TRAVEL

Cliffs, Pays de Caux. Copyright: Clara Ferrand, Normandie Tourisme

Pays d’Auge. Copyright: All rights reserved.

Part Two: May 8 - May 10, 2024

Wednesday, May 8: Bayeux, Arromanches and Longues-sur-Mer, including private tours of the Bayeux museum (Bayeux Tapestry), Arromanches 360, Longues-sur-Mer German battery and a private heritage site. Lunch in Bayeux included.

Exclusive dinner at Le Botaniste, Château de La Chenevière (2 toques, Gault & Millau) with a guest of honor: a US veteran who took part in the Landing as a young medic.

Thursday, May 9: American Cemetery, Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach, with the American Battle Monuments Commission. Lunch near Omaha Beach included.

Private dinner and evening to celebrate French-American friendship with our hosts in their beautifully restored 18th-century château. Dinner included.

Friday, May 10: Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Utah Beach and Angoville. Carentan-Paris return trip by train included. Lunch included.

NB Part Two will include long walks across fields and beaches to visit former WW2 battlegrounds.

“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well- trained, well-equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely... I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” General Dwight Eisenhower, June 5, 1944.

COmaha Beach. All rights reserved.

Norman hospitality

We have selected two charming independent hotels, each with ties to French and Norman history.

La Ferme Saint-Siméon (Part One): 17th-century farmhouse in a lovely harbour town, birth place of the Impressionist School of Honfleur. Starting in the mid-19th century, the “Mère Toutain” became famous amongst young artists for her cuisine and warm welcome, attracting the likes of Corot, Courbet, Boudin, Monet, and many more.

Honfleur is a charming seaside town, with restaurants and bistros, in addition to the Ferme Saint Siméon’s two in-house restaurants.

Château de La Chenevière (Part Two): 18th and 19th century château. During WW2, the estate was occupied by the Germans. On the night of June 4, 1944, the then-owner Armand Lapierre, who was a member of the Résistance, took part in the “Grande Coupure” to destroy the German lines of communication in the area before the Allied landing on June 6, 1944. By the time of the landing, the Germans had left, and the Royal Army Service Corps moved in.

NB Both hotels have a spa and a swimming pool.

The last evening and night will be spent in a private 18th- century château just off Utah Beach at the invitation of its owners, who have often welcomed Army General Mark A. Milley and his staff on the eve of the D-Day commemorations. They will host a dinner to celebrate French-American friendship in the beautiful setting of their estate.

“Opposite him, almost level with the cliff, in the open sea rose an enormous rock, over eighty yards high, a colossal obelisk, standing straight on its granite base, which showed at the surface of the water, and tapering toward the summit, like the giant tooth of a monster of the deep. White with the dirty gray white of the cliff, the awful monolith was streaked with horizontal lines marked by flint and displaying the slow work of the centuries, which had heaped alternate layers of lime and pebble-stone one atop of the other.” Arsène Lupin, The Hollow Needle, by Maurice Leblanc, Chapter 8.

Reservations

The Normandy trip is both a celebration of AFMO’s mission and a fundraising initiative to help support the 150th-anniversary celebrations.

Two packages are offered (limited capacity, including breakfast and meals as described in the itinerary above):

The trip is FULLY BOOKED.

The trip has been developed in collaboration with Normandie impressionniste, the Normandy Tourism Board and the American Battle Monuments Commission.

AFMO wishes to thank CHRISTIE’S for their partnership and support of our Impressionist season in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Impressionism. Many thanks as well to Le Bristol Paris for their support to our May 4 celebratory evening and Normandy trip.