"Calvados region visit and Gite" Topic

Hi folks, Im looking at going over to Normandy later in the year to visit the D-Day beaches and Bayeux tapisserie.

Can anyone recommend a gite that they have stayed at please? Needs to be in Calvedos area of Normandy.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks in anticipation

I can recommend the Chateau de Martragny, which is about 5 miles east of Bayeux and just off the motorway (access is actually from the village of St Leger, rather than Martragny):

link

The gite is the left-hand wing of the chateau in the photo above and they also do breakfasts in the chateau itself if you want it. I take my cadets to camp there every year and my wife and I stayed in the gite last May.

It's ideally-located for visiting everywhere in Normandy and close enough to Bayeux to be handy for the supermarkets (no more than 10 minutes drive – I recommend LeClerc's supermarket, next to the British War Cemetery). M. de Chassis who runs the pplace, is very nice guy and speaks good English. He also employs a British couple as managers, so there are absolutely no issues if you don't speak French. The chateau also has a bar, restaurant, launderette and various other facilities.

By the way, the ploughed field on the right of the photo was British Air Landing Ground B7, where a wing of Typhoons and Mustangs operated from July 1944 – you can just see the memorial on the right-hand edge of the photo, next to the road.

The other WW2 history of the place is that elements of Kampfgruppe 'Meyer', belonging to 352. Infanterie-Division clashed with the 4/7th Dragoon Guards on the Creully road, just south of Martragny on the evening of D-Day. This marked the 50th Division's high-tide mark on D-Day. KGr Meyer then went firm on the chateau and the high ground at St Leger (the top-left of the photo – the position is now marked by a large 'wineglass' water-tower). They withdrew southwards at dawn on 7th June, hard-pressed by 50th Division, to the safety of the 12th SS Recce Battalion at Audrieu, a few miles to the south. After D-Day the place became a field hospital for 50th Division and then became the HQ for ALG B7.

If you're there in August, come and say hi! You're welcome to follow my tour around (I might not be good, but I am free). :)

Here's where it is in relationship to Bayeux (the chateau is at the northern end of that long avenue of trees, just to the left of the Martragny label):

Gites are often booked up in advance in the summer … so you might not get what was recommended

I have stayed in several places around there, usually booked through

Www.cheznous.com

You can usually talk to the owners direct for questions

This is one my wife and I stayed in May of 2011. Run by a English couple. Its about 3K east of Falaise in a village of about 200 people. Owners were wonderful and Falaises is a great town. Castle of William in town. A little ways from the beaches but not bad.

link

Whilst I have many happy memories of Martragny (my dad actually did the Canvas Holidays lecture gig in the chateau for a bit), the last few times I've stayed just up the road (literally) at the Manor House – godfroy.pagesperso-orange.fr

I've camped there, but they do have gites and may be less busy than the Chateau. Very friendly owners too – the old guy spent hours looking for a spare bulb for the car for me. My lottery-winning dream involves turning le Manoir into a Normandy wargames holiday centre…

Makes me wonder if we could start a board for holiday homes/flats in historic areas of the world – with our esteemed database of members we could recommend/review accommodation….. maybe?

Just posted the above reply in the post on the French wargaming forum.

My only visit to the area was staying in a hotel near Ouistreham before catching an afternoon ferry. Would be great to get some more recommendations as some potential long weekends loom next year as the kids live it up at University.

Pmh1882,

Funnily enough, M de Chassis recommended Godfroy's as an alernative when I was visiting out of season, though I ended up stayin in Bayeux. I'm sure you'll agree with me that Martragny makes a superb base for visiting Normandy – central and right on the motorway.

Martragny was fantastic – we first stayed when I was about 14-15. Lots of games of football on drive sections, plus being able to go inside and sit in the old library watching slide shows before going out to the sites was brilliant. I only found the other site when arriving late at night after a drive from Remargen. The chateau was very busy and quite expensive. The small fields at the manor house just mean I tend to tuck into a corner and enjoy the quiet. I still stroll down to the chateau for something to eat or the bar and if I had kids I'd probably go there.

The village's location is ideal – I prefer taking the bike out as much as possible and most of the beaches are within a reasonable ride. Last time I rode Bluecoat and Goodwood too.

Makes me green with envy. One day I might get back to Normandy. I was there 10 years ago to follow the Bluecoat & Goodwood operations. More than anything, the French lifestyle especially the lengthy lunches are to be thoroughly recommended !

It's very many years since I've been, so I hope they are still in business, but Mike Chilcott (a retired Colonel, long-time resident in the region and knowledgeable as all hell about the history -- he once gave a guided tour of the beaches to the Russian General Staff, and you know what they're like) and his wife run a place at St Loup Hors (marked on RMD's map), just where the bocage starts to the south of Bayeux. Plenty of good eating places within walking distance, at least one of which gave us a discount when we mentioned his name. We did Normandy ditch-hikes in three successive years based there, and colossal fun they were.

All the best,

John.

John,

I believe I met him while taking my cadets to the Audrieu Memorial (to Canadians murdered by 12th SS) a couple of years back.

I should have mentioned that our first port of call when looking for somewhere to take the cadets was the tourist office in Bayeux. They were extremely helpful and we found Martragny as a result of talking to them, so give them a ring.

This is a great response, so thanks guys for taking the time to reply. Mark, that Chateau looks excellent, thanks for the tip. It'd be great to meet up and share notes, but it looks like we will be doing September this year.

Merci beaucoup a tous le monde!

I can also recommend Le Moulin Morin. It's on the outskirts of Bayeux. Run by an English couple, I have visited four times over the years.
link

They also had free WiFi last time (2010). I second LeClerc's supermarket. About 30 minutes drive from Caen ferry port.