(Click here for map)

Our 1st stop (around 9:30) is a small village called Quinéville, where:

• we will get our first taste of the Battle of Normandy (June 6 1944) which was to play out a few kilometres south of Quinéville. The Allied objective was to take Quinéville on D-Day in order to advance rapidly towards Cherbourg and take its port, vital for allied supplies but Quinéville was not taken until June 17 after heavy fighting. American artillery bombarded the village before it was finally taken by the men of the 39th Regiment at about 21:30. The capture of the village prevented German artillery from firing on Utah Beach, where Allied landings continued.

• Interesting architecture, a war museum, a brasserie built around a German bunker (Bar de la Brèche) and a lovely sandy beach may warrant a return trip at a later stage.

Leaving Quinéville we will drive along the coast, driving along the Atlantic sea wall and through the village of Saint Marcouf which was liberated on the 8th June. Situated above the village was the German battery of Crisbecq (also called Marcouf battery). This was one of the main German coastal batteries of the Atlantic Wall in Normandy and although it suffered several Allied aerial bombings from April 1944, including a very important one the day before the D-Day landings, it remained operational. It opened fire on the nearby Utah Beach on the morning of June 6 and sunk the USS Corry, a US Navy destroyer. It was not silenced until June 8 after bombardment from three American battleships and resisted ground attacks for several days. It was finally taken over on the morning of 12 June by the American infantry, the remainder of its garrison having retreated further north the previous night. The private museum at the Crisbecq battery is definitely worth a visit if the opportunity arises – it was the largest coastal artillery battery on Utah beach, it had 22 underground blockhouses and more than a kilometre of trenches.

Our 2nd stop (around 10:30) is The Réserve Naturelle Nationale du Domaine de Beauguillot.

The reserve falls in the commune of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and covers 538 hectares. It lies within heart of the Bay of Veys (a wide estuary where the 4 rivers that irrigate the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes flow: the Douve, Taute, Vire and Aure) and the Regional Natural Park of the Cotentin and Bessin Marshes. It forms part of the maritime reserve and is thus one of the marine protected areas of the region. Located between land and sea, where fresh and salt water meet, the reserve is composed of intertidal mudflats, salt meadows, dunes, ponds and wet meadows and is home to a large number of species.

There are 2 purpose-built bird hides and various walks either down to the sea or along the meadows. The site hosts 35,000 waterbirds each winter and 760 species of insects. Top 5 birds to see are Spoonbill; Barnacle Goose; European Golden Plover; Egrets and Marsh Harrier. In addition, it is also possible to see a large variety of geese, ducks, swans, warblers, tits etc and for a more detailed list specific to this reserve see the Appendix section of the website.

We will spend about 2.5 hrs here exploring and taking photos before driving back to Utah Beach (which we passed on our way to the Reserve) for lunch and some D-Day exploration.

Our 3rd stop (around 13:00) is Utah Beach, where:

• you can enjoy lunch at the Roosevelt and explore the various personal messages left on the restaurant walls

• visit the Landing Museum - built in 1962 on the same spot where American troops landed on D-Day

• explore the beach and external memorials e.g.

  • • The monument of the United States.

    • The monument to the 4th and 90TH US Infantry Divisions

    • Higgins-Boat Monument inaugurated to mark the 71st anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2015.

Utah Beach is the name of one of the 5 beaches of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6 1944. It was the most western of the Allied landing areas and stretches for about 5 km. It was a late addition to the initial landing plans, due to more landing barges finally being available. It was Major General Barton’s 4th US Infantry Division (part of the 7th U.S. Corps commanded by General J. Lawton Collins) who was tasked with storming Utah Beach. The first wave of assault was led by Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr (first cousin of the wife of the current US president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and the only general to accompany his troops on an assault wave. The landing at Utah Beach was certainly the least costly in human lives. The 4th U.S. Infantry Division encountered only relatively little enemy resistance, in contrast to that at Omaha Beach. The area was less fortified than other areas of the Normandy coast because the Germans felt that marshes and flooded areas made it difficult to access inland and was thus considered unsuitable by the Germans for a landing. However, the dunes between the Bay of Veys and Saint Vaast la Hogue would be full of machine gun nests and inland on higher ground some heavy gun batteries could be found, notably at Azeville, Crisbecq, Morsalines and La Pernelle.

Having eaten, stretched our legs, soaked up some of the history and hopefully taken some interesting photos of the day, it is time to make our way back to Morsalines. Where we will download and view the days photos, rest up for dinner or maybe take a walk down to Morsalines beach or up the hills behind the village.