Paris & the Heart of Normandy
Sponsored by Viking
June 6, 2024, marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and Viking's 'Paris & the Heart of Normandy' Seine River cruise takes you right to the heart of the events that changed the course of the Second World War.
The seven-day cruise includes stops in cities and towns which played a key role in the liberation, including Rouen and Caen, as well as a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer and the Normandy Beaches.
Although the itinerary has a strong emphasis on Second World War events, the cruise also offers the chance to spend two nights in Paris visiting the iconic sights, including the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles — and, if you are quick, you could use your Viking Longship, specifically built for the Seine River, as a base to see the Olympic Games, which take place in Paris this summer.
Other highlights include the opportunity to visit Monet’s Garden in Givenchy, Richard the Lionheart’s castle and discovering the beauty of the Normandy countryside.
And looking ahead to 2025, Viking also has a new 12-day cruise, 'London, Paris & D-Day', which includes five nights in London at the start, starting in May, which coincides with the 80th anniversary with Armistice Day.
We take a look at what you can expect from Viking’s Paris & the Heart of Normandy cruise.
Enjoy Two Nights in the City of Light
Your Viking Longship is docked literally 10 minutes' walk from the Eiffel Tower and is easily seen from the sundeck of the ship.
The ship spends two days (one night) at the beginning and the end of the cruise to let you make the most of this breathtakingly beautiful city.
Viking offers several tours here, at both ends of the cruise — a bus tour of the city and a visit to Napoleon's Château are included and there are also a number of optional tours.
We opted for Flavors of Paris, a walking (and Metro) tour around the boho-chic area of St Germain. The tour includes stops in a market to sample local cheese, wine and meats, followed by a stop in a patisserie and a specialist cheese store. It's a great tour to get a real feel of the city, sampling its food and sipping a café on a sidewalk, particularly if you have been to Paris before and seen the big sites.
And if you're cruise takes place between Sunday July 26 thru August 11, you can soak up the spectacle of the Paris Olympics.
The Impressionists
The artistic movement of the late 19th century known as "Impressionism" took its inspiration from many of the spots along this stretch of the Seine, and it's not hard to see why.
Almost as soon as your ship leaves Paris, the French countryside opens up to reveal rolling meadows, weeping willows and picture-postcard-perfect towns and villages, such as La Roche Guyon, the first stop on the cruise.
Lying just 50 miles from the capital, this tiny village feels like you've stepped back in time. Built around a stunning Château, and topped by the remains of a castle, the village has played a key part in history, both ancient and modern.
The castle marked the border with ancient Normandy, and acted as a defence from marauding Normans at a key crossing point of the Seine. And in later years, the Château was used as an HQ by German Field Marshall Rommel, defending Normandy against the Allies after D-Day.
The next village, Vernon, is the stopping off point for an included tour of Monet's Garden, which includes a visit to the gardens and estate that inspired the founder of impressionism, Claude Monet. A short drive takes you to Giverny, the village that Monet called home from 1883 until his death in 1926. At the Monet Foundation Giverny, you explore his home and gardens, now a museum.
Note: The Monet Foundation is not available before April 1 or after November 1; during that time, a visit to the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, favored by van Gogh and other artists, is substituted.
The next stop, Rouen, is home to the largest collection of Impressionist paintings outside Paris, housed in the Musee des Beaux-Arts. And although a visit to the museum not part of a Viking tour, the ship overnights here and there is plenty of time to explore on your own.
Normandy & the Beaches
Rouen is as far as the ship can go along the Seine, but it's still a good two hours to the Normandy Beaches from the city.
There are two all-day tours available – the U.S. tour or the Commonwealth tour. We opted for the former.
Viking has thoughtfully curated both all-day tours, with stops for an early lunch to break the two-hour journey to the beaches and museum visits. On the U.S. tour, the stop is in Caen, one of the key strategic cities in the Liberation of France, and a visit to the Caen Memorial Museum.
The museum includes an exhibition specifically focusing on D-Day and the weeks after; and another on the war in general. There is also a short film with archive footage about the landings, which is deeply moving.
On the Commonwealth tour, the stop is at Bayeux for the Tapestry, then onto Juno Beach, where the Canadians landed, where the museum offers insights into Canadian life before, during and after the war.
You may well have seen "Saving Private Ryan," the opening of which is filmed in Colville-sur-Mer, but nothing can prepare you for the rows and rows of identical alabaster-white crosses and Stars of David which stretch as far as the eye can see.
Set atop a bluff which overlooks Omaha Beach, where many of the men in the cemetery fell, it is both overwhelming and deeply moving; it is hard to comprehend the scale of the sacrifice.
There are 9,387 bodies buried here in this one cemetery (there are five cemeteries in total), but when our guide pointed out the memorial wall for those whose bodies were never found ("taken by the sea", as our guide put it), the magnitude of those losses becomes too hard to bear, and many people were moved to tears.
Viking had organized a private memorial service for guests at the cemetery honoring veterans, their relatives, and for those currently serving, many of whom were on our cruise. After a ceremonial wreath laying, the Stars & Stripes was played, followed by TAPS.
It's a beautiful setting, quiet and contemplative, and the tour allows plenty of time to walk around to soak in the enormity of the place and its history.
We then drove down to Omaha Beach, scene of the bloodiest battles on June 6 (depicted in the first half hour of Saving Private Ryan). There are memorials near the point at which the Americans finally broke through the German defences and so turned the course of the war. Today children played, families walked their dogs and tourist snapped selfies; but this is what the locals wanted, we learnt – for the beach not to become just a memorial, but to return to how it was before that fateful day almost 80 years ago.
2025 Cruises Include 4 Days in London
Starting in 2025, Viking is marking 80 years since Armistice Day on May 7, 1945, with a new 'Honoring Those Who Freed Europe' voyage that include five nights in London, ahead of joining the Paris & the Heart of Normandy Cruise.
Highlights included Privileged Access to the Cabinet War Rooms, where Britain's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, co-ordinated Britain's war efforts throughout the Second World War; a visit to Churchill's private Chartwell Estate and his birthplace at Blenheim Palace and learn how the British broke the Enigma code at Bletchley Park.
There is also a visit to Portsmouth, where on June 5, 1944, more than 86,000 troops left for French shores, marking the start of Operation Overlord and the liberation of France from the Nazis.
Historical points of interest are complemented on this 12-day journey by scenic sailing on the Seine, a visit to Les Andelys' imposing fortress, charming Vernon, historic Rouen and plenty of time to drink in the sights of the Paris.