Our drive from Le Havre to The War Beaches

I felt I should post this because I received so much help and advice before our trip. Paying it forward.

Based on a report here, we rented a car to pick up at the port in Le Havre, to drive to Mont St Michel in our 10-hour window (best scenario). The guy at the rental car pickup was late arriving, and when we asked for the auto shift, he told us this was not possible. Okay, we half-expected that, and one of our group of three was therefore the designated driver with the manual-shift Renault. The other two were map-readers and trip directors.

As the driver of that Renault, I can tell you it was not my best car. The rear window was a tiny oval, very difficult for backing up. As well the car had no acceleration - I'm not talking blast-off here, I'm talking people honking behind us on the giant upsloping bridge even though I had my foot to the floor, and the car was behaving like a slug.

The navigators had an even worse problem. Despite two up-to-date maps, none of the signs on the roads corresponded to the names of places on the maps. We were headed for Caen, but no road signs directed us there. I can't tell you how many roundabouts we circled multiple times trying to find a clue. Once on the big autoroute, the signs did indicate Caen. We had decided if we could get to Caen in good time, we would continue to Mont St Michel. And then we encountered the farmers' protest, blocking the autoroute with angry tractors, moving at 20 kph.

By the time we got to Caen, we had abandoned M St M. Had a lovely lunch in Caen, and then decided to visit the War Beaches - not my choice, but one in the car wanted that. Best decision ever. I thought it would be unbearably sad and unbearably commercialized. BTW the road directions were great. And it was not sad. It was dignified, beautiful and peaceful.

With several hours in hand, we decided to stick to secondary routes for awhile, and there followed a couple of hours of driving through gorgeous little old towns on twisty roads through French countryside. Gobsmackingly beautiful. Stopped at a pretty big grocery store and bought French bar soap, jam and chocolate at regular prices.

Our best moments from this trip are those beautiful old villages, Caen (which is a destination in its own right), and the War beaches, so small, so profound.

That Renault was its own special experience, but we don't always get to choose the horse that carries us.

Glad to hear that what started out as a disaster turned into a very successful day. It is a fairly long drive to MSM and back if you have limited time, so I think you made the right decision to change your plans.

We have done a couple of land trips in that area in recent years and agree the countryside is very pretty. OH is a Royal Navy Reserve officer, so very interested in all the DDay history. I must say I do get warred out as we go to France quite often and have visited the majority of sites and museums in northern France and believe me there are plenty.

Even if you had not got past Caen I don't think you would have been disappointed as there is a war museum there that would have kept you occupied for at least a couple of hours. There is also an excellent art gallery and the fort.

We take our own car from the UK, but many European car hire companies only have a limited supply of automatic cars for which they charge extra. I drive both, but these days do prefer an automatic. I find now that in many places the extra you have to pay is becoming less.

I agree with the Londoner and with your own subsequent thoughts.

MSM seems to be on a lot of folks' wish-lists, but in order to spend a decent amount of time there you're stuck with taking the main roads - and nowhere in the world do you get to properly see or be immersed in a country by driving the super-slabs. You'd see MSM & nothing else.

The D-Day sights & beaches give you a more interesting day throughout & no long stretches of driving, bar the drag from Le Havre to Caen.

BTW, Caen - for either MSM or D-Day stuff - is pretty well-signed from the main road out of Le Havre On the outskirts take the A29 signed Caen / Pont de Normandie & follow that road til it meets the A13, signed Caen.

Mebbe you went wrong in the first couple of hundred yards, so you were off the signed roads from the outset.

Since you're used to an automatic gearbox it sounds like you were in too high a gear for low speeds or climbing the bridge - European cars tend to be under-powered and four-up you have to work the gearbox.

But IMHO that all worked in your favour, cos I rate Plan B better than Plan A :)

JB :)

John Bull

Yes, you are right about the drive to MSM. Obviously the easy, quick way from Le Havre on a cruise stop is along the main roads which are just convenience. Yes, the drive through the countryside in that area is very nice as it is beautiful.

Your reference to the Pont de Normandie made me laugh as my OH hates that bridge. He is afraid of heights and coupled with the dense traffic doesn't like going across it.

Another nice place for art lovers is Etretat where Monet did a lot of work.

Thanks for the info. I'm not the most serene of drivers and chugging uphill with a line of cars behind would have made me a tad verkelmpt. On our visit to Honfleur on the ship, we chose to take the ship's tour. It was long, but well worth the cost. Our tour guide was great.

sort of off topic but somewhat related

We are looking at renting a car in St. Malo to drive to Mont St. Michael and maybe Honfleur for the D-Day beaches. When I try to book through a French website the price is more than twice what is being quoted on discount American based travel sites or even the rental companies directly. I am a little nervous we will be hit with the extra fees quoted on the French websites. By way of example, the American sites are around 35 euro for an econo-box with vat while the French sites are over 70.

I was hoping someone would give me a ballpark idea of what they paid for their car,

And thankfully, we can all drive a stick, even the 25 year old DD, although mother and daughter almost killed each other during the lessons.

badtwin

Have you compared all the T&Cs of the companies you have been looking at to ensure everything is included? I can't tell you what the cost may be as we take our own car to France.

LondonTowner

I have been trying and that is sort of the issue. The American sites say "total cost" but do not include some of the charges in the itemization on the French sites- like some sort of service fee. Thus my confusion.

