Virtual Road Trip in Normandy Itinerary
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This month I was supposed to spend a week on a Normandy road trip. Since the borders are closed and we cannot travel, I decided to at least share the virtual Normandy itinerary. As it turns out, many of the attractions I was going to visit have a virtual offering (now).
Blooming tulip fields in the Netherlands
On my way from Germany to France I was going to drive through the Netherlands to finally see the tulip fields I have been wanting to see for years. The probably most famous one of which is Keukenhof. Since they cannot welcome any actual visitors at the moment, they decided to start publishing videos of the flowers to bring them into your home. You can admire the 2020 bloom on Keukenhof’s Youtube channel.
Rouen 360 panorama tours
Ahhh Europe… with all its pretty little village and oldtimey architecture. Even if it will never come close to strolling through medevial oldtowns, Rouen offers a virtual panorama tour. It’s a great way to get an idea of what it looks like so that hopefully when we can travel again we’ll feel just at home in this historic French village.
Claude Monet’s garden and house
One of the things I was most excited about of this road trip was visiting the house of Claude Monet. Along with the famous pond and garden which inspired so many of his paintings. Even if you have no connection to his art, you’ll have to admit that even seeing the video of the garden has a serene effect of blooming peace. And if you’re as hyped about turn of the century culture as I am, virtually exploring the inside of Monet’s house in Normandy will be quite a treat. I find the Fondation Monet did a splendid job at putting this together!
Normandy Landing Beaches
A little further along the coast the next stop would have been the D-Day beaches: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach. I was going to learn about the allied invasion in the Second World War here, but now I learned online instead. Especially the Canadians have great virtual resources about it. However, one of the virtual tours I like best is the one by Normandy Battle Fields. I bet you’ll learn a thing or two you didn’t know about war history in Normandy.
Interactive VR field trip of Mont Saint Michel
And then, finally, my personal highlight of the Normandy road trip! I was going to get up really early to see Mont Saint Michel before the load of daily tourists got there. And spend a night in case the weather wasn’t good for pictures. When researching online alternatives, I found this really cool interactive VR field trip of Mont Saint Michel. You can virtually explore the hill, town and church. Tell me this isn’t making you want to see it in real life as soon as the travel bans lift?!
Cheese and authentic French food
On my way back I would have visited at least one cheese manufacturer, maybe more. There is just so much local cuisine and food to try. Luckily many of these cheeses, ciders and calvados are exported. So it’s fairly easy to cook the food at home. For authentic recipies, check out Graindorge cheesery. They post their recipies around cheese for anyone to replicate.
Music by Orchestre National de France
And while you cook, listen to some music! What better soundtrack for a virtual Normandy road trip than the quarantine edition of Bolero by the Orchestre National de France. Recorded just for you, because they cannot perform in front of a live audience at the moment.
Do you feel like you’re on vacation yet? 🙂 If you are in a mood for France, also check out my post 4 things you didn’t know about the Provence and How to make France come to you when you cannot go to France.
Or, if you’re ready to start planning a real life France trip for when we can travel again, check out G Adventures tours in France.
I love that so many places are offering virtual tours and alike! It makes this time a little easier!
absolutely! I had no idea until I looked into it when I couldn’t go on this trip 🙂
I love virtual trips, at least we have that!
So true, a ray of hope and positivity 🙂
Sorry to hear your trip was cancelled, but way to make the most of it! The 3D view of Mont Saint Michel is really cool!
so funny, I just read your article about VR tours around the world 😀 Perfect stuff for Saturday nights these days #quarantine
What a great idea for being able to post about a trip during lockdown! Hope you get to go for real soon!
Thanks, Bella! I hope we all get to go somewhere soon 🙂