OUISTREHAM

'Ouistreham' is a commune of the Calvados ''département'', in the Basse-Normandie ''région'', in France.
Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.

Contents

History

Tourist sites

Transportation

Miscellaneous

History

The name Ouistreham derives from the Saxon ''Waster Ham'', or "western village", and it has been a trading port since the Middle Ages ; now the harbour is a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham". Ouistreham is pronounced Wee-Stru-Ham.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, it is a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".

On June 6 1944, the only French forces involved in the D-Day landings (177 men of the Commando Kieffer) disembarked at Ouistreham (Sword Beach).

Tourist sites

★ Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique (literally the ''Museum of the Atlantic Wall'')

★ Musée du Débarquement n° 4 Commando (museum)

★ Le Grand Bunker which is an old German bunker from WW2 that was captured by the British in the D-Day invasion

Transportation

The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.

Miscellaneous

Ouistreham is twinned with the West Sussex village of Angmering
The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie ''The Longest Day''.