Hello Folks,
I am planning a fly by the seat of my pants one day trip to Normandy in August. I will arrive in Caen on a Friday, spend the night, and then tour the D-Day coast down to the American Cemetary at Colleville-sur-Mer. I have to be at the train station in Bayeux to catch a 3:00 p.m. train back to Paris.
I am thinking that I will have to hire a private driver or taxi to pull this off (I assume I cannot rent a car in Caen and drop it off in Bayeux??).
I want to take 515 out of Caen, then 514 down to Colleville. How long is that drive? Looks like an hour or so.
Any suggestions will be helpfull on hiring driver, cost estimate, alternatives.
Merci, Spasiba, Gratias, Thank you,
William the Adventurer
from Alabama
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%26gt;%26gt; I assume I cannot rent a car in Caen and drop it off in Bayeux??
All major car rental companies allow one-way rental within France, with no drop-off fees. You can also try a consolidator like autoeurope.com
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Hi William
We live nearer to the US end of the D-Day beaches. You are being EXTREMELY ambitious if you think you are going to all of that AND get back to Bayeux for 3pm. You are unlikely to be able to do anything except jump out of your car, take a few photos and jump back in. You certainly won%26#39;t have time to visit any of the wonderful museums.
I presume if you want to go to Coleville you are anticipating visiting the US cemetery? That in itself will take at least one hour.
The drive at most times of the year will take about an hour and a half from Caen to Coleville (they are small windy lanes, along the coast) but in August that could easily take 2 and a half hours, then about an hour back to Bayeux.
Starting from Caen you will also be travelling along the British landing beaches rather than the American ones. These really start at Coleville and by stopping there you will miss Pointe du Hoc, Utah beach and Ste Mere Eglise - I would have thought essential visits for any American interested in D-Day.
My advice would be to get yoru train to Caen, hire a car there on Friday and drive as far west as you can and find a B%26amp;B in that area, then on Saturday drive from West to East back towards Bayeux. If you can catch a later train I would strongly advise it.
We have a B%26amp;B about 40 minutes from Omaha, with several reviews on this site but I think if you have such a short visit time we would be too far away - you will need to be as near to the beaches as possible. Hope this helps.
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Hi William
We live nearer to the US end of the D-Day beaches. You are being EXTREMELY ambitious if you think you are going to all of that AND get back to Bayeux for 3pm. You are unlikely to be able to do anything except jump out of your car, take a few photos and jump back in. You certainly won%26#39;t have time to visit any of the wonderful museums.
I presume if you want to go to Coleville you are anticipating visiting the US cemetery? That in itself will take at least one hour.
The drive at most times of the year will take about an hour and a half from Caen to Coleville (they are small windy lanes, along the coast) but in August that could easily take 2 and a half hours, then about an hour back to Bayeux.
Starting from Caen you will also be travelling along the British landing beaches rather than the American ones. These really start at Coleville and by stopping there you will miss Pointe du Hoc, Utah beach and Ste Mere Eglise - I would have thought essential visits for any American interested in D-Day.
My advice would be to get yoru train to Caen, hire a car there on Friday and drive as far west as you can and find a B%26amp;B in that area, then on Saturday drive from West to East back towards Bayeux. If you can catch a later train I would strongly advise it.
We have a B%26amp;B about 40 minutes from Omaha, with several reviews on this site but I think if you have such a short visit time we would be too far away - you will need to be as near to the beaches as possible. Hope this helps.
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I forgot to say in my previous post: You will DEFINITELY need to book a B%26amp;B in advance in August!
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Thanks Mimibob and Theimarie.
Yes, it is going to be a whirlwind %26quot;tour%26quot;.
The matter is that I will be in southern France on business until a Friday and then fly out of Paris on Sunday morning to return to the States. I do not want to go all the way to France without going to the American Cemetary in Normandy. So basically this 24 trip to Normandy is all about doing that one thing. Hopefully in the future I will be able to spend more time and visit museums and other landing sites of the Canadians and Brits, but I feel that at least seeing the coast and visiting the cemetary overlooking Omaha Beach will be something memorable and I will be able to know that I made an effort to go there and did so. Besides, I told a lot of friends here that while in France I was going to Omaha Beach so I have no choice but to pull this off! Plus I have been watching reruns of Saving Private Ryan, so I feel a strange kind of psychological/ spiritual need to go there. I do not want to skip it due to time constraints and regret it the rest of my life. Plus I am good at flying by the seat of my pants! I am lucky!!
It seems that if I get up early Saturday and have a rental car in place I shoud be able to pull this off. Figure leave Caen by 8:00 a.m., get to Colleville/Omaha by 10:00 a.m. , leave there by 12:30 p.m. get to Bayeuz by 1:30 p.m. drop of rental car and be ready for 3:00 p.m. train to Paris. The big question now is whether to take the original route planned, or drive straight down to Bayeuz then onto Colleville. Does the traffic back up on 514 in summer? Do you thinik I can drive 515 out of Caen on a Saturday morning connect 514 and get to American Cemetary in two hours? What is a worst case scenario for time to complete that drive?
I will report back on this upon my return to let the bold and curious know how I fared. I will call it %26quot; Operation CaenDo%26quot; (as is can do it!)
Thanks!
William
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Hi William
Yes, if it%26#39;s just the cemetery you want to do, you %26quot;Caen do it%26quot; in the timescale you have allowed. I would still try and get out of Caen on Friday and get somewhere perhaps in Bayeux to stay. You can actually get a train through to Bayeux from Paris and could pick up your car in Bayeux. However, if you have alreay checked out train times and they do not fit in with your timetable then leaving Caen early on Saturday will still allow you time. I would say worst scenario from Caen along the coast in August could be as much as 3 hours. Why not take the N13 (two lanes all the way) to Omaha on Saturday morning, now that should only take just over the hour, then once you have seen the cemetery you may even have time to do the Omaha Beach museum before heading back into Bayeux. It%26#39;s not such a pretty route but it will be much less stressful if there is a lot of traffic.
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Thanks Thiaumerie!
That is good advice to skip 514 and take N13. Certainly will help me take in the museum for sure.
Thanks a lot for the help and advice. I will post again after my adventure : )
William the Adventurer
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Thiaumerie,
I have one more question that I would like your opinion on:
If I take the N13 to Bayeuz then the D6 back to 514 to Colleville, do you think I will have saved enough time to go see Pointe du Hoc in Grandcamp- Maisy? It seems that with this route I am saving at least an hour maybe two. How long is the drive from Colleville to GM?
THANKS!!!
William by the seat of his pants guy : )
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Hi William
What you have suggested would be the pleasant route to take. For speed, and in order to squeeze in pointe du hoc, then you need to keep on the N13 until you reach the D517 and then doune back on the D514 to Coleville. then, if you%26#39;re not running out of time take the D514 to Pointe u hoc and on to Gramdcamp Maisy then take up with the N13 again via the D113 to get you back to bayeux in time for your train.
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www.viamichelin will give you routes %26amp; journey times. We%26#39;ve always found the site fairly accurate.
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