LondonTowner

 

I have been trying and that is sort of the issue. The American sites say "total cost" but do not include some of the charges in the itemization on the French sites- like some sort of service fee. Thus my confusion.

Hi Wassup,

Yes, getting info on that sort of thing can be a pain.

An extra fee for an airport/rail station/port collection (though I don't know about Le Havre port), CDW excess cover (some excesses can be as much as $1000), etc. And often those charges are payable locally, so not included in a quote and folk (including Avis, etc) operating websites outside the country in question don't know the cost of those extras even if you phone. As the Londoner's post, your best bet is to wade through the T&Cs.

Importantly, also check what time you can return the car - a late sailing is no use if you have to return the car by, say, 6pm.

But you're being way over-optimistic to consider MSM plus D-Day sights plus Honfleur.

The drive to MSM & back will cost you 5 hours, and the diversion just for the Canadian Juno beach will add another hour's driving. Factor in a minimum 90 minutes at each and that's 9 hours of your day just to skim the surface.

I suggest you choose either D-Day or MSM.

I'd choose D-Day, and extend the sights to include Pegasus Bridge / museum then along the coastal villages from Ouistreham (Sword) to Courseulles-sur-mer (Juno), Arromanches (Gold), Colleville-sur-mer (Omaha and American Cemetery), and Pointe Du Hoc. Perhaps if you don't dally in a very long day you could continue onward to St Mere-Eglise (US airborne) & Utah - though that's almost certainly too much in a day.

You can cut back from any of those places if you want to include Bayeux (ancient town, untouched by the war, with cathedral & Bayeux Tapestry) before you head back to the ship.

The return to the ship will be along the fast (except for usual delays around the Caen ring road) A13 divided highway, so plumb Le Havre into your GPS at the outset and check the return journey time from time to time.

Whether you chose MSM or D-Day, allow an extra hour for unforeseen delays on the way back, then if your return is quick & smooth you can use some of that time to pop into the pretty fishing port of Honfleur (no D-Day connections) for a harbourside beer - it's only a mile or two off-route and about half an hour from your ship.

JB :)

Wassup

If you are an American I would skip the Canadian museum at Juno Beach and try to go to Utah Beach instead.

Courseulles Sur Mer is a very nice town with some good restaurants, but you won't have time to appreciate them. We have stayed nearby a couple of times on a land holiday.

There is so much to see in a short time, so you will have to decide which are the most interesting to you.

My OH is very interested in all of it as he is in Royal Navy Reserves. As far as the museums go we think the ones at Utah Beach and Pegasus Bridge are the best.

MSM is lovely, but a fairly long drive from Le Havre. The surrounding countryside is very pretty.

Hope you manage to get something sorted out.

Thank you for all the help.

My postings were not entirely clear. Our cruise will take us to St. Malo and to Honfleur the next day. We are looking at renting cars in both places, going to MSM from St. Malo (which is about 50km according to my research) and doing the D-Day beaches from Honfleur. It sounds like our D-Day plans are reasonable as long as we are somewhat selective in our stops and watch the clock a bit. My husband wants to see at least one of the American beaches and you have calmed my nerves about getting that far.

We have cruised in Europe on two other occasions and usually relied on public transport but that did not seem easy or even possible (within cruise stop time constraints) at these ports. Thus the nerves about renting cars.

Thanks again.

Thank you for all the help.

 

My postings were not entirely clear. Our cruise will take us to St. Malo and to Honfleur the next day. We are looking at renting cars in both places, going to MSM from St. Malo (which is about 50km according to my research) and doing the D-Day beaches from Honfleur. It sounds like our D-Day plans are reasonable as long as we are somewhat selective in our stops and watch the clock a bit. My husband wants to see at least one of the American beaches and you have calmed my nerves about getting that far.

 

 

We have cruised in Europe on two other occasions and usually relied on public transport but that did not seem easy or even possible (within cruise stop time constraints) at these ports. Thus the nerves about renting cars.

 

Thanks again.

Yes, MSM is very easy from St Malo.

You'll still want to give yourselves a little leeway, and the old part of St Malo is a very pleasant place t while away an hour or so - as long as you can find a parking spot !!

Apologies, I was mixing you up with a contributor from Ottawa.:o

Unless you have a particular interest in Ste Mere-Eglise or Utah beach, I suggest you take the fast A13 just as far as La Cambe where you can drop in for ten or fifteen minutes at the German cemetery (a stark contrast to the American cemetery), then 15 minutes on the lanes to the coast at battle-scarred Pointe du Hoc and work your way back east along the coast to Omaha / American cemetery, the gun emplacements at Longues sur Mer, Arromanches (remnants of the Mulberry harbour, seafront museum, good selection of cafes/bars/little shops) and then such other places east as your time allows before returning to the A13.

Again, do bear in mind that the Caen ring road can be very slow.

JB :)

...Based on a report here, we rented a car to pick up at the port in Le Havre, to drive to Mont St Michel in our 10-hour window (best scenario). The guy at the rental car pickup was late arriving, and when we asked for the auto shift, he told us this was not possible. Okay, we half-expected that, and one of our group of three was therefore the designated driver with the manual-shift Renault. The other two were map-readers and trip directors.

....

Thanks for posting.

We are just starting to research option for upcoming cruise that stops in Le Havre.

What company did you use?

We might take a land trip to the area next month and would just fly into Paris, rent a car, and then take our time in the coastal areas, but if not (and maybe in addition) will probably rent a car when cruise stops and do some of the same area that you did.