Normandy

Thursday 18th September 2025 – Utah Beach to Quineville…

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A bit of a grey one again today but still very mild. We didn’t rush off this morning and instead had a bit of an admin morning – showering, cleaning, topping up and emptying as you do before heading off to our first stop at Utah Beach. The 5th of the beaches used for the D-Day landings. Some 20,000, predominantly American and some British soldiers landed here on D-Day with relatively few casualties (around 200) recorded, the beach was taken in half an hour! The beach stretches for some 9 miles which we have covered today but only 3 miles of it was used for the landings.

Utah Beach Landings Museum

The beach itself is backed by low marram covered dunes and at low tide seems to go on forever….

We took the opportunity for a nice long walk along the beach heading northwards, enjoyed watching the horses and carts galloping along the sands and the mussel or oyster farming activities further along before heading back to the van and continuing our journey….

Stopping briefly at the little sleepy hamlets and their beaches (all included in the overall beach code named Utah Beach) along the way. Plage de Grand Hameau and Plage les Gougins…..

Before arriving at our stopping point for the night – the northerly end of Utah Beach at Quineville. We are parked up in a small free Aire provided by the village for a maximum of 24 hour stay – no services. Time for a walk around the village, taking note of the location of the boulangerie for the morning and a walk along the beach before settling down for the evening.

Thoughts of the day:

  • Having now walked on all 5 of the D-Day landing beaches it strikes me how little evidence there is remaining of that eventful day just my own imagination…
  • How blessed to find free park ups like this where we shall sleep to the sound of the sea lapping the shore
  • Not many Brits about – plenty of campers and Motorhomes but mostly French or German

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 30
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 4

Wednesday 17th September 2025 – from Graye-sur-Mer to Grandcamp-Maisy….

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Another mixed day weather wise – when the sun comes out it is beautiful but I’m not complaining as it is dry and reasonably warm still. Our first stop today was to Plage de Grayes-sur-Mer just the other side of Courselles – just a brief stop to take a look at the beach and La croix de Lorraine symbolising peace after World War II, which towers over the beach….

This section of coast from here to Arramanches was code named ‘Gold Beach’ in the D-Day landings with some 25,000 British troops landing here. Our next stop was Plage de Ver-sur-Mer….

Followed by the more stunning Plage d’Asnelles with the remains of the Phoenix Caissons constructed after the D-Day landings to provide safe anchorage, clearly visible at sea….

A lovely walk along the front here (the dog situation was too complicated to work out!) took us to the equally splendid Plage La Fontaine St Come….

A bit further along the road we stopped briefly at the Memorial to the Royal Engineers but again parking was an issue – just enough time for us to capture the stunning Plage de Arromanches and the remains of the Mulberry Harbour below…

Next up and my favourite so far on this trip was the stunningly beautiful Omaha beach (ok so the sunny weather certainly helped but wow!). Omaha beach was another of the 5 beaches where the D-Day landings took place – this time by US forces, some 34000 landed with sadly around 2400 casualties at the end of the day. The memorial sculpture is quite stunning….

Here, having found a good parking spot we were able to enjoy a walk along this incredible beach…

It has been quite a day but as we have found a nice Camping Car Park Aire for the night in Grandcamp-Maisy we wandered down through the deserted village to take a look at the beach before settling down for the evening…

Thoughts of the day:

  • So much history and respect
  • Finding parking at the various memorials is quite challenging as many have height restrictions on the car parks
  • I’m struggling to have enough signal to hotspot my lap-top to write these blogs so at the moment have resorted to doing it on my phone

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 66
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beaches – 7
  • Aire – £13.20 with EHU

Tuesday 16th September 2025 – from Lion-sur-Mer to Courseulles-sur-Mer….

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After a quiet night at Hermanville-sur-Mer and a short walk around the village we took a very short drive to our first beach of the day at Lion-sur-Mer – the parking wasn’t ideal so we made a quick dash to see Plage du Bas Lion before driving to our next location.

Here at Luc-sur-Mer we were able to find parking and decided to take the opportunity to walk along the next few beaches – well along the promenade at least. Our first beach was Plage du Petit Enfer and the first we have encountered that is full of seaweed. A little further west is Plage de Luc-sur-Mer – not quite so weedy….

Further along we came to Plage de Langrune sur Mer and finally Plage de St Aubin-sur-Mer – the weather brightening as we returned to the van.

A short drive up the coast to Bernières-sur-Mer with a nice bit of sunshine which makes all the difference. This stretch of beach was code named Juno Beach during the D-Day landings in which the Canadian troops played a large part and are recognised with this tribute to the Queen’s own Rifles of Canada at the far end of Plage Bernieres-sur-Mer above Juno Beach….

Another short hop up the road to the outskirts of Courseulles-sur-Mer where we have found a free Aire for the night on the edge of Parc L’Edat and once settled took a wander down through the park to visit Plage de Courseulles-sur-Mer….

