August, 2022
Day 1: Arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport
Paris (3 nights)
Highlights of this tour:
Paris Latin Quarter
Louvre with guided tour
Notre Dame (exterior)
Seine River Cruise
Eiffel Tower at night for the light show
Montmarte and Sacre Couer
D-Day landing beaches and museums, American cemetery
Stay in a chateau with garden
Normandy countryside
Mont Saint-Michel
Chartres, cathedral city near Paris
Price of this trip for two persons: 23,950 Euro
Price for three or four: On Request
Available: Upgrade to a 5-star hotel in Paris
Available: Extend the trip with three nights in the Loire Valley
To book this tour, go to this sign-up form on our site and check the “France, D-day History” tour. Or, call us at 800-401-7802 to ask how this tour can be arranged just for you and your travel companions.
To learn more about this trip, please read below:
We stay in the Latin Quarter, Left Bank, in an historic, tiny hotel that is just a few steps away from the Seine. By turning right and walking about 30 seconds you are looking at the Louvre and the Notre Dame. Our family has been using this hotel for more than 20 years and the hospitality here reflects that.
You have a junior suite – a huge room by Parisian standards.
A walk around and lunch is planned for today. Rest if you need or want it and then dinner in one of our favorite places in the Latin Quarter.
Day 2
Paris sightseeing
With planning and his inside knowledge of how Paris is laid out, your private guide can show you a lot while still maintaining an easy, relaxed feel to the experience. We start with the Louvre, with fast track entry so that you don’t waste time in the huge line. You will have a guide who will explain the highlights. This lasts from 2.5 to 4 hours. After you get your fill of the art inside (this is the largest art museum in the world, so you will have to pick and choose as one could spend a year in here just looking at each piece for five minutes) we then go on a cruise on the Seine with an eye-popping view of the Eiffel Tower.
Also today, the Notre Dame cathedral. It is being repaired after the April 15, 2019 fire and so we walk around the outside and read the explanations of how they are rebuilding the roof.
You can have dinner on your own tonight. Our neighborhood is full of little bistros and cafes.
Day 3
Paris
Watch the charming film ‘Amelie’ to prepare for our visit today to the charming neighborhood of Montmarte, where we also see the beautiful church of Sacre Couer. We have lunch at a favorite place.
Later, we see the Arc de Triomphe and the Tullieres Garden plus the Place de la Concorde, where Marie Antoinette got her head chopped off. You will have time to visit Luxembourg Gardens on your own, as well as the very worthwhile church of St. German des Pres, in our neighborhood.
Dinner on your own.
Day 4
Normandy and D-day sites
Bayeux, Normandy (3 nights)
We make a stop to see Monet’s Garden at Giverny on our way to the coast and a three-night stay in historic and untouched by war Bayeux. You stay in a luxurious self-catering apartment in the center of the town.
The rest of the day for lazy exploring of Bayeux and then dinner on your own in a place near your apartment.
Day 5
D-day sites
James shows you:
- Arromanches-sur-Mer and the artificial harbor built by the British
- The Big Guns nearby which have survived the war, German batteries
- Omaha Beach where the Americans landed
- The American Military Cemetery above Omaha
- Pont du Hoc, full of craters from the bombardment before D-day
Dinner on your own in Bayeux. There are multiple options in all price categories.
The hotel can arrange reservations for you.
Day 6
D-day sites
We take a day off from the Second World War and visit lovely Honfleur, about an hour and 15 mins from Bayeux.
Day 7
Mont Saint-Michel area (2 nights)
Today we visit Saint Marie-Eglise, a lovely little town where the film ‘Longest Day’ was set. An American paratrooper was caught in the belfry of the church during the night of the invasion, he survived to tell his tale even after having been shot at by Germans. There is a nearby museum dedicated to the 82nd Airborne which is very much worth seeing. (Included in the price of your tour)
A stop at the poignant German military cemetery is worth it, because of the great contrast with how this cemetery is presented as opposed to the American one.
Later, we travel further along the coast to the Mont Saint-Michel area where we stay in a lovely 17th chateau with gardens.
Please note that this is a bed and breakfast and the family lives on site. There are less than six rooms. There is no dinner offered and there is not a restaurant nearby. This is why James carries his well-equipped picnic kit with him. We pick up a baguette, cheese, ham, fruit and whatever else you desire along with wine and enjoy a “picnique” French-style in the garden.
Day 8
We visit the famous Mont Saint-Michel monastery and town today. This is very hilly, just to let you know. There are also many steps which are not avoidable. You need to be in top physical condition in order to take part in this adventure.
We pick up pizzas on the way home to the chateau.
Day 9
Chartres (1 night)
We make our way back to the Paris area with a one night stop in the pretty, and very well-preserved small city of Chartres. The 13th and 14th century cathedral has some of the best stained glass in France. Other areas of the town are highly picturesque and lovely to explore. If your trip takes place in summer, then you are in for a treat because Chartres has one of the best illumination spectacles in France. It starts around 9:45 (or dusk).
Day 10: May 24
Departure, end of tour
The morning can be spent visiting the places in the town you didn’t get to the day before. Later, we make a stop at Versailles where we have “skip the line” tickets arranged. You enjoy an audio guide tour through one of the most famous of French palaces.
Later, heading for the airport north of Paris. (just under one hour drive)
Tour ends at around 4 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel at the airport.
Your Private Tour in France
Includes:
- Breakfast (at hotel) light lunch and guidance on selecting a place for you to have dinner if desired. your guide will be taking you to dinner sporadically through the trip, TBD or as noted on your final itinerary.
- Double occupancy spacious and extremely comfortable room always with private bath/shower and toilet in high quality four-star or similar hotels or high standard B&Bs.
- Transportation by our company-owned full-sized van
- Incidentals, tolls, fuel, sightseeing entry fees for those attractions listed on your itinerary, tips or payments to local guides, etc.
- Seine River cruise in Paris
- Entry to Louvre
- Taxis around Paris as needed, private transportation from the hotel to the airport on the day we leave Paris
- Entry fees for all D-day sites
- Your guide’s professional fee. No tip expected!
Note: With late lunches on some of those days when dinner is not included you will probably be well satisfied and will not want to have dinner, or at most, a light snack at a nearby café
Total cost in Euro for two persons: 23,950
To book this tour, go to this sign-up form on our site and check the “France, D-day History” tour. Or, call us at 800-401-7802 to ask how this tour can be arranged just for you and your travel companions.