Visiting Normandy Part I: Utah Beach

We're going to start the Normandy posts with the American sector of Utah Beach . It was a very important part of the Operation Overlord because if the landings failed they were going to focus on this sector. The mission of the 7th Army Corps was to take the coast while the 4th Infantry Division would be established on the road to bring the 82nd and 101st Airborne parachuted in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.

Utah was the least deadly of the five landing beaches, with 200 deaths.

THE BEACH

Utah Beach is quite long and you can reach its main entrance through the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. We can find  many memorials and German bunkers around. There are many remnants of the war.

We can also see the remains of the old barbed wire, as shown in the following photos.

In these pictures we can compare the walk to the beach, then and now. As you can see, it has not changed that much.

In front of the beach there are several memorials chaired by the French and American flags as well as the Landing Museum.

Utah Beach Landing Museum

Location: here 

Website: www.utah-beach.com  

Hours:  

January, March, November 10:00 to 17:30 

April, May, October 10:00 to 18:00 

From June to September 9:30 to 19:00  

Admission: 7.50 euros (6.50 with Normandie Pass) 

It's located in front of the beach and it shows the history of the war divided into ten stages from the German occupation until the d-day. It has been recently renovated and it welcomes an authentic B26 bomber.

MEMORIAL

These are some of the plaques and memorials that can be found along the beach:

 Memorial to the 90th American Division

 Memorial to the 1st Engineers Special Brigade

Memorial to the American Marines who participated in D-Day

On the road between Utah Beach to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont we stumbled upon these two memorials: the first one dedicated to the Danish seamen who participated in the d-day and the second one, opened in 2012 and dedicated to the Major Dick Winters of the 10st Airbone1 Division , well known for the TV series Band of Brothers.

Signal indicating the road

Memorial to Danish Marines

Memorial to Dick Winters, Easy Company

LIBERTY HIGHWAY

The route taken by the U.S. Army in the liberation of Europe is symbolically marked through these pivots coming from Utah Beach to Bastogne (Belgium). The 0 km is located in Sainte-Mère-Église , in front of the city hall.

SAINTE-MARIE-DU-MONT

This village was one of the first ones occupied by the paratroopers of the 101st. Curiously we can find here various war militaria shops, some of them located in old garages. It's worth the visit.

SAINTE-MÈRE-EGLISE

The 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd jumped over Sainte-Mére-Eglise, although many of them fell far away and got lost. In the steeple of the church we can see a paratrooper hanging remembering John Steele whose parachute got hooked there. This feat is also reflected in the film The Longest Day .

A few steps from the churh we can find the  Musée Airborne , dedicated to the paratroopers of the 101st and the 82nd.

Location: here
Website: www.airborne-museum.org

Hours:

January to March 10:00 to 17:00

9:00 to 18:45 April to September

10:00 to 17:00 October to December

Admission:  7euros (6 with normandie pass)
 

On the outskirts of town (indicated by various signs) we can visit the memorial to the paratroopers of these companies:

CARENTAN

Another village freed by the 101, famous for appearing in the series Band of Brothers . They couldn't get the town until June 12. A great battle was fought.

OTHER MUSEUMS NEAR UTAH BEACH

Batterie d'Azeville

Location: here .

Website: www.patrimoine-manche.fr

Hours: 

May and September 11:00 to 18:00

June, July and August 10:00 to 19:00

Rest of the year 14:00 to 18:00

Admission: 5 euros(4 with normandie pass)

Built by the Todt organization between 1941 and 1944. The battery belonged to the Atlantic Wall and bombed Utah Beach sector. It was taken on June 9 after an intense battle.

Musée de la Batterie de Crisbecq

Location: here

Website : www.batterie-marcouf.com

Hours:

April, October, November 11:00-18 :: 00

May, June, September 10:00 to 18:00

July, August 10:00 to 19:00

Rest of the year closed.

Admission: 6.50 euros (5.50 with normandie pass)

It was also built by the Todt organization in 1942. The men of this battery opposed great resistance to the American soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division landed on Utah.

Free travel guides and maps of Normandy

• Complete guide dedicated to the historical sites of Normandy, created by the Association Normandie Mémoire with details of museums and monuments. You can download it in pdf.

 

•  2013 Tourist Guide of Normandy: The delegation of  Bessin Normandy tourism published in its official website a pdf of 2013 Normandy travel guide in English. The guide contains information on the landing beaches, museums, restaurants and accommodation, as well as maps of the region. For a free guide is quite complete and brings a calendar of events that includes the d-day festival . Click the image to download the pdf.

D-DAY Festival 2013 program and first posters of the 70th anniversary

Three months before the 69th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the program of the D-DAY festival has just come out. In case anyone doesn't know what this is about, it is a festival celebrated each year in Normandy to commemorate the landing. The festival brings together veterans, families, offers parades, reenactments, walkings, concerts... Highly recommended for anyone interested in the D-Day.

 Official festival poster 2013

You can download the program (in French) here . The English version will be available in a few days at: http://www.bessin-normandie.com .

