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Normandy is forever linked with the momentous events of June 1944 and the months which followed leading to the liberation of France and the rest of Europe.
The three departments of Calvados, Orne and Manche contain all the sites, museums and memorials and the important landmarks connected with D-Day and the battles which followed.
There are several museums including Musée Leclerc in Alençon, Muséemorial, Un Musée pour la Paix in Caen and also close to Caen is the Montormel Memorial.
There are 8 itineraries, which can be followed allowing visitors to the follow events in chronological order. Three routes retrace the key phases of the battle:
'The counter attack' from 'the breakthrough' from Avranches to the liberation of Alençon
'The encirclement' from Alençon to l'Aigle which follows General Leclerc's 2nd armoured divisions route
'The outcome' from Caen to l'Aigle via the Falaise-Chambois pocket
Even today the remnants of the artificial Mulberry harbour at Arromanches are a vivid reminder of the scale of the undertaking. Arromanches is home to museum which houses amongst other things a model of the harbour and a film made by the British Admiralty which follows the course of the entire operation. While a nearby cinema offers a panoramic film 'The Price of Freedom' shown on 9 screens provides the sensation of being at the very heart of the operation.
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