Historic, Beautiful, and Brave Normandy

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We take the train from Paris to Caen. We chose Caen as a base because it seemed most central and to tell the truth all the groovy beach hotels were filled. Unfortunately, it's a three-day weekend, the Feast of the Assumption. Soon after we arrive, we run into a wonderful French couple, the Thomases, who had just relocated to Caen and had once lived in the U.S. They not only give us a ride to our hotel, the Le Dauphine, but they invite us for dinner that evening. Before dinner we stroll along the ramparts of Caen Castle and watch the sunset. We dine in the charming Vaugueaux District of Caen, an area of winding cobble stoned streets, restaurants and shops. Our dinner at a small seafood rest...Read More

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Best Western Le Dauphin

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Hotel

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We check in to the Best Western Le Dauphin, a lovely hotel, which is a refurbished Priory. I find that in Europe, at least France, Germany and England, Best Westerns seem to offer the best value - three star quality, reasonable prices and interesting venues. We are in the older section of the hotel so we do have to carry our bags up two flights of stairs. I understand the newer section has an elevator but lacks the charm of the older antique furnished section. The clerk offers to help, but we realize the bags are bigger than he is so we turn his offer down and struggle up the stairs ourselves. Our rooms, though small, were very bright and pleasant. All the facilities in the bathroom worked...Read More

We check in to the Best Western Le Dauphin, a lovely hotel, which is a refurbished Priory. I find that in Europe, at least France, Germany and England, Best Westerns seem to offer the best value - three star quality, reasonable prices and interesting venues. We are in the older section of the hotel so we do have to carry our bags up two flights of stairs. I understand the newer section has an elevator but lacks the charm of the older antique furnished section.

The clerk offers to help, but we realize the bags are bigger than he is so we turn his offer down and struggle up the stairs ourselves. Our rooms, though small, were very bright and pleasant. All the facilities in the bathroom worked as they were intended.

Our location is excellent, just a block from Caen castle and within walking distance of the City Center, shopping and the Vaugueaux tourist area. The tram and bus stops are half a block away.

Except for the manager, who was rather curt and cold, the staff was very helpful with advice on directions, parking, internet sites, shopping, restaurants and anything else within their ability to speak English and our ability to make our wants known with very little French. We choose to pass on the 10 Euro breakfast option. Best Westerns seem to have a breakfast optional arrangement unlike most other hotels in France. I suspect it’s a function of our room rate. We were paying about 50% of the published rate.

The restaurant has an excellent reputation but the night we wanted to eat there, it was completely booked for a private party. The bar is cozy and welcoming and we sampled widely from its excellent selection of Calvados. Parking was a problem as there are only a few parking spots and they are, as is customary in Europe, very narrow so getting in and out of the car was a challenge. There is a parking lot, across the street, guests can use but one must get up in the morning to feed the meter or move the car into the hotel lot which does empty fairly early.

I read some reviews of the hotel before writing this one and they are rather schizophrenic. Some people loved the place; some people hated it with very little in between. Tom and I loved it and I’d gladly stay there again. I recommend, though, using the internet to check prices as the room rate we were paying seems to have been quite a bit less than those on the hotel’s website and mentioned in other reviews. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on December 11, 2005

Best Western Le Dauphin
29 rue Gemare
Caen, France 14000
+33 (2) 31862226

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The Caen Memorial, a Museum for Peace

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Memorial Peace Museum Photo - The Caen Memorial, a Museum for Peace, Normandy, France

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We drive and discover it is very easy to find since it's just off the ring-road freeway (périphérique nord) in Caen exit (sortie) #7. We just follow the signs to the Memorial. The parking lot is packed but there is in a distant grassy area. Aside from the fact that it’s a holiday, I discover later that this is the second most visited museum in France after the Louvre. The setting is beautiful and the building is impressive. Because of crowds, we stand in line for 30 minutes to enter the exhibit area. The exhibits are magnificent, covering the complete history of WW II including the pre-war events leading to the conflict and the phony war, the occupation, the holocaust a...Read More

We drive and discover it is very easy to find since it's just off the ring-road freeway (périphérique nord) in Caen exit (sortie) #7. We just follow the signs to the Memorial. The parking lot is packed but there is in a distant grassy area. Aside from the fact that it’s a holiday, I discover later that this is the second most visited museum in France after the Louvre.