In addition, they are already announcing the next year's festival, which will be more spectacular as it will commemorate the 70th anniversary. They have left the first posters:

Orador-sur-Glane (France), the ghost town

After the Allied landings in France on June 6, 1944, the French partisans began a series of actions such as the kidnapping of the SS Colonel Helmut Kampfe. The commander Diekman was sent to Oradour by false information which indicated that the colonel was held in the village. Feeling frustrated by being cheated, he ordered the murder of all the inhabitants of Oradour. 642 people died. All men were called and were taken taken to shelters where they were shot and burned. They also locked all the women and children in the church and set fire. Only six people survived the slaughter. The whole village disappeared. He reconstructed the town around the original but keeping intact the scene of the massacre, as a memorial and reminder of the horrors of war. Today, we can visit this ghost village and walk the streets as they were left after the June 10, 1944. This area is called the Village Martyr .

GETTING TO ORADOUR

• By car: click here to see the location. Roads in France are pretty good so it's the easiest way to arrive there.

• By train: from many cities you can take the TGV train to Limoges. From Limoges there are buses that leave leave you in half an hour to the Oradour's center of memory. You can check here the bus schedule.

• By air: Limoges has an airport. There are flights from Paris (Orly) with TwinJet (1h10min) or with Ryanair from London or Liverpool (1h40min) for low cost. Another option is to take a plane to Bordeaux . Once in Bordeaux there are direct trains to Limoges for about 30 euros ( 2h 30min ). You can check schedules and prices here . From Limoges to Oradour by bus (30min).

ACOMMODATION IN ORADOUR

 If you want to spend the night in Oradour itself there is not much choice. You have the Glane Hotel  beside the Village Martyr and the b&b Le Moulin de la Fauvette 2km. If you prefer to stay in Limoges there is a lot more variety . Also if you stay here you can go to the Resistance Museum .

THE CENTER OF THE MEMORY ORADOUR

 Photo: Babsy

Location : here .  

Official website: http://www.oradour.org  

Openning hours: (last admission one hour before closing)

From 1 February to 28 February: 9:00-17:00

From 1 March to 15 May : 9:00-18:00

From 16 May to 15 September: 9:00-19:00

From 16 September to 31 October: 9:00-18:00

From 1 November to 15 December: 9:00-17:00

16 December to 31 January closed. 

Admission: 7.80 euros

It opened in 1999. It is the main access to the Village Martyr. This is a museum created to commemorate both the history of Oradour as the German invasion of France. The permanent exhibition "Understanding Oradour" includes a campus tour through the years 1933-1944, the days June 9th and 10th 1944, the reconstruction of the town and a universal message.

THE VILLAGE MARTYR

The Village Martyr is the area which includes the ruins of the village. You enter through the Centre of the Memory but you can access the ruins without making the tour of the museum. The admission is free.

 Photos: JLPC

After the ruins, we find the cemetery where they buried the victims of the slaughter. You can also visit a memorial located in an underground crypt with objects found in the ruins of the buildings. It is located at the entrance of the cemetery.

Source: http://www.oradour-souviens-toi.fr

Armor Museum of Saumur, France

VISITOR INFORMATION

Location here  
Website: http://www.museedesblindes.fr/

Open daily except December 25 and January 1.

Timetable:

January, February, March, April, October, November and December -> Monday to Friday: 10:00-17:00 / Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: 11:00-18:00.

May, June and September: 10:00-18:00 (every day).

July and August: 9:30 to 18:30 (every day).

Guided tours in July and August at 10:30 and 15:00.

Admission: 7.50 euros (5 euros surcharge if you want to take pictures and videos).

GETTING TO SAUMUR

It is located in the Loire region. If we make a route by car to see the castles Saumur is a good choice, not only for the museum but it also has a beautiful castle of the XIX century

• From Paris or Nantes: From Nantes you can catch a train to Saumur (the journey takes one hour and the ticket is around 20 euros ). We can also rent a car in Nantes (see map here ). If we want to go from Paris it's  better to rent a car because train will take over 4hours and we have to make a transfer. Car route from Paris here (about three hours ). Train tickets and schedules: http://www.voyages-sncf.co.uk/
  

ACCOMMODATION IN SAUMUR 

If you go to Saumur is quite likely that you will have to spend the night there. Depending on the type of accommodation you seek you will have several options. You can check here for hotels and hostels with prices and reviews.

EXHIBITION

If you like tanks this is your museum. Well worth a visit as it has a complete collection. We can find Allied and German tanks from the World War II. There is also a room dedicates to the contemporary world. The tour takes between 1h and 2h 30 min .

This is the plan of the museum:

 

Acording to the WW2, in the room of the Battle of France (1940) we can fin theese ones:

 Hotchkiss H 39
 Renault AMR 33
 Renault R 39
 Renault R 35
 Panhard AMD 178
 Renault B1 bis
 Somua S 35
 Renault UE 31
 Side Gnome & Rhone
 Renault ACG1
 FCM 36
 Laffly V15T Licorne