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Normandy
Holiday Villas & Holiday Chateaux in Normandy
Tourist offices and related websites
Manche | Calvados | Orne | Seine-Maritime | Eure
Half-timbered houses, upholstered cows, gentle hills and ancient harbours set the scene just across the Channel in Normandy, famous for one army that left it in 1066 and another that returned in 1944. We of course are now the true Normans, who invaded England and in the course of four centuries both absorbed, and were absorbed by, its culture. That probably explains why the sense of humour in old Normandy is often self-deprecating and self-conscious, in fact typically British.
Manche
At the top is its peninsula, known like the Channel as the Manche, the Sleeve. It is easy to slip in and out of a myriad of delightful small villages without noticing but if you do, it will be your loss, because each one has a country restaurant to savour. Everything is fresh: seafood, cream, sauces, cheeses; apple-based cuisine best washed down with a glass of Normandy’s fiery apple brandy, calvados.
Cherbourg offers a challenge with its old town full of shops specialising in gourmet food and wine. Valognes’s grand houses, "hôtels particuliers", survived the D-Day landings against all the odds - it was once known as the Versailles of Normandy.
Of tiny ports nesting between granite cliffs, do not miss Isigny-sur-Mer, with spectacular views from its picturesque fisherman’s quarter; also, St-Lô for its churches and tapestry museum, Bricquebec's 23m polygonal keep and Trappist monastery, or Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte's massive 14th century tower.
Calvados
The mild, almost Gulf Stream climate stretches the season from early May to late September, especially in the département of Calvados itself. This is cider country, overflowing with apple trees and densely wooded valleys scarcely changed since Duke William set sail. His exploits are chronicled in the Bayeux Tapestry, a great medieval newsreel that put a spin on the Battle of Hastings as effective as modern propaganda. Another prodigious warrior, Henry V, on his way to Agincourt and immortality landed at Honfleur, an exquisite harbour full of fine boats.
Trouville and Deauville keep their chic with their smart casinos and superb turn-of-the-century villas and Cabourg’s refurbished promenade revives the heady image of its heyday during the Belle Epoque. Honfleur is probably the most beautiful port in France and don't miss Lisieux, famous for its stunning cathedral with its shrine of Saint Teresa, The landing beaches and historic museums are dotted along the coast.
Orne
Just to the south, the Orne is the home of the Percheron horse, which once unflinchingly carried William’s knights and half a ton of armour. Usually grey or black, in remote areas on boggy ground they can still trounce a tractor. The horse is feted each September in the principal town of Mortagne-au-Perche.
There are lovely villages to discover (Vimoutiers where the Camembert cheese originated; Moulins-la-Marche) and an impressive town at its heart - Mortagne-au-Perche. The forests of Perche and La Trappe are well worth exploring.
Seine-Maritime
The Seine-Maritime, with whiter cliffs than Dover on its Alabaster Coast, has always been a magnet for great French writers and artists. Victor Hugo sent an enthusiastic postcard to his wife from the little resort of St-Valéry–en-Caux. The small village of Ry inspired Gustave Flaubert to write Madame Bovary. Claude Monet captured the sunrise at Le Havre. Pissaro painted on the towpath of the Seine, which meanders under ancient bridges past fruit orchards and old cottages at Conihout to the enchanting half-timbered houses at Notre-Dame-de-Bliquetuit.
There are superb fish restaurants at Fécamp, Tréport and on the smart sea front at Dieppe, where, at the start of the 19th century, the Duchesse de Berri started the fashionable concept of sea bathing, from half-submerged huts on wheels to preserve ladies’ modesty. Bathers still brave the sea hereabouts, but usually from Les Puys, a holiday resort with fine beaches located behind Dieppe’s northernmost cliffs. Those looking for a quieter spot may prefer the little coves around Les Petites Dalles, with fascinating little rock pools, uncovered whenever the tide goes out.
Take the road to the abbeys, which leads to Saint-Martin-of-Boscherville and Montivilliers via ruined Jumièges and Saint-Wandrille. Or try the ivory and spices route that passes the castle of Sassetot-le-Mauconduit, once the home of Sissi, Empress of Austria. Most roads lead to Rouen, where Joan of Arc was martyred in the Place du Vieux Marché. This great city overflows with monuments and churches with majestic spires. Its medieval centre of paved streets is full of dealers in antiques and indeed anything second hand, eager for a battle of wits with knowledgeable tourists. It will soon be time to celebrate your bargains with a dish of duck à la Rouennaise and to finish your meal with a glass of Bénédictine, the local speciality liqueur.
Eure
The village of Giverny in the Eure was first seen by the great French painter Claude Monet from the window of a train. He made up his mind to move there in 1883 and by 1890 he had earned enough money to buy his house and its adjoining land outright. Some of Monet’s most famous works, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge, were created in his garden at Giverny.
The ruined medieval castle of Château-Gaillard with its memorable views of the Seine at les Andelys was built by Richard the Lionheart and after his death, beseiged and taken by Philip II. Richard once boasted that his troops would hold Gaillard ‘were the walls made of butter’ whereupon the French king retorted that he would take it ‘were the walls made of iron’.
Don't miss the magical abbey at Bec-Hellouin and the beautiful town of Evreux.
The food is superb - butter, cream and apple based cooking, seafood, Calvados, cider.
Tourist offices and related websites
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Etretat
Etretat
Canal de Bessin
Grandouet
Château de St Germain
Etretat
Honfleur
Lyons la Forêt
Pays D'auge
Village fête
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