Flying to France
Caen has an airport at Carpiquet and it offers a selection of internal flights from other European countries including Germany and Spain. The range of flights is constantly changing and improving, so check the airport website for the services offered. However the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris is still the most popular arrival point for Americans arriving into France. A good English language page about trains in France can be found here on the SNCF website. For information about french rail passes, please read this excellent article by travel write Rick Steves.
Caen has an airport at Carpiquet and it offers a selection of internal flights from other European countries including Germany and Spain. The range of flights is constantly changing and improving, so check the airport website for the services offered. However the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris is still the most popular arrival point for Americans arriving into France. A good English language page about trains in France can be found here on the SNCF website. For information about french rail passes, please read this excellent article by travel write Rick Steves.
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From England by ferry
There are numerous crossings available into Calais (north France), and for here in Normandy there is Brittany Ferries who offer Poole or Portsmouth to Cherbourg and Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham.) There are additional services to Dieppe and Le Havre etc. Here is a good travel guide detailing the different ferry routes to France Basic French facts The time in France is CEST (GMT+1) and the Currency used is the Euro - there is a currency converter on this page. You can change money at La Poste (Post Office), but the best way is simply to draw out cash from the ATM machines, of which there are several in towns like Bayeux and Carentan, the exchange rate and fees are normally as low as you can find. You will need to know your 4-digit pin code of course! Definitely don't come armed with 100$ US bills, banks in France often refuse to change them - bring nothing larger than 50$ bills. |
Shop and Bank Opening Hours
Shops and Banks open at around 9.00am, and usually close for lunch from around 12.00pm to 2.00pm. In the summer some souvenir shops stay open to until 7.00pm or later. Larger towns like Bayeux, Isigny sur Mer and Carentan have hypermarkets which are usually not in the centre of town. You can find pastries and such in bakeries for breakfast but coffee-to-go is harder to find.
Weather
The D-Day beaches are on the Atlantic coast and can therefore be windy all year round, rain is always a threat too - even in the summer. Plan to have layers that you can add and remove, as the temperatures vary greatly from early morning to early afternoon. Normandy is rarely humid, but in the winter the air is damp and cold and you will need hats, gloves and scarves. One tip is to never judge what the weather will be like in Normandy by how it is in Paris. A hot sunny day in Paris, can be a windy sunny day on Omaha beach. US News has a good guide to the weather in Normandy for American visitors here.
Is it safe to come to France?
I refer you to this excellent piece by Travel writer Rick Steves.
Shops and Banks open at around 9.00am, and usually close for lunch from around 12.00pm to 2.00pm. In the summer some souvenir shops stay open to until 7.00pm or later. Larger towns like Bayeux, Isigny sur Mer and Carentan have hypermarkets which are usually not in the centre of town. You can find pastries and such in bakeries for breakfast but coffee-to-go is harder to find.
Weather
The D-Day beaches are on the Atlantic coast and can therefore be windy all year round, rain is always a threat too - even in the summer. Plan to have layers that you can add and remove, as the temperatures vary greatly from early morning to early afternoon. Normandy is rarely humid, but in the winter the air is damp and cold and you will need hats, gloves and scarves. One tip is to never judge what the weather will be like in Normandy by how it is in Paris. A hot sunny day in Paris, can be a windy sunny day on Omaha beach. US News has a good guide to the weather in Normandy for American visitors here.
Is it safe to come to France?
I refer you to this excellent piece by Travel writer Rick Steves.
