Avalon Normandy excursion

looking for input from anyone who has done this excursion. I see it is 10 hours, is a lot of time spent traveling in a bus vs being at the sites? what specific beaches/museums do they see? any impressions or input would be appreciated. we are trying to decide between the two excursions offered and both look good

Hi. (We have not done this excursion through a river cruise, but have through a cruise ship) I have read other posters comments re Normandy Beaches excursions though. They had a choice of US beach tour(Omaha beach, memorial and cemetery where an emotional service was performed,were the 3 stops); or Commonwealth beach tour(Utah, etc). The alternative tour was the Taste of Normandy. Every comment I have read has been positive for both types of tours. It is a long driving day, and if you do not have the ties/interest in the WWII history, it may seem too much of a long ride to take the "beaches" option. We will be taking it, even though we were there 10 years ago. Our fathers were in the D-Day landings, and it has tremendous emotional and historical appeal for us! Hope this was somewhat helpful to you.:)

looking for input from anyone who has done this excursion. I see it is 10 hours, is a lot of time spent traveling in a bus vs being at the sites? what specific beaches/museums do they see? any impressions or input would be appreciated. we are trying to decide between the two excursions offered and both look good

yes, very helpful! we did decide on Normandy, my dad served in ww2, but was army air and Thank God not in that battle. but it will be very interesting and moving to see. We were on an ocean cruise a few years ago close on the anniversary year and a large number of buses were leaving on the tout to Normandy . we had decided not to go as I was with my elderly mother. But I teared up just watching all the buses leave for the tour.

moved to main River Cruising forum in the hope of getting more replies

Go on to Omaha beach, walk toward the water, and then turn around and look up at the German fortifications on top of the hills.

Then realize that they were shooting at where you are standing. How anybody survived that, let alone climbed up those high lands and took out the pillboxes is unbelievable.

Then when you're up on top, go into one of the fortifications and look out and imagine you hear the allied planes overhead and then, when it got light, see the allies coming in ships and landing craft....

Glad you could use the info. I'm sure the beaches will be meaningful to you! (I'm sure you made the right decision for your elderly mom)Actually my Dad was also in the Army AirCorp, too.(later to be Air Force:))My F-I-L was in a specialized Army unit and landed in 2nd wave on Omaha during initial invasion, D-Day! He lived through it, only to be put into the Battle of the Bulge during his 1st day of R&R from D-Day!,but was never able to talk about it! Found out what he went through from his superior after he died. I understand we will not have much time there, but any time is worth it to us.:)

yes, very helpful! we did decide on Normandy, my dad served in ww2, but was army air and Thank God not in that battle. but it will be very interesting and moving to see. We were on an ocean cruise a few years ago close on the anniversary year and a large number of buses were leaving on the tout to Normandy . we had decided not to go as I was with my elderly mother. But I teared up just watching all the buses leave for the tour.

I understand what you are saying! You can almost feel and hear the sounds and sights! It is truly emotional and moving!! When we were there, the French countrymen(and women)were carrying "thank you" signs, stopping us to talk to, and showing so much emotion for what the allies did that we were in tears most of the time we were there! Thanx for pointing that out for those who may not consider doing that.

Go on to Omaha beach, walk toward the water, and then turn around and look up at the German fortifications on top of the hills.

 

Then realize that they were shooting at where you are standing. How anybody survived that, let alone climbed up those high lands and took out the pillboxes is unbelievable.

 

Then when you're up on top, go into one of the fortifications and look out and imagine you hear the allied planes overhead and then, when it got light, see the allies coming in ships and landing craft....

When I took this tour I virtually knew nothing about D day. ( I'm sure it was taught in school, I just never paid attention) I was taking the River Cruise to see Paris and Monet and Van Gough. Normandy was the selling point for my hubby.

But, I have to say, I was 100% drawn in. I'm a visual learner. The actual visual along with the guides explanation of what we were looking at put all the pieces together. The guides are very knowledgable more like historians. Also, on our sailing, there was a historian/author who gave a power point lecture the night before. (Our CD was Yvette)

Getting back to the visuals, of course the cemetery is obvious. But at the beach all there was for the men to hide under were pebbles. Tiny pebbles. Much of the fighting away from the beach was done behind hedges (I'm sure there is a military term) and those hedges are still there You are able to picture it in your mind.

