and 1 day in August 2004. John is the primary tour guide. Elaine fills in from time to time for large groups and oversees their bed-and-breakfast. They are both a delight to be with.
John identifies himself as a self-confessed obsessive about D-Day, bunkers, concrete, wine, and Calvados. With his long hair and all-weather sandals, he could be mistaken for an unreformed hippie. But contraire, he spent many years in the business world and studied oenology for years. Elaine teaches ESL, is a superb cook, and knows a great deal about local shopping and dining.
In 2003, John met my overnight ferry and we took off immediately for St. Mere Eglise and the church and museum dedicated to American Airborne units. We explored Utah Beach and its museum. John knows the director and, as I discovered, just about everyone else in the area. We also visited the famous hedgerows and V-1 rocket sites.
Since I was staying in the Flaherty’s 250-year-old house, Elaine prepared and served a delicious dinner followed by a few snifters of Calvados. The other 2 nights we ate at nearby hotels.
The next day was a blur. I know we stopped at the Village of Graignes, site of a massacre. We drove to Pointe Du Hoc, where American Rangers stormed the cliffs. We also drove the length of Omaha Beach, stopping at various memorials along the way. Next came the American Cemetery at Colleville. During the 3 days, we also visited a British and German cemetery.
We lunched at Port en Bessin a picturesque a fishing village. Afterwards we toured the British and Canadian Beaches, Sword, Gold, and Juno. Then we went to Longues sur Mer, which housed a German long-range battery and observation post. We finished up at Arromanches, saw the artificial British “Mulberry” Harbor, and experienced the 360° Cinema, which tells the story of June 1944.
The next morning we saw the Bayeux Tapestry, which memorializes the events leading up to William the Conqueror’s defeat of the British in 1066. We went to Pegasus Bridge, site of a glider assault on D-Day morning. We lunched at the first house to be liberated in France, the Café Gondree. We spent the rest of the day visiting remnants of the German Atlantic Wall, including a bunker John discovered and another bunker complex John was instrumental in restoring as a tourist attraction.
In 2004, John took us, in one day, to all five of the invasion beaches, plus the Pegasus Bridge, the American and British cemeteries, and St. Mere Eglise.
To find all the information you could possibly want, go to the Hand Maid Tours website or contact him at john.in.france@wanadoo.fr.
From journal Historic, Beautiful, and Brave Normandy