Les Oiseaux de Passage

Les Oiseaux de Passage

, Hameau de la Madeleine, Isigny-sur-Mer, Basse-Normandie.

B & B Les Oiseaux de Passage is a delightful country guesthouse located at Isigny-sur-Mer close to the D-Day landing beaches and memorial sites. For either a D-Day memorial holiday or just a time for seeing some wonderful villages and scenery, this lovely traditional stone barn is a great place to stay.

Behind the 17th century stone facade, the interiors also feature large exposed wooden beams and plenty of exposed stone walls to show off the traditional furnishings. There’s real authenticity as well as friendly service from the convivial hosts, seamlessly mixed with modern comfort, and accessibility (including access for disabled guests). The lounge has a big corner stove for winter, and patio doors leading into the garden for summer. Breakfast is served in the dining room, served up with panache and including fresh fruit, fresh cakes, homemade jams, pancakes with maple syrup or red fruits and a selection of breads, croissants and brioches from the local bakery.

The three guest rooms reflect the same traditional style mixed with modern comforts. Double beds (or the option of twin in one room), flatscreen TVs, DVD players, iPod docks and free wi-fi are all there. So is a kettle for making tea and a Dolce Gusto coffee machine. The en-suite bathrooms include a bath or shower and a hairdryer. One rooms is adapted for a disabled guest and one of the bigger rooms includes a sofabed to make it into a family room if required.

As hinted at by the name of the guesthouse, this is an area visited by many migratory birds, so the rooms are named after some of the most notable: Curlew, Swallows and Storks.

This B&B is ideally placed to visit all the memorial sites and museums related to the D-Day landing beaches, particularly Utah and Omaha beaches which are close by, as is the German military cemetery and the Normandy tank museum. The area is also well-blessed with castles, museums and other historic buildings and just about every sort of land and water activity you can imagine. Just to mix up the land and water, the owner of Les Oiseaux de Passage has a land-yacht and will be pleased to give guests their first experience of this exciting pastime.