Welcome in the Carentan Marshlands : 14 communes to discover

A vista extensive meadows criss-crossed with ditch and studded with peat bogs grazed by racehorses and cattle, through which the Rivers Douve, Taute and Sèves pass on their way to the vast estuary of the Baie des veys which is home to a colony of common seals, traditional Norman bocage of small fields with hedges and trees on the higher ground, and low-lying land reclaimed from the sea : you are in the Marais de Carentan.

Carentan is in the American sector of the Landing Beaches. The town was liberated by the 101 Airborne Division on 12th June 1944 after a big battle . You can begin the visit by the Dead Man's corner museum in Saint Côme du Mont.
From here you can then discover Utah Beach, Sainte Mère-Eglise and Omaha Beach.

Carentan is called the "Capital des Marais" because of its location at the heart of the marsh from where for centuries it has drawn its prosperity : livestock farming and the production of butter and cream, eel fishing ans its market up to the 19th century, and today from peat extraction and still from gateway for trade, welcoming boats of 100 to 200 tons to ship the products of our marshland to Le Havre and England. 
Today this port in devoted entirely to pleasure boating. 

This wilderness became the favourite territory for numerous migrating birds in search of an undisturbed habitat with plenty of food : waders and ducks in winter, storks, herons and cattle egrets in summer. It was therefore  entirely "natural" that in 1991 theParc Naturel Regional des Marais du Cotentin et du Bessin should be born, a vast wetland of 27,000 hectares rich in rare flora and fauna.