The setting is beautiful and the building is impressive. Because of crowds, we stand in line for 30 minutes to enter the exhibit area. The exhibits are magnificent, covering the complete history of WW II including the pre-war events leading to the conflict and the phony war, the occupation, the holocaust and the liberation of Normandy and France. It puts the events of D-Day in a world-wide perspective.

The first section is a downward spiral walk tracing the destructive path Europe followed from the end of World War I to the rise of fascism to World War II. The design creates a bottleneck, though, because the linear set-up backs everyone up like a traffic jam on a road with no exits. One person’s interest becomes everyone else’s delay. Once through this area, though, things open up.

The lower level looks at how World War II was fought. It covers France during the war and is brutally honest about France’s failures and suffering - this in contrast to the WW II section of the Musee d’Armee in Paris. A large area is devoted to the global aspects of the conflict and the impact of industry and technology on the outcome. D-Day is covered by exhibits including a recently opened one of letters and diaries. A multi media presentation, “The Battle of Normandy,” creatively uses a split-screen to show the 70 days of conflict from both a military and civilian point of view.

In three hours we haven’t covered even half the museum so we stop for lunch in spite of the daunting queues. The cafeteria and restaurant have excellent food. After lunch, we visit exhibits covering the Cold War, and the “Hope Exhibit,” in the Hall of Peace. The arrangement is a bit confusing but the “Hope” multi-media presentation is wonderful. The next section of the museum celebrates the peacemakers in the Gallery of Nobel Peace Prizewinners.

The museum also displays remains from the NYC 9/11 attacks. They’re at the East end of the building. We are running out of steam but we find the energy to visit the U.S. Memorial Garden, The Canadian Memorial and the newly-opened British Gardens, inaugurated June 5, 2004 by Prince Charles.

In summary, I would compare this museum favorably with the Peace Museum in Hiroshima. The exhibits are impressive, well planned and artistic but the museum could be a little more user-friendly.

A normal ticket costs €18, but there are numerous concessions. Photos are not allowed. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 9, 2005

The Caen Memorial, a Museum for Peace
Esplanade Dwight-Eisenhower, Caen, France Phone: 2-31-06-06-44
Normandy, France

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Hand Maid Tours

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Attraction | "Hand Maid Tours (Battle of Normandy)"

American Cemetery at Colleville Photo - Hand Maid Tours, Normandy, France

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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...Read More

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. Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 15, 2005

Hand Maid Tours
Les Volets Blancs, Fierville Les Mines
Normandy, France 50580
02 33 52 91 94

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Normandy Invasion - The British and Canadian Beaches

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Casement: Longues sur Mer Photo - Normandy, France

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I think it’s impossible to write a review of the D-Day Invasion sites in 500 or even 1,500 words, so I’m positioning these two reviews as “Experiences.”I have visited this area twice. In March 2003, I spent 3 days with John Flaherty of Hand Maid Tours exploring the entire area: all five beaches, the German bunkers and artillery batteries that constituted the “Atlantik Wall,” and the museums and memorials that are to be found throughout this whole area. I will write a separate review on the cemeteries. In August 2004, I once again engaged John to give my friend Tom Trier and I a quick 1-day tour of the invasion beaches. We cho...Read More

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Normandy Invasion - The American Beaches

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Pointe du Hoc Eroding Memorial Photo - Normandy, France

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As I said in the review of the British and Canadian Beaches, this is a story impossible to tell in 500 or even 1,500 words. For a suggested 3-day exploration of all the invasion beaches, see “The Invasion of Normandy – British and Canadian Beaches.”UTAH BEACHUtah Beach is the best-preserved invasion site because there has been little development near it. The museum here is outstanding, as are the memorials in the plaza in front of the museum. I walked the beach and found all kinds of interesting things, like one-man machine gun nests and other oddities. On D-Day, the Utah Beach landi...Read More

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The Battle for Normandy - American, British, Canadian and German Cemeteries

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Cross of Sacrifice - Hermanville British Cemetery Photo - Normandy, France

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I believe I didn’t really absorb the significance of D-Day and its aftermath until I visited some cemeteries, particularly the American cemetery situated about halfway between Colleville sur Mer and St. Laurent sur Mer. In 2003, John Flaherty and I visited this cemetery and a British, a Canadian, and two German cemeteries.There are 28 military cemeteries in Normandy, 16 British & Commonwealth, two American, two Canadian, one Polish, one French, and six German. John told me that over 130,000 servicemen were killed in the Battle for Normandy, most of them German. Until the First Gulf War, British war dead were always buried near where they fell, which explains the large number of British...Read More

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