France
Paris was always on my bucket list of places to visit and I got the chance back in 2017 for my 50th birthday, right before Christmas. The twinkling city lights and Christmas markets created the magic I had imagined. Fast track to the end of summer 2023 and we were back, but this time to pick up our camper van, en route to the coast to visit a few Canadian war memorials and other gems along the way.
I’m not sure visiting the war memorials was at the top of our travel “bucket list” but we always knew we would make this trip. Brent’s always been interested in history, war and geopolitics so it made sense to cover Normandy during our time in Europe. On a more personal note, my dad was in WWII but he didn’t really talk about his experience. Instead he chose to leave that part of his life behind. But, those who knew him didn’t need his words or stories to understand the trauma and suffering he held deep until his deathbed. For this reason, I wanted to see with my own eyes, the lands that changed my dad forever.
Back in Ireland, we tried to rent a proper camper van, but to no avail. Tip - book your camper vans well in advance if you are going to Europe in the summer. Instead of renting a “real camper”, we settled for “Avis” - a cargo van outfitted with some bedding from Ikea. Regardless, we had an incredible time touring the Emerald Isle in Avis. You can check out our Ireland adventures here: brentandkellyoldandmobile.com.
After “roughing” it in Ireland, I got a little smarter and secured a proper camper van from Indie Campers to spend the time in France. When we finished our England, Ireland and Scotland adventures, we took the high speed train back to Paris from London. It was a long day of travel with a stop over in Brussels ending with a second overnight stay in the 19 arrondissement before picking up our new ride about an hour west of the city. Once we had a grip on how the van worked, we headed to Normandy and after a quick grocery run, we made it to the carpark just outside of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy in time to see the sunset and set up for the night.
Mont Saint Michel is an island located about one kilometre off the coast in northwestern France. The island and mainland is just under 1000 acres and is home to less than 30 people as of 2019. This tidal island is famous for the Mont-Saint Michel Abby, Great Halls, homes and stores. We highly recommend visiting this UNESCO World Heritage Site but make sure you secure accommodations and plan your trip accordingly as it can get quite busy as roughly 3 million people descend upon the area in any given year.
Mont Saint Michel Abby
It was early afternoon when we left the island and headed north to St. Germain where we spent our second night in the van - right on the beach - one of the most beautiful places we’ve slept. It wasn’t hard getting a restful sleep nestled between the dark skies and the sounds of the gentle waves.
In the morning, we drove to the quaint town of Bayeux where we treated ourselves to a coffee and croissant ( I don’t think I’ll ever tire of that combination) and met fellow travellers with their own Youtube Channel. You can check them out on Instagram @ denadda.official and @denadda.adventure. They are a lovely couple who left the theatre life after COVID to live in a camper van and create illustrations in their nomad studio. It was so inspiring to meet Sam and Elma and hear how they turned a very bad situation into a positive, life-changing experience - sometimes we all need a little push in the right direction.
From Bayeux, we made our way to Juno Beach, where we visited the Juno Beach Centre. The Juno Beach Centre is a WWII museum that honours the 45, 000 Canadians who lost their lives during the war, specifically to the 5, 500 who died during the Battle of Normandy and the 381 who perished on D-Day. This was a truly memorable experience and again, we highly recommend every Canadian (and non-Canadian) visit the Juno Beach Centre. If you want to learn more about the Centre and how you can support it, please visit their website to learn about the on-line resources and how you can donate to this very worthy Canadian hallmark. Please visit the centre here: https://www.junobeach.org/donate/.
Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, France
We spent the night in the Juno Beach Centre parking lot along with a few other travellers and survived a pretty bad thunderstorm before an early start to Caen, the location of the Battle of Caen. Caen is where the British Second Army fought the Germans between June and August, 1944. Caen was not actually taken on D-Day and most of the prewar city was unfortunately destroyed by Allied bombing and ground warfare. We visited the museum before settling in for the night on a local farm near the town of Étretat. We truly do find the best campsites to sleep; we used https://ioverlander.com/ to help us find our accommodations during our France trip.
In the morning, we headed into Étretat for - you guessed it - a coffee, croissant and washroom - another good combination- especially when you are in your 50s and don’t have a toilet in your camper. Étretat is a popular tourist destination made famous by many artists including Monet. We took a few hours to hike the chalk cliffs and explore the town. Étretat was a special stop and I wish we had spent a little more time here to do some kayaking around the arches, stone structures and further up the coastline - the scenery was stunning.
We continued to Dieppe where we would spend the afternoon in the Dieppe Museum and the night at Le Crotoy Beach - another really secluded spot. Dieppe was a must see for us as it was the location of the controversial Raid of Dieppe in August, 1942. There were more than 1400 deaths during Operation Jubilee, mostly Canadians. In the morning, we drove to the last stop on our war tour - Vimy Ridge. Here we toured the Canadian National Vimy Memorial including the educational centre, bunkers and a nearby cemetery, all serving as a tribute to those who served during WWI.
With only a couple of days left before having to return the van, we spent the last hours in Champagne. Although we are not Champagne drinkers, it was great fun touring Hautvillers, a small village on the Champagne route, and the Rue de Champagne in Épernay. On the way to Champagne, we did stop in Reims to tour the Cathedral of Notre Dames de Reims. It’s listed on the Unesco World Heritage Site for its gothic architecture dating back to the 13th Century. After a quick tour and gelato, we parked up in a vineyard - I’m not kidding- for the night. Can it get more romantic than sleeping among the famous grapes of Champagne?
There is so much to do in Normandy and the surrounding area, and if you are a history buff, then visiting Normandy would be a must. You can visit the war memorials on your own like we did, hire a private guide or join a group tour to make planning the trip a bit easier. Our time in Normandy was a time of reflection, gratitude and quiet moments in beautiful surroundings. Prior to this visit, much of our European tour was fast paced as we moved quickly from place to place. Normandy made us slow down and it gave us time to appreciate the moment of the day; something we should all do more often.
Enjoy our Normandy visit on our Youtube Channel and hope it gives you a little inspiration to book your trip this summer. Cheers!
Normandy Part 1: https://youtu.be/6sC8JjQeWf8?si=uwKil9cQvohuZyds
Normandy Part 2: https://youtu.be/UeBfqVKg1xM?si=mnJA9VT1bfUPSkgx
Normandy Part 3: https://youtu.be/wxYtkOrhTr0?si=qo_LSvE1A_UMx2V5