My name is René van Oirschot and I grew up in The Netherlands. Way before establishing Glamping La Haule and Bayeux Sightseeing Tours, from a very young age I have been interested in WWII history. I was fascinated as a child by the stories my parents and grandparents shared at home in Holland. During Operation Market Garden, the 101st Airborne Division picked their drop zone in the vicinity of the village I grew up. This gave me the enthusiasm to research this and that is where I learned of this great military event.
I joined an association which is very active in keeping WWII history alive. This association made it possible to meet a lot of WWII veterans and I attended lots of battlefield tours with them telling us their stories. These stories we have heard first hand are part of our presentation and to share these on tour gives us great pleasure so we can honor the memory as the years go by. This decade we are in transition from remembering to history, and sharing these stories will keep the memory alive of “The Greatest Generation”! Before being a D-Day tour guide in Normandy and having Bayeux Sightseeing Tours, I attended the jump school of “WWII Airborne Demonstration Team”, based in Frederick Oklahoma, USA. There I learned to jump. It was as close as I could get to the real experience of a WWII paratrooper. Today I’m still a qualified parachutist, jumping form a WWII C-47 during the festivities in the week of June 6th every year.
I moved to Sainte Mère Église and established Bayeux Sightseeing tours after I had been visiting the Normandy invasion beaches numerous times over the years to build on my knowledge and to see first hand where and how the events happened here on the beaches. I established Bayeux Sightseeing Tours to give our clients information and an enjoyable experience walking the ground that those brave soldiers fought, over our most precious good: Freedom!
Lest we forget……..!