"Lest we forget" Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer by warney

For many people like me, going to Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer was completely by accident. We had only intended going to Caen to experience the French flavour of life here in the North while waiting to return back to the UK with our wine and drink. In reading a leaflet we came across during the crossing we decided there and then to stay for 3 days and visit the memorials along the coast. The War Cemetery was one of those memorials.

The Normandy American Cemetery is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel just east of St-Laurent-sur-Mer and northwest of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer. Travel time by train from the Gare St.-Lazare (St. Lazare railway station) in Paris to Bayeux is approximately 2 ½ hours. The rail service between Paris and Bayeux is frequent, with at least four daily express trains each way. Taxi service is available from Bayeux Station to the cemetery. To travel to the cemetery from Paris by automobile, it is suggested that one take the Autoroute de l'Quest (A-13, toll highway) from Paris to Caen, then highway N-13 to Bayeux and Formigny. At Formigny turn right onto D-517 towards St. Laurent-sur-Mer; then right onto D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer, where directional signs mark the access to the American Cemetery.

The road distances to the cemetery from some of the other cities in France are: Le Havre, 94 miles
(152 kilometers); Caen, 29 miles (46 kilometers); Rouen, 110 miles (177 kilometers); and Cherbourg, 50
miles (81 kilometers). Adequate hotel accommodations are available in Caen and Bayeux as well as in surrounding villages.

• Pros:moving, historical, thought provoking
• Cons:none