NORMANDY - France 2014 - page 421

On Place St. Patrice
(See “Bayeux” map, here . )
Taverne des Ducs provides big brasserie ambience, efficient and friendly service with
English-speaking staff, comfortable seating inside and out, a full range of choices from la
carte —includingFrenchonionsoup, choucroute (sauerkraut),andalltheclassics—andset
menus . Try the cooked oysters with garlic sauce, or the dos de cabillaud au beurre (cod in
butter sauce). They serve until 23:00 ( menus from €19.50, open daily, 41 Rue St. Patrice,
tel. [phone]).
Bayeux Connections
From Bayeux by Train to: Paris' Gare St. Lazare (9/day, 2.5 hours, some change
in Caen), Amboise (3/day, 4.5 hours, change in Caen and Tours' St-Pierre-des-Corps),
Rouen (4/day,2.5hours,change inCaen), Caen (20/day,20minutes), Honfleur (2-3/day,
20-minute train to Caen, then 1-hour PrestoBus—line #39—express bus to Honfleur; or
4/day 20-minute train to Caen and more scenic 2-hour ride on bus #20 via the coast; for
bus information, call 02 31 89 28 41, www.busverts.fr ), Pontorson/Mont St-Michel (2-3/
day, 2 hours to Pontorson, then bus to Mont St-Michel; also consider Hôtel Churchill's
faster shuttle van—described later).
By Bus to the D-Day Beaches: Bus Verts du Calvados offers minimal service to
D-Day beaches with stops in Bayeux at Place St. Patrice and at the train station (schedules
at TI, tel. [phone], www.busverts.fr ). Lines #74/#75 run east to Arromanches and
Juno Beach (3-5/day, none on Sun Sept-June; 30 minutes to Arromanches, 50 minutes to
Juno Beach), and line #70 runs west to the American Cemetery and Vierville-sur-Mer (3/
day in summer, 1-2/day off-season, none on Sun Sept-June, 35 minutes to American Ce-
metery, 45 minutes to Vierville-sur-Mer). Because of the schedules, you're usually stuck
with either too much or too little time at either sight if you try to take the bus round-trip;
consider a taxi one way and a bus the other (for taxi information, see here ) .
By Shuttle Van to Mont St-Michel: The recommended Hôtel Churchill runs a
shuttlevantoMontSt-Michelfor€65perpersonround-trip(1.5hourseachway;available
to the general public, though hotel clients get a small discount). The van leaves Bayeux at
8:30 and returns by 15:00, allowing travelers three hours at Mont St-Michel. The trip is a
terrificdealasyou'llgetafreetourofNormandyalongthewayfromyourknowledgeable
driver. For details, see www.hotel-churchill.fr .