Port-en-Bessin is a working fishing harbour squeezed into a gap in the cliffs, and on the morning of 6 June 1944 it sat exactly on the seam between Omaha Beach to the west and Gold Beach to the east. British commandos took the port in the days that followed, linking the American and British sectors. Today the trawlers still come in with scallops in season, the boats crowd the inner basin, and a stubby stone tower designed by Vauban's engineers watches over the entrance. It is a fine base for exploring the whole stretch of the Normandy landing beaches.
The coast road, the D514, runs west towards Colleville-sur-Mer and the American Cemetery above Omaha, where nearly ten thousand white crosses and stars stand in rows on a lawn above the sea. East lies Longues-sur-Mer, where the German coastal battery still has its guns in place in their concrete casemates, and beyond it Arromanches, with the remains of the Mulberry artificial harbour scattered across the bay like a broken necklace. Each place has a different feel, and it is worth giving at least a day to the area.
Inland, Bayeux is ten minutes away. It was the first town of note liberated and escaped serious damage, so its cathedral and medieval streets survive. It is also home to the Bayeux Tapestry, the embroidered story of an earlier cross-Channel invasion in 1066, which makes a curious and moving counterpoint to the beaches.
The riding is gentle and scenic rather than technical. The D514 rolls along the top of the cliffs and dips into small villages, with long sightlines and views of the sea, while the lanes inland wind between hedgerows, the famous bocage that made the fighting after D-Day so brutal. Summer brings heavy traffic, coaches and camper vans, and the anniversary period in early June gets very busy. Spring and early autumn are calmer. The weather changes fast; rain showers blow in from the Channel, and wind on the cliff tops can be strong.
Port-en-Bessin has restaurants serving seafood and a few shops, and you will find fuel at the supermarkets around Bayeux. Try the local cider and calvados, but save them for the evening. Above all, take your time and walk on the sand for a while.