A sandy beach at the western end of Sword Beach, a peaceful seawall and, in the heart of the village, a 16th-century château listed as a historic monument.
Lion-sur-Mer is Luc’s neighbour on the Ouistreham side. Quieter than the big resorts, it lines up its villas and fishermen’s houses along a seawall mostly enjoyed by families and cyclists. Its beach marks the western end of the Sword sector, which stretched to Ouistreham, and a sundial-shaped monument on the seafront recalls 6 June 1944. Set back, in the village, the château and its park tell a much older story. In the evening, La Capricieuse welcomes you back with its heated water park and its restaurant.
The coast road runs through Lion before Hermanville and Ouistreham: an easy stop on the way to the ferry.
The château is privately owned: the park and chapel open to the public during the European Heritage Days in September.
On a clear day you can make out the turbines of the Calvados offshore wind farm, facing the Côte de Nacre.
A fortress already stood here in the 11th century. The present château dates mostly from the 16th century: its Renaissance pavilion from the 1540s, its turret and its staircase are listed historic monuments. The park has kept its tree-lined avenues, kitchen garden, orangery and ice house.
On the seafront, a tall needle raised like the gnomon of a sundial commemorates the 1944 landings. Lion marks the western end of the Sword sector, where British troops came ashore that morning.
A long, fine sandy beach, supervised in summer, below a car-free seawall promenade. At low tide the foreshore uncovers for hundreds of metres: perfect for looking for shells and shrimps, just like in Luc.
Photo credits: Viault (CC BY-SA 3.0), Sovxx (CC BY-SA 3.0), Patrbe and Pimprenel (CC BY-SA 4.0), Roi.dagobert (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Pimprenel · CC BY-SA 4.0The château remains a private home, but its park, boundary walls and ha-has have been listed historic monuments since 1969. Every September, the European Heritage Days open the park and the chapel: that is the time to go, before heading back down to the beach.
Five-star cottages, a heated water park and the beach fifty metres away, in Luc-sur-Mer.
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