2010 TOUR ITINERARY
- 2010 -

June 2nd, Wednesday. Our tour members arrive throughout the day at our CDG Airport hotel and gather at 7 PM for cocktails and our "Welcoming Group Dinner".

June 3rd, Thursday. Our luxury coach carries us north along the Seine, past Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's headquarters in Roche Guyon, through Giverny and Vernon to the Normandy battlefields and the British Airborne landings at the Eastern end of the 77 day campaign area. We will visit Pegasus Bridge, the British Airborne Museum, meet hostess Arlette Gondree at the first liberated (Gondree) home and Cafe, General Gale's Ranville church HQ and the nostalgic British airborne cemetery, the Merville Battery, German pillboxes overlooking the British Sword Beach. On to Bayeux mid town hotel check-in for five nights. Bayeux is an outstanding picturesque, gourmand, 12th century city untouched by bombs, shellfire or small arms fire.

June 4th, Friday. Today we'll tour British and Canadian battle sites. These forces were equal in size to the Americans but had four times as many tanks as their battles were pitted against powerful and experienced German Panzer (tank) divisions.

June 5th, Saturday. Today the roads will be very busy with WW 2 vehicles and re-enactors from around the world. Dressed in the uniforms of that day you will feel you are part of a Hollywood movie set. We'll visit the bunkers and blockhouses of Hitler's "impenetrable Atlantic Wall" commanding Omaha Beach, it's very moving massive US cemetery, the beach as depicted in "Private Ryan" and "The Longest Day" and the 120 foot high Pointe du Hoc scaled by the assault Rangers. There is much to see throughout the area all day. Dinner in Bayeux on your own.

June 6th, Sunday. D-DAY (which was Tuesday in 1944). We'll travel to the Utah Beach-Ste. Mere Eglise area on the Contentin Peninsula to study a dozen battle sites and probably witness commomeratative ceremonies. Re-enactors will exhibit WW 2 equipment and uniforms. The towns will be decorated with memorabilia, American and French flags. There may be a parachute jump by 82nd Airborne paras into the same farmland as 66 years ago.You will be part of the festivities and meet numerous original veterans.

June 7th, Monday. Traveling south west we'll visit the hard fought Martinville Ridge overlooking the 88% destroyed City of St. Lo now restored to its previous grandeur. This will lead us to the famous Abbey of Mont St. Michel (tour and dinner) built on an island one mile off shore, in 944 AD, and the separation point of Normandy and Brittany. It is also the area where General George C. Patton's Third Army having successfully broken through the German lines made an end run around the German western defenses. This will be a very full day returning to our Bayeux hotel.

June 8th, Tuesday. We check out of our hotel and travel south east to the campaign closing battle sites from Falaise to Chambois to Vimoutiers with numerous historically significant stops. This will bring us back to our CDG Airport hotel for a "Til We Meet Again Dinner."

June 9th, Wednesday. The hotel airport bus will take us to our respective airline departure terminals for return to the US or on going connections.