Camping de Sainte-Mère-Église

Fortunately, the beaches of northern France have returned to their original purpose, and Ravenoville (15 minutes’ drive) with its rows of coloured houses and wide sands is a fine example. Sitting on an inlet surrounded by wetlands, Carentan (20 minutes) has walking trails to the sea, and is the place to book a boat trip through the marshes. Walks through the teeming and diverse landscape of the Parc Naturel des Marais du Cotentin start from the park centre at Saint Côme du Mont. If you’re itching to get on the water after all that, the activity centre at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte (20 minutes) will soon have you canoeing and kayaking down the Douve. For thrills of a higher kind, the forest centre there has treetop walks, climbs and rope swings. After all that hurtling about, take a ramble round Bayeux (40 minutes), a handsome town whose medieval character escaped the war unscathed. There’s a well-regarded D-Day Museum here too, but most of the footfall of course is for the legendary tapestry which tells the tale of a different invasion. (Check before you visit though, it might have gone to Britain...)