The 2026 D-Day Memorial Parade and Ceremony provides a musical salute to the fallen in Normandy, France. Friends and family of the Tarleton State University Band will have an opportunity to watch the band perform in a Memorial Ceremony as well as a concert on stage in Sainte-Mere-Eglise as part of the Concert De Liberation. You will also have the opportunity of walking with the Band in the D-Day Memorial Parade among thousands of enthusiastic and grateful French Citizens and Visitors.  The Friends and Family tour will also shadow the band as they take in the rich history and culture in Normandy and Paris, France.

- Overnight flight from the US to Paris (RT airfare from Dallas to Paris included in the tour price)

• Delta/AirFrance Airlines Group departs DFW at 3:45pm on AF#159

• American Airlines Group departs DFW at 5:45pm on AA#48

- 8:05am Delta/AirFrance Airlines Group arrives

- 10:00am American Airlines Group arrives

- Meet your tour manager in the Arrivals Hall. Walk to your private motor coach, load your luggage, and board the motor coach

- 11:30am Estimated departure time - Depart on your private motor coach for Normandy (approximately 3-hour drive). You will make a lunch stop en route. Lunch (on own)

- Visit overlook at Arromanches. It was on the beach of Arromanches that, during the Invasion of Normandy immediately after D-Day, the Allies established an artificial temporary harbor to allow the unloading of heavy equipment without waiting for the conquest of deep-water ports such as Le Havre or Cherbourg

- Depart for the hotel - Original City Caen Memorial / B&B Caen Memorial

– Dinner provided at Comptoir du Malt Caen near your hotel

- European style breakfast provided at the hotel

- 8:15am Transfer to Utah Beach and prepare for the D-Day Ceremony. Upon arrival you will have time to visit the museum and beach

- 11:00am D-Day Commemoration Ceremony at Utah Beach

- 1:30pm Transfer to Mont St. Michel for a visit to this one-of-a-kind medieval town and fortress abbey. Lunch stop en route - lunch on own (entrance to abbey on own).

- 6:30pm Dinner provided at La Ferme Saint Michel

- 8:00pm Transfer to your hotel for overnight

- European style breakfast provided at the hotel 

- 9:00am Transfer to Sainte-Mère-Église, the first town liberated by American paratroopers on D-Day, to explore the town and prepare for the D-Day Memorial Parade

- Note: visit the Airborne Museum at your leisure this day - museum closes at 7pm

- Lunch provided in Sainte-Mère-Église

- 12:30pm Reception for Tarleton State University at the Hotel de Ville (town hall)

- 3:30pm Performance in the town square as part of the Musical Salute to Liberation

- 5:00pm Participate in the D-Day Memorial Parade through the village of Sainte-Mère-Église

- Dinner on own in Sainte-Mère-Église

- 6:30pm Transfer to your hotel

Final evening in Normandy

- European style breakfast provided at the hotel

- 8:30am Transfer to Point du Hoc

- 9:30am Visit to Point du Hoc

- 10:00am Transfer to the Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Visit the Cemetery and Visitors Center. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 and the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. 

- 12:00pm Depart for Bayeux

- 12:30pm Enjoy lunch on your own and some leisure time in the historic village of Bayeux

- 2:30pm Transfer to Paris (approx. 4 hours)

- 6:30pm Dinner and overnight at your Paris hotel - Mercure La Defense

Free time in Paris

- European style breakfast provided at the hotel

- 10:00am Morning to enjoy a Seine River cruise with guided tour narration

- 11:30am Transfer to the Louvre

- 12:45pm Scheduled visit to the Louvre Museum (lunch on own)

- 6:00pm Dinner provided - Enza Famiglia Louvre

- 7:30pm Visit to the Eiffel Tower (standby line)

- Return to the hotel for overnight

- European style breakfast provided at the hotel 

- 7:30am Depart for Versailles

- 9:00am Tour of Versailles 

- 11:30am Transfer back to Paris, and drop off in the Latin Quarter area (near Notre Dame) Lunch on own

- Afternoon of shopping and sightseeing in Paris

- 5:00pm Meet the bus at a spot determined by your tour manager and transfer to Montmartre

- 6:00pm Final evening and farewell dinner at La Mère Catherine in Montmartre. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit. Many artists had studios or worked in or around Montmartre, including Salvador Dalí, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh. 

- Return to your hotel for overnight 

- 6:00am Depart for CDG Airport for your scheduled return flights

• 10:00am American Airlines #49 departs

• 1:30pm American Airlines lands at DFW

• 10:10am AirFrance #158 departs

• 1:35pm AirFrance Airlines lands at DFW