Normandy and ww2

[polarbear]

i was wondering if anyone here has any experience doing the normandy coast/ D day beaches/ invasion area. and could lend me an ear to good hostels and good ways to go about it.
any info ? thanks!

[snowball1982]

Originally Posted by polarbear

i was wondering if anyone here has any experience doing the normandy coast/ D day beaches/ invasion area. and could lend me an ear to good hostels and good ways to go about it.
any info ? thanks!

I'm not sure of your nationality, but if you are Canadian and bilingual, you can work as a tour guide at our Canada Heritage war memorial sites in France.
That would be a super sweet gig.

I hear Canadians are also treated like gold in the Netherlands because of our role in their liberation. Probably quite a few memorials and historical sites there as well. The Canadian military also fought in Italy, before D-Day, South East Asia, and of course throughout mainland Germany until VE day.

[polarbear]

im am an American, so i guess the job thing would be a no fly. i was just wondering if i should have a baseplant in a place like caen, and make day trips? ive always been very interested in ww2 history, and to see the landing beaches and places like carentan and st.mere eglise would be a total treat lol

[expatben]

snowball do you have any links? Because that seems awesome!
As for Normandy its a very nice part of Europe and actually my favorite part of France. I have no hostel experience as I always went with my parents.

[snowball1982]

Originally Posted by expatben

snowball do you have any links? Because that seems awesome!

BAM!!

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/youth/sub.c...e=studentguide

[worldwidemike]

Well, obviously anything near the beginning of June is going to be swamped with veterans groups visiting...what with the anniversary of D-Day and all. Personally, I'd read up on the sites you want to see, grab a map, and plan your own visit. I'm sure a lot of it is accessible by public transport, or you could do it via bicycle or scooter. It's a relatively small area, in general.

Other cool WW II sites are in Holland. I went to the "Bridge Too Far" on a visit there. You can see just about all of Holland via the train...excellent service.

But as to actually visiting Normandy battlefields, I haven't done it, yet. I would thing an amazing day in itself would be just walking along the beaches and comparing the different terrain and approaches...

Good luck, and let us know what you come up with! I'm sure others would like to do it as well.

worldwidemike

[Somnambulation]

When I went to Normandy for the purpose of seeing the WW2 sights I stayed in a town called Bayeux, which I highly recommend. It was the only town in the area to not get destroyed by bombing so it retains it medieval flavor. In fact they were havinig a medieval festival while I was there in late June. I stayed in a hostel called "Family Hostel" if I remember correctly, and it was pretty good, I remember meeting some cool people there. Magnificent free breakfast as well. There are all kinds of tour comapnies that take you around to the different sights, I called teh one the hostel recommended, and was picked up along with a couple of other people in the middle of town by the tour van. Ive heard Caen wasnt a very interesting place to stay, but Ive never been there.

[polarbear]

thanks Somnambulation! that is great info!
ill definitely take that into account when making my trip plans.
excellent!