| Surrounding Area |
| We spent four days in Normandy at the end of our 2002 Europe trip with our friends, Christel, Jean Francois and Coline. We enjoyed touring like locals....stopping at a farm house for some fresh carrots, finding a local fair and enjoying the wines and cheese while watching the locals dance, driving the countryside at a slow pace due to tractors filled with haystacks. We visited a mussel museum and ate "moules" and pomme frites almost every day Of course, we hit the highlights--Mont St. Michel and the Normandy beaches of World War II and museums....but Normandy has so much to offer. Drive around and get "lost" |
| Family Travels Normandy |
Mont Saint Michel |
| We ate dinner here twice.....A little hole in the wall with amazing mussels and Brent loved having his saucisson (sausages) cooked over the open fire. Don't miss the nutella and sucre crepes. See if you can find it! Le Rustique Grill & Creperie Saint Georges de Grehaigne Route de Pontorson a Cancale Tel 02 99 48 53 77 |
| St. Malo is a beautiful old town...high above the river. The architecture is unique...based on the days when the taxes where paid on ground floor square footage...so everything overhangs. We spend the morning sampling ice cream and crepes...then have an incredible lunch of mussels (what else) |
| We had mussels for lunch here... near the river front |
| Dinan is a wonderful old city....complete with ramparts and a medieval prison out in the bay. We arrived at sunset and enjoyed an evening stroll through down having dessert--crepes. |
| DINAN |
| St. MALO |
| World War II Beaches, Cemeteries and Museums |
| Memorial at Omaha Beach |
| Caen's Battle of Normandy Museum --known as Le Memorial...is the best World War II Museum in France. It is well presented, informative and interactive and kept the kid's attention and interest. Plan on spending at least 3 hours here. |
| Cliffs of Normandy--from our trip without kids in 1990.....even on an overcast, windy day it was still an impressive site...think about the troops storming of the beaches and scaling the cliffs. |
| Date Last Visited -- 2002 |
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| At the Normandy cemetery, I remember the long, endless rows of graves of the people who fought for the lives of so many. --Brent, age 11 |
| Mont St. Michel is the highlight of the region. It has been a pilgrimage site since 708 AD when the Archangel Michael told the bishop to "build here and build high." It is connected by a 3 km causeway to the mainland and it is a unique location as an "island" surrounded by sandy, mud flats during low tide... Visit early or late in the day to avoid the absolute overwhelming mass of tourists. No joke....go early or late. It reminded me of a crowded fraternity party....slow pace, squeezing by, waiting in line for WC.s. |
| There is a cute Mussel Museum on the Baie du Mt. St. Michel which does a fun job of explaining how they farm and harvest mussels. They also offer adventures out on the mud flats at low tide to see the mussel "ropes" Below: Wooden stakes to farm mussles. |
| We saw a sign for fresh carrots and garlic so we stopped at a local farmhouse. |
| Above: Hundreds of heads of garlic hang from the barn ceiling Below:These clear garbage bags are filled with carrots |
| Gargoyles |
| The American Cemetery at St Laurent sits high on a bluff above Omaha Beach...what a beautiful location for the final resting place of 9,400 Americans who gave their lives during the Invasion of Normandy. The glistening white marble crosses stretch across the green fields will give you chills as you seek to understand the huge losses of that day. |