NORMANDY - LOCATION GUIDE HISTORY Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in Normandy. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area. The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in Normandy who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives. Making Life Easier for You This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour. Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge. Peace of Mind So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along. You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System. HISTORY VISITS Arromanches D Day Museum This museum is built on the site of the original artificial harbour. Your visit will include a sound and light display of the landings, animated models and videos recreating the British construction of Mulberry Harbour. Website: www.musee-arromanches.fr/ Arromanches 360 Cinema This cinema offers a dramatic recreation of the experience of landing in Normandy during the invasion. The film mixes archival footage filmed in June 1944 by war correspondents, with current shots on the same site, now restored to peace. Arromanches 360 is the only circular cinema open in France today. Website: www.arromanches360.com Bayeux Tapestry A unique opportunity to see the world famous embroidery documenting William the Conqueror’s invasion of England. Whilst in Bayeux spend some time around this pretty town to visit the Cathedral or market. Website: www.tapestry-bayeux.com/ Caen Memorial Museum This outstanding museum takes students on a historical journey from 1918 through to 1944 and beyond. Exhibitions focus on the Failure of Peace, Life in Occupied France, Total War, the D-day Landings and the Cold War. Guided tours are available. Website: www.memorial-caen.fr Educational Resources: The museum some great educational tools covering a range of topics. D-Day Landing Beaches Guided tours covering the key landing beaches Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword and Juno can be arranged and are highly recommended. The guides are experienced historians from Caen Memorial Museum. Educational Resources: We can provide you with a resource pack covering the D Day Landings created by the Normandy Tourist Board. They include key events, maps of the operation and a personal story of a D Day veteran. Memorial Pegasus Museum The Pegasus Bridge played a vital part in the success of the D-Day landings. Along with this memorial and exhibition, students can view the original bridge from the Airborne Museum. We recommend combining this visit with Ranville Cemetery and Merville Battery Museum. Website: www.musee-memorial-pegasusbridge.fr/ Merville Battery Museum The Merville Gun Battery was a coastal fortification in Normandy, in use as part of the Nazis' Atlantic Wall and built to defend continental Europe from Allied invasion. It was a particularly heavily fortified position and one of the first places to be attacked by Allied forces during the D-Day Landings. Visitors will follow a set route to understand the way an artillery battery worked, the position of the Merville Battery in the Atlantic Wall, its importance to Rommel and the daily routine of the its soldiers. Website: www.batterie-merville.com/the-museum?lang=en Mulberry Harbour The remains of this infamous floating harbour can still be clearly seen today, off the coast of Arromanches. Overlord Museum Located close to Omaha Beach, the Overlord Museum chronicles the period of the Allied landing until the liberation of Paris. The collection there was set up by the Leloup family who have a collection of over half a century’s worth of research, salvage and historical pieces from the Normandy battlefields. Website: www.overlordmuseum.com/en/museum/ Pointe du Hoc This cliff top location on the coast , west of Omaha Beach was a point of attack by the United States Army Ranger Assault Group during Operation Overlord in World War II. Ranville Cemetery Ranville was the first village to be liberated in France when the bridge over the Caen Canal was captured intact in the early hours of 6 June by troops of the 6th Airborne Division. Many of the division's casualties are buried in Ranville War Cemetery and the adjoining churchyard. The cemetery contains 2,235 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 97 of them unidentified. There are also 330 German graves and a few burials of other nationalities. Utah Beach Landing Museum Located on the very site of the U.S Landing of June 6th 1944. D-Day remnants and testimonies are explained in this impressive monument to the memory of the Allied landings in Normandy. The museum is located inside an old German bunker known under code name WN5. The aim of the museum is to convey the memory of the events that took place in June 1944, and so it relives the history of the landings along with its human and technical prowess. Website: www.utah-beach.com CULTURAL VISITS Food Visits Normandy has an excellent range of food related visits which give a great insight into the culture of this this region and gives students the chance to enter food producing environments to see how local produce is made and in many cases have a go at making it themselves, not forgetting a chance to taste it at the end. Co-Pains Boulangerie, Cambremer Here your group will have a guided tour and demonstration on how traditional French breads are made. For students of French Language we can arrange for the demonstration to be delivered in French. Ciderie Manoir d’Apreval, Honfleur Take a tour around this estate where you will see the orchard and the cider mill and witness the process of cider making from start to finish. Cider and apple juice tastings can be arranged at the end of the tour. Your guided tour can be in English or French. Website: www.apreval.com Musée du Chocolat – Chocolaterie du Drakkar, Bayeux This museum tells the story of chocolate making through the ages and the childrens’ area lets younger visitors test their sense of smell as they try to identify the flavours added to cocoa. After the museum you can see the famous ‘drakkar’ chocolate being made today, followed by a tasting session. Website: www.chocolateriedrakkar.com Calvadosienne Oyster Farm, Asnelles Your visit here will start with a quick lesson on what oysters are followed by a tour around the workshop. You will then have the chance to visit the oyster beds, provided its low tide. Top Tip: If you do visit the oyster beds be sure to wear appropriate footwear, boots are recommended as it will be wet! Website: www.calvadosienne.fr Biscuiterie Cormier, Asnelles You will see a demonstration of biscuit making and then get a chance to have a go yourselves. Mimarnel Cheese Farm Here you can take a guided tour in French and see the cheese making process followed by a tasting session. Normandy Caramels Find out how caramels are made with a tour that covers the whole process, finished off with a tasting session. Website: www.caramels-isigny.com Cite de la Mer Aquarium, Dieppe Discover the maritime activity of the fishing ports of Normandy at this museum in Dieppe. You can visit the museum which takes you through the history of shipbuilding via a series of interactive visits and then discover marine habitats in the aquarium. Website: www.estrancitedelamer.fr/anglais/aindex.htm Mont St Michel An iconic image of Normandy, this island is part of the UNESCO world heritage sites list. A visit here allows you to drive over the causeway to the tiny island to wander around the tiny streets to visit trinket shops and cafés. You can walk to the top to take a look around the famous abbey and take in the spectacular views. Website: www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/en/accueil.htm Honfleur This old, picturesque port retains its authentic Norman charm, characterised by houses with slate covered frontages painted by well known artists of the Impressionist movement. A visit Eglise Sainte Catherine is a must; it’s the largest church made out of wood in France. Website: www.ville-honfleur.com/ Caen One of the main cities in Normandy, Caen is approx 60 minutes drive from the coast. After a visit to the well known Caen Memorial Museum, Caen has a great range of shops and cafes to spend some free time. Website: www.tourisme.caen.fr/anglais/index.asp# .