Thoughts of the day:

  • Not only did the weather improve but the quality of the beaches – in my opinion.
  • Do the French not do chutney? I’ve looked in each shop so far and can find jam of every description – this could prove desperate as I’m running out!!!
  • The French do love a good road sign and sometimes it proves nigh on impossible to read them all to find the one you want – parking signs in particular always seem to carry a second set of instructions which by the time you’ve got to them you are already committed – wrongly or rightly

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 9
  • Miles walked – 8
  • Beaches – 8
  • Groceries – £27.22

Monday 15th September 2025 – back to the coast above Caen to begin our journey along the west coast of France….

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A bit showery on and off and a stiff breeze blowing which at least meant that when we did get wet, we got dry quite quickly too! We loitered for a while on the aire at Honfleur because as you can imagine some 100 or so vans trying to leave and use the facilities was quite chaotic but were on our way just after 11. A forty mile drive took as back to the Ferry Port and the coastal village of Ouistretham and we found parking at the far end (west) at the Plage de la Breche d’Hermanville where we began our walk along alternately the beach and walkway back towards Ouistretham.

All along the walk way are reminders of the eventful D-Day landings which took place here on 6th June 1944 and many photos of the 70th Anniversary ceremonies attended by our late Queen and Prince Phillip – I am sure there will be many other markers on our journey along this section of coastline.

The next section of beach is the Plage de Coleville-Montgomery leading onto Sword Beach where the fateful landings took place and on this blustery day mecca for a few hardy and experienced wing surfers….

Beyond lies Plage de Riva Bella (set up for volley ball and other sports) and the great expanse of Ouistretham Beach leading up to the entrance to the Ferry Port – here Tilly had great fun chasing the sand and little bits of seaweed caught up in the wind….

As the beach ran out we walked inland towards the village to seek a bit of respite from the wind and flying sand now blowing into our faces and I’m so pleased we did as we got to visit the stunning memorial created for the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2014….

Breathtakingly beautiful and poignant at the same time – a little further along the beach is the original monument ‘The Flame’ and four (2 pictured) ‘nothing to do with the war’ animal sculptures by Michel Bassonpierre….

All in all another very successful and somewhat educational day and a very handy small camping carpark Aire a couple of miles inland at Hermanville sur Mer (only 24 units at capacity!).

Thoughts of the day:

  • How beautifully kept and maintained are the memorials – clearly a sense of pride and honour
  • In fact – how beautifully well kept is everywhere – no rubbish / graffiti
  • How come the beaches around the uk get all sorts of waste washed ashore – but I have seen no evidence of anything similar here so far

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 40
  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 5
  • Aire – £13 with EHU

Sunday 14th September 2025 – Normandy Day 4 – from Blonville to Honfleur….

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A very grey day today but after some rain during the night it remained dry until the evening, which suits us just fine. We drove a short distance and found parking on the outskirts of Deauville taking a short walk down to the seafront our first beach (dog friendly) was Benerville sur Mer, a long section of shell strewn sand – a good place for a coffee and for a runabout for Tilly…

Walking eastwards towards the centre of Deauville lay a long stretch of sand with some pretty imposing properties overlooking the beach and some peculiar small sand hills down by the shoreline. On closer inspection these little sand hills are the result of the top layer of sand up by the centre of town being dragged down to the shoreline – I’m not exactly sure why but maybe to keep the sand up by the town fresh?

As expected the centre of town was busy as we wandered across the river into Trouville sur Mer and alongside it’s busy street market to the beach (not dog friendly) before making our way back to the van….

Another few miles up the road we made a quick stop in the small village of Villerville to catch the fast disappearing sandy beach of Plage des Bains….

Another brief stop to see the Plage de Vasouy, an out of town beach with just a beach cafe and some toilets but also not dog friendly? Town beaches having dog restrictions I get but this is a good few miles from anywhere – we didn’t linger.

Our next and final stop was the buzzing small coastal town of Honfleur. Here there were people of all nationalities meandering down the small cobbled streets lined with boutiques and bars. There was even a cruise ship in town!

After parking up in the motorhome aire which was huge having some 180 spaces, most of which were occupied – normally I would take one look and drive on but I wanted to visit the town so decided to brave it – in fact it was very peaceful and I felt very safe here so this will probably be the first of many. We wandered into town and across it to take a look at the beach>. The beach was again not dog friendly but full of dogs!! However we are walked out so just took a looksee before heading back to the aire….

Thoughts of the day:

  • I wanted to visit Honfleur, Deauville and Trouville to see if I remembered them from visiting as a teenager (a few years ago mind!) and though I didn’t recollect anything specific there was a certain familiarity, so mission accomplished and now we shall head back to the otherside of Caen and start our journey along the coast, ultimately heading south, from there.
  • Not many other Brits about, judging by all the vans in the Aire

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 14
  • Miles walked – 11
  • Beaches – 7
  • Site – £13 with EHU