D-Day trip from Paris to Utah Beach aboard a van - Private Tour (2/7 pax)

With your driver-guide you will travel to Normandy in an air-conditioned minivan. Once you arrive in the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, you will stop at « Utah Beach » which was one of the two American landing zones in Normandy. This beach was created by British general Bernard Montgomery who wished to establish a beachhead directly in the Cotentin peninsula in order to capture Cherbourg faster, because of its deep water harbor and its major logistic importance.

The amphibious assault, primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion, was supported by airborne landings of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division. The 4th Infantry Division landed 21,000 troops on Utah at the cost of only 197 casualties. Airborne troops arriving by parachute and glider numbered an additional 14,000 men, with 2,500 casualties.

To commemorate their bravery and sacrifice,severals war monuments were erected there directly on the sand of the beach after the war. Around the monuments, german concrete bunkers, shell holes and traces of the battle are still visibles today. (photo stop on the spot) :

.Monument of the 4th Infantry Division

.The 90th Infantry Division Monument

.U.S Navy Monument

.Milestone 00

At Utah beach, you will have time to walk along the dunes and while you will take a look at sea just to imagine in your mind the hundred of american war ships and Landing Craft Assault who came offshore Utah Beach on D-day.

Built on the very beach where the first American troops landed on June 6, 1944, the Utah Beach Museum recounts the story of D-Day in 10 sequences, from the preparation of the landing, to the final outcome and success. This comprehensive chronological journey immerses visitors in the history of the landing through a rich collection of objects, vehicles, materials, and oral histories.

Admire an original B26 bomber, one of only six remaining examples of this airplane still in existence worldwide, and relive the epic experience of American soldiers through the film “VICTORY IN THE SAND,” winner of a CINE GOLDEN EAGLE AWARD 2012 and the 2013 CINE SPECIAL JURY AWARD for best museum documentary.

By the end of your visit, you will understand the strategic choices for the Allied invasion of Normandy and the reasons for the success at Utah Beach. Thanks to your visit, you will also have contributed to the safeguard of the site and the preservation of the memory of the Allied soldiers’ extraordinary sacrifices.

The World War II Foundation selected Major “Dick” Winters of Easy Company as a symbol of leadership. This monument honors the combat leadership of the American troops during Operation Overlord.

Located along the strategically important road between Utah Beach and Sainte Marie du Mont. The sculpture of Winters leads in the direction of the upcoming battles.

The Iron Mike memorial is a statue of an American paratrooper. It is named after St Michael, a saint of the Airborne. The memorial is a replica of the one at the U.S. Army Infantry School in Fort Benning USA. The Iron Mike memorial was unveiled on June 7, 1997 by Major-General Kellogg, commander of the 82nd Airborne who made a jump with his men that day out of a plane.

Jumping on the night of D-Day, the 82nd Airborne had to capture the town of Sainte-Mère-Église. Holding the town, however, would have meant little without also holding the roads to and from it. One such route had a bottleneck: the La Fière Bridge a small stone bridge at La Fière manor, 700 yards to the west of the outskirts. The manor itself was a small group of buildings a grenade-throw away from the bridge. On the far side of the bridge, the road led west, the small hamlet of Cauguigny standing by it two-thirds of a mile away.

Securing La Fière Bridge fell to the 505th PIR. The 1st Battalion was one of the few units that night to jump on time and land in its designated drop zone to the east of the bridge, between it and the town. They quickly learned that things were not as expected: the Germans have flooded large areas of Normandy and the tiny Merderet River running north-south under the bridge was now a marsh 1,000 yards across at its narrowest. The elevated road between the bridge and Cauguigny became a causeway surrounded by water, providing no cover.

Sainte Mere Eglise became known to the world after the film The Longest Day because of the paratrooper John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Steele indeed landed on the church's steeple and pretended to be dead in order to avoid being shot by the Germans.

He stayed put, hanging in the air, for two long hours and watched helplessly as the Germans shot his comrades around him.

Nowadays the Church is still standing in the middle of the town square.

The municipality of Sainte Mère l’Eglise has hung a dummy US paratrooper and his parachute on the steeple of the church and so has found the finest tribute that could be given to John Steele and all his comrades who lost their lives under German bullets.

In addition, two stained glass windows were created for the church, in order to commemorate the liberation of the town by 82nd Airborne Division on June 6,1944.One of them depicts the Virgin with two paratroopers and the second one is Private John M. Steele (1912–1969)

The guide is now taking you to visit the beatiful maintained American Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer which overlooks Omaha Beach nearby. The 180 acre site contains 9,387 perfectly aligned white crosses and a memorial chapel which adds the finishing touches to this moving scene, allowing visitors to reflect on the price of war.

While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest miltary decorations.

On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

The memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing large maps and narratives of the military operations; at the center is the bronze statue, “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” An orientation table overlooking the beach depicts the landings in Normandy. Facing west at the memorial, one sees in the foreground the reflecting pool; beyond is the burial area with a circular chapel and, at the far end, granite statues representing the United States and France.