When you arrive in Le Havre, France, opportunities to tour the attractions of the Normandy countryside await as soon as you leave your ship, while the sights of Paris are only 2.5 hours by high-speed train. Omaha Beach is 124 kilometers (77 miles) away and a visit there can be combined with one to the medieval town of Bayeux, home to a famous tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest.
Closer to Le Havre is the Château du Breuil, a family-owned calvados distillery that gives tours and tastings in English (call ahead to check the times). Just across the Seine is the town of Honfleur, its Old Port lined with restaurants, shops and 300-year-old houses. The great medieval city of Rouen, where Joan of Arc was tried for heresy, is also easily reached by train (and deserves a full day of sightseeing and exploration). If you want to make the journey to Paris, the TGV leaves early in the morning and takes you from Le Havre to Gare du Nord in the heart of the city. From there, you can spend the morning shopping on the Champs-Élysées, then have lunch in a restaurant with a view of Notre Dame or the Trocadéro and stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg or the Musée d’Orsay. A full day of things to do in Paris can include a dinner cruise on the Seine before catching a late-evening train back to Le Havre.
