After the fierce battles in the Falaise Pocket in August 1944, the remaining German Army units in Normandy were in full blown retreat for the relative safety of the eastern bank of the River Seine.

Plan Ahead: Since some of Normandy's D-Day beaches sit roughly 200 miles northwest of Paris, you're in for a full day, but the rolling hills and lush pastures of the French countryside create a scenic ...

The overgrown ruins of bunkers ... village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, where an ornate stone Catholic church occupies a prominent place in the main square, just as in so many other villages in Normandy.