Merville-Franceville-Plage is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Calvados

Calvados

The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...

 department in the Basse-Normandie

Basse-Normandie

Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in northwestern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Geography

Merville-Franceville-Plage, more usually called Franceville, is situated on the Côte Fleurie

Côte Fleurie

Côte Fleurie is part of the Lower Normandy coast on the English Channel in the North of the Pays d'Auge, it constitutes the Eastern coast of the department Calvados....

, 6 km from Cabourg

Cabourg

Cabourg is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.Cabourg belongs to the Paris Basin. The commune is located next to the sea and the back country is a plain, favourable to the cereal culture...

 and 14 km (8.7 mi) from Caen

Caen

Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

. Merville Franceville is located on the right/east side of the Baie de l'Orne.

The back country is a plain, favourable to cereal cultivation and dairy cattle.

Population

Climate

The commune is under the influence of the oceanic climate : Winters are warm and summers rarely suffer from excessive heat.

Sights

• Redoute de Merville, fortification edified on Vauban
  Vauban
  Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
  
  's plans in 1779. Rediscovered by the occupying forces during World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  .

• Batterie de Merville or Merville Gun Battery
  Merville Gun Battery
  The Merville Gun Battery was a coastal fortification in Normandy, France, in use as part of the Nazis' Atlantic Wall built to defend continental Europe from Allied invasion...
  
   is an historic site situated in the eastern flank of the landing area Sword Beach
  Sword Beach
  Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
  
   where the Lieutenant-colonel Terence Otway
  Terence Otway
  Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Brandram Hastings Otway DSO, was a British soldier, best known for his role as commander of the paratroop assault on the Merville Battery on D-Day.-Early life:...
  
   carried out an heroic mission with his men of the 9th Battalion of Parachutists before the dawn of D-Day
  D-Day
  D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
  
   by neutralizing the artillery of the German battery.

Tourism

Merville Franceville is attractive for families, thanks to the various beach activities and excursions in the back-country.

This town is famous for being a good spot for kite surfing.

External links

• (fr-en) Tourist Office Website
• (fr-en) City council website