You do see where the Americans built the bunkers. But you need the guide to explain to you what was exactly happening at that time. The guide knows the timeline to the minute

After the day was over, I was able to connect with the events and understood how brave the French citizens and Allied forces were.

yes, very helpful! we did decide on Normandy, my dad served in ww2, but was army air and Thank God not in that battle. but it will be very interesting and moving to see. We were on an ocean cruise a few years ago close on the anniversary year and a large number of buses were leaving on the tout to Normandy . we had decided not to go as I was with my elderly mother. But I teared up just watching all the buses leave for the tour.

How was it? I am torn on whether or not to take this excursion.

it was a wonderful tour. very moving to see the beach areas, and the cemetary, and the museum. we had a fabulous guide who was a wealth of knowledge and presented information well. I learned a lot. the included lunch was rather good, as well. the lecture the night before on our cruise was not very well done, rather disorganized. but the tour guides in the Normandy area were excellent. it is also rather moving to see the signs in the area thanking the allies.

it was a wonderful tour. very moving to see the beach areas, and the cemetary, and the museum. we had a fabulous guide who was a wealth of knowledge and presented information well. I learned a lot. the included lunch was rather good, as well. the lecture the night before on our cruise was not very well done, rather disorganized. but the tour guides in the Normandy area were excellent. it is also rather moving to see the signs in the area thanking the allies.

Thank you! What other included tours did you take? We can't book anything until we get onboard. Do you think that is a problem?

we did les Andelys walking tour of the town, and we had a lovely guide, she reviewed the story od Richard the lionhearted. cute shops, as well. in giverney, it rained, but it was worth seeing. In Roen, we did the walking tour with Joan of arc history, very nice. we skipped the abbey tour in caudebec, as I was feeling well, and just wandered around tone on our own, then did Honfleur in the afternoon, which we loved. did the walking tour of ile de cite, and ile St. Louis, and went into Notre dame and loved it, but we were staying on in Paris and knew we could do the overview on our own. you could do the Eiffel Tower the day u arrive, they take you to a hotel near Montparnasse tower, but it was pouring rain, we just wandered down to a bakery and had some wonderful quiche.

why can't you sign up on the website for tours? but I don't think it will be a problem, they were very accommodating on the tours, even tried to give you the guide you wanted if you had a preference.

Great info thank you! We do have the eiffel tower tour booked. The day we get there we are coming from Disneyland Paris and on the way we will see the Louvre. They will drop us at the hotel meeting point after that.

It's a work trip and it's discounted, so we can't pre book anything. I don't kno why, but it is what it is. I am wondering if it's worth doing Mouin Rouge on the last night, the 1pm show on;y. We can't stay in Paris and my parents really want to see it.

Just back from France and did this tour. Our boat, Viking Pride, was docked in Rouen and we were bussed two hours each way to get to the beaches. We did the Commonwealth Tour that included a visit to see the Bayeux tapestries. The tour is wonderful and very moving regardless of where you are from or whether or not you had family that served.

The Normandy area is one of our favorites - history, friendly people, beautiful scenery, great food. We've done 7 river cruises including Viking Paris-Normandy. Even with staying longer in the area after our cruise this time with the boat tour was well spent and gave a wonderful overview.

We stayed in Bayeux after our cruise and did more specific WWII touring which complemented the boat tour very well. I was surprised to find that I found it so interesting and educational. I had expected to enjoy it less than my husband but that was not the case at all. We heard many stories and saw many examples of the caring people in this area. We were especially impressed by the French school children visiting the sites where they learned a bit of their history first hand. We saw many visiting veterans (all countries) and spoke to a few.

On the way out from the boat the time was used by our guide to tell us more about what we were going to see and the time back was spent resting up for dinner and the evening. We enjoyed it so much that we're planning a return cruise and staying even longer after. Don't miss it.

FYI - There is a direct train from Paris to Bayeux.