Thought I%26#39;d post a trip report for our recent stay in Bayeux as part of a Paris-Mont St Michel-Bayeux-Paris trip.
We took the train from Paris to Rennes, drove to Mont St Michel, stayed overnight, and then drove to Bayeux the next morning. Had google directions but no GPS. The drive was not too bad until we actually got into Bayeux and then drove in circles a little until we found our bed and breakfast. We stayed at the Hotel Saint Croix which is actually on a fairly main street but somehow was hard for us to find. Their website says there is a courtyard for parking 2 cars, but the owners car is one of them and some other guests were parking their motorcycles there, so we had to park on the street. When we made our reservation we were told there was a parking lot across the street, but it is a pay lot where I don%26#39;t think you can park overnight. On Sat AM there is a market there so you can%26#39;t park in the lot or on the lot side of the street due to the trucks for the market.
The rooms were very nice and large, but there is no phone or internet access there, although the owner did let us use her phone to contact our tour guide.
We arrived about 1630 and went to a sit down place for galettes for dinner which were good. We were scheduled for a private tour of the d-day beaches the next day but the guide was sick, so he changed it to a 1/2 day tour. Our guide was Ellwood von Seibold, and he did a good job on the 1/2 day tour, which was actually a little longer than a 1/2 day. It was supposed to be 930 to 1800 but was from 1300 to 1800. He did only charge us 1/2 price. He seemed very knowledgable although 2 of our party knew nothing of d-day which made the info a little less relevant to those of us that knew more. That%26#39;s not his fault, though. He gave a presentation in his home in St Mere Eglise to start, explaining the beaches and the invasion. Then we went to Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetary. His home in St Mere Eglise is the one that one of the paratroopers landed in the garden of on dday.
The next day we went to Arromanches and saw the artificial harbor, which you can walk up to at low tide but not at high tide. There were some shops to walk around. We took the little free train up to the 360 theatre which was very interesting. It sort of fuses pictures from today with pictures taken at the time of the invasion. The 360 degree screen made you feel like you were actually there, and you could see what it looked like then and now. I actually would have liked to see it again, because I didn%26#39;t feel you could see everything with one viewing. There was a group of teenagers there who were quite noisy when they came in, but they were quite sobered by the time they came out. It was interesting to see their reaction. The film is very loud as there are gunshots and artillery fire. My 11 year old was fine with it, but it might be scary for smaller or noise sensitive children. We also went to the German battery at Longues sur Mer which is apparently the only German battery that still has the guns in it. You could go right into the gun emplacements. You might want a flashlight (torch) if you really want to explore as there were some parts we didn%26#39;t go into because they were pitch black inside. There is a pathway down to the coast which is flat but fairly long if you%26#39;re limited on walking. That night we ate at La Boucherie, which is basically a steak place, but the steak was pretty good and my daughter loved it.
On our last day we went to the Bayeux tapestry in the morning, which was very interesting. Definitely get the audioguide. They have a film there too, but we were afraid we wouldn%26#39;t have time to catch our train if we watched it as it was a while before the next English version (they alternate English and French, and we had just missed an English one). We drove to Caen to return the rental car. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the office was not open. There was a drop box for the keys but no direction as to where to leave the car (since it didn%26#39;t fit in the drop box). I asked in the train station and they only knew where to leave cars if you rented from Avis, and ours was from Europcar. Also, we couldn%26#39;t find a gas station that we could use our American credit card at, so we had to return it half full. We ended up parking it in long term parking and returning the parking ticket with the key. I called Europcar when we were there, and they just transferred me to the closed rental office, which wasn%26#39;t much help. When we got home, I called Auto Europe, and they said to let them know if there were extra charges and they would help me deal with it. Haven%26#39;t seen any charges on my credit card yet, so we%26#39;ll see what happens. We did make our train back to Paris, though. Other than the trouble returning the car, we loved Normandy, and my daughter is already saying she wants to go back.
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Just an update on returning the rental car after hours. I just got a bill from Europcar which included a refueling fee and a charge for fuel but no charge for having left the car in long term parking.
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