We had a wonderful day touring WWII sites with Bertrand. We are a family of five with three girls (ages 12, 10 & 8) - we felt the best way to tour the sites and get the most out of our experience was to hire a private guide. This was by far the best travel decision we have ever made!
Bertrand met us at our hotel @ 9am and drove our rental car the entire day - this was much easier since he knew his way around and then my husband and I could just enjoy the sites while listening to his stories. We visited all of the must-see spots and he even took us through small villages and pointed out interesting sites along the way - things we NEVER would have seen or experienced on our own. We had the choice of lunch in a restaurant or a quick stop for sandwiches - we decided that sandwiches were better since there was so much to see and we didn't want to waste an hour sitting in a restaurant.
Bertrand was extremeley knowledgable and a wealth of information. He engaged the kids and kept them interested throughout the entire tour - we ended @ 6pm at our hotel. That's 9 hours of WWII history! We learned more during our tour than weeks in a classroom or textbooks could provide. There was so much to see that we did not spend time inside museums or visitor centers. That being said, I would book the tour for one full day and then plan on a second day in Normandy, going back to perhaps museums that you wish to visit. We highly recommend the Peace Museum in Caen, but that is a 3-5 hour adventure all in itself.
I had a very easy time booking our reservation with Bertrand. We connected via email, confirmed our reservations then touched based again a week prior to our arrival. He was also very prompt in our email correspondence. I would highly recommend this tour. Money very well spent and you won't regret it. Besides, how many times are you going to go back? Might was well do it right the first time. read more