Travel Guide Book to Normandy: the resort towns and best beaches, the festivals, World War II and the Allied landings D-Day.
Luc-sur-Mer is a French commune located in the department of Calvados in the Normandy region, with a population of over 3228 people.
Luc-sur-Mer is located south of the Bay of the Seine, in the heart of the Côte de Nacre, on the northern borders of Bessin and the Caen plain, north of Calvados. The town or village is located 2.5 km northeast of Douvres-la-Délivrande, 9 km northwest of Ouistreham and 15 km north of Caen. The municipal area is located at the intersection of three landscape units: coastal and seaside zones, rural areas of the suburban zone.
The highest point (33 m) is located on the southern border, near the town of But Varin. Although the city is coastal, IGN considers the lowest point to be 4m, which is the height of the dam.
Beach resort Luc-sur-Mer before World War II
The Short history.
The name of the area is attested as Lu in 1077.
This place-name is derived from Old French *luc, “tree”, attested in the form luz, a term derived from Latin lucus, “sacred tree”.
In 1839, Luc-sur-Mer transferred the village of Délivrande to the municipality of Dover (which became Dover-la-Délivrand in 1961). A predominantly agricultural village develops on land away from the coast (now the old Luke), with the exception of the village of Petit Enfer. Since the 1840s, a fashion for sea bathing has developed, making Luke the oldest seaside resort on the Pearly Coast.
From 1875, Luc was connected to the railway network by a line from Caen to the sea, which departed from Saint-Martin station in the center of Caen. This line was closed at the end of World War II.
Allied landing in Normandy D-Day. In June 1944, Luke Beach was part of Sword Beach, but due to coastal reefs preventing landings, most of the troops associated with Sword landed in the direction of Hermanville Breach.
Tourism. Since January 2010, Luc-sur-Mer has been considered a “classified tourist resort”. The commune received the status of “blooming city” (three flowers) in the competition of prosperous cities and villages.
Festivals and holidays.
– Luc sur Mer Tribute Fest: every year this music festival opens the summer season in the city. Well-known musical groups replace each other on stage in front of almost 10,000 festival goers (over two days).
– Christmas in the lights: every year the Parc de la Baleine (Parc de l’Hotel de Ville) turns into a magical place. Lighting, walks, and a Christmas village bring the park to life on weekends.
— Aerobatic festival, air show: In the summer a few years ago, demonstrations of civil and military aircraft were held over the sea, this event was created in 1997 at the initiative of the city hall and the casino.
Main attractions:
– The church of Saint-Quentin was built in the 19th century, with the exception of a fragmented bell tower, inherited from the old church and dating from the 12th century. The bell tower is considered a historical monument.
— The cross in the cemetery dates back to 1662. It is classified as a historical monument.
– The Luc-sur-Mer cliffs, a site classified in 1976.
– Menhir de la Pierre de Luc, property of the French Prehistoric Society.
– The pier was built in 1971 in Ouistreham on the continuation of a place called Breche Marais.
– The skeleton of a whale, washed ashore on the outskirts of Luc-sur-Mer and Langrune-sur-Mer in January 1885, is on display in the city park at the Maison de la Baleine museum.
– The marine station of the Regional Center for Coastal Studies (University of Caen-Normandie) has been located in Luc since 1880.
– The old station on the Can-Courcelles line, which serves as a brigade of the gendarmerie in the summer and a music school in the school period.
– Cinema Le Drakkar since 1931.
– Casino by Cannes architect Auvray, opened in 1956.
Where shown in the movie:
— Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau and Patrick Deuerre eat a seafood dish at the La Digue teahouse on Place Petit-Enfer in the 1974 film Les Valseuses by Bertrand Blier. Shown briefly, but took three days of filming.
— Patrick Dewaer dives naked off a pier in front of Brigitte Fossey and Jacques Dufilho in Claude Sautet’s 1980 film Un mauvais fils.
The adult protagonist, played by Jean Rochefort, from Patrice Leconte’s 1990 film Le Mari de la coiffeuse, recalls that as a child, played by Henry Hawking, his mother forced him to wear swimming trunks on the beach Luc-sur-Mer.
Private tours from Paris to Normandy via Luc-sur-Mer.
Most of our author’s tours to the battlefields of the Second World War pass through this area. You can ask the driver (guide) here to stop at a cafe to have a bite to eat like Jarard Depardieu and also swim in the sea. The beaches here are clean, sandy and comfortable. You can also visit the resort and the beach on the way to Mont Saint-Michel, the abbey and the fortress See the map – route scheme:
- Normandy private sightseeing or WW2 battlefield guided tours from Paris / airport