Arromanches-les-Bains 360 Museum

Inside nine buildings atop a hill overlooking Arromanches sits a circular theater with nine high definition movie screens. Visitors stand in the middle of the room and for 19 minutes are bombarded with the sounds and images of the 100-day long battle of Normandy. The name of the museum refers to both the 360-degree experience within the theater and to the fact that the footage came from every country involved in the Battle of Normandy, Germany included. The film is not narrated; instead the dramatic, sometimes startling sounds of battle and recordings of Hitler, President Eisenhower and other leaders do the talking. Seeing the presentation of these images this way gives an entirely new meaning to the photographs of troops landing at D-Day, and many of the other familiar images associated with WWII. The effect of this approach is powerful, to say the least, but potentially disturbing as well; it is not recommended for young children.