Travel to Normandy: A Shore Thing

From Le Tréport to the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy boasts a number of the most various coastal surroundings in France. Gillian Thornton hugs the shoreline for a dramatic coastal street journey.

It doesn’t matter what kind of seaside ticks your containers, France can present it, from the rolling surf of the Atlantic coast to the solar loungers of the Riviera. However no coastal area boasts fairly the number of Normandy, with its broad sandy seashores and sheer cliffs, its rugged headlands and quiet coves that jostle collectively for 640 scenic kilometres.

For greater than 1,000 years, this lush area has been hotly contested by opportunists arriving in boats. The Vikings or ‘Males from the North’ who gave Normandy its identify. The English kings of the Center Ages. And the Allied Troops at midnight days of World War II. In the meantime, William Duke of Normandy, aka The Conqueror, crossed the water the opposite manner in 1066 to invade England. Comply with Normandy’s shoreline and you will see that reminders of all of them.

In instances of peace, artists have been drawn to the Norman fringe of France by the clear mild and endlessly altering seascapes. Holidaymakers come to benefit from the stunning seashores, outside actions and relaxed life-style. And since a change of scene is rarely distant right here, the Norman coast is the best vacation spot for a seaside street journey, whether or not you’ve a protracted weekend at your disposal or a few leisurely weeks wherein to discover.

Chalk cliffs and concrete

Normandy’s most northerly coastal group is Le Tréport in Seine-Maritime, one in all three Norman départéments that face the ocean. Depart your automotive on the marina beside the Bresle river to set off on foot for the fishing harbour and streets lined with outdated cottages. Then take the funicular up the chalk cliffs for a sandy seaside and sheer chalk cliffs of Mers-les-Bains, southernmost resort of the Hauts-de-France area.

Turning your again on the river, the primary coast street heads west for Dieppe and Le Havre, however don’t depart the world with out making a 5km detour inland to Eu, the place William the Conqueror married Matilda of Flanders in 1051. The elegant château was the favorite house of final French king, Louis-Philippe who hosted Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1843 for the signing of the primary Entente Cordiale.

Again on the street, the busy port of Dieppe provides an eclectic collection of museums from clock-making to native historical past, up to date artwork to the marine atmosphere. For a real style of the ocean, indulge your self in a steaming fish dish of marmite dieppoise, Dieppe’s reply to Marseille’s bouillabaisse, on the restaurant of the identical identify.

Within the nineteenth century, Impressionist painters arrange their easels right here on the Alabaster Coast, named after its towering chalk cliffs. So don’t miss the tiny cliff-top church of Saint-Valéry in close by Varengeville-sur-Mer, usually painted by Claude Monet. Look inside for the stained glass window designed by artist Georges Braque who rests right here within the sailors’ cemetery.

Two highlights of the Alabaster Coast then observe in fast succession. First Fécamp, with the in-your-face grandeur of its Benedictine Palace, constructed by native wine service provider Alexandre Le Grand in 1863. A rare mixture of museum and artwork gallery, it honours the key recipe for Benedictine liqueur rediscovered by Le Grand and solely distilled right here. Depart time, too, for the wonderful Fisheries Museum that tells the story of the city’s key business.

Close by Étretat was additionally showcased by Claude Monet who visited a number of instances within the Eighteen Eighties. On the promenade, look out for reproductions of his work of the city’s well-known rock arch and native fishing boats. Then head uphill to discover the magical Étretat Gardens overlooking the seaside, significantly famed for his or her beautiful topiary.

My final port of name – actually – in Seine-Maritime is the bustling metropolis of Le Havre, a strategic port which was nearly annihilated throughout World Conflict II. Regardless of its UNESCO World Heritage Web site standing, I’ve to confess that Auguste Perret’s post-war concrete structure had by no means been excessive on my must-see record however I’m very completely satisfied to confess that I used to be incorrect. The massive tower of St Joseph’s church with its stained glass panels is a stunner and amongst many different surprising gems is MuMa, the Museum of Trendy Artwork André Malraux, a trailblazer in design phrases and the primary main museum inbuilt France after World Conflict II.

Le Havre can rightly declare to be the birthplace of Impressionism, a time period coined by an artwork critic in 1872 in response to a portray of town’s harbour by Claude Monet entitled ‘Impression, Dawn’. Right this moment, inside a contemporary sea-front constructing flooded with pure mild, MuMa homes the second-largest Impressionist assortment exterior Paris, together with a surprising show of labor by native seascape specialist Eugène Boudin, mentor to the younger Monet.

Fashionable resorts and remembrance seashores

Cross the mouth of the Seine on the Pont de Normandie and also you contact down in Calvados, a département whose shoreline is cut up by the Orne river, which hyperlinks Caen to the ocean. Barely are you over the bridge when a aspect flip whisks you to Honfleur with its impossibly picturesque Vieux Bassin, nestled beneath towering façades within reach of the Seine estuary.

Past Honfleur, the Côte de Grâce and Côte Fleurie unfold in a succession of vacation resorts that embrace Trouville, with its seaside and busy fishing harbour; trendy Deauville, of racecourse and movie pageant fame; and family-friendly vacation locations akin to Cabourg and Houlgate.

However simply past Cabourg, the coast street turns inland at Merville-Franceville the place the German gun battery and museum present a touch of the seashores to observe. On the evening of June 6, 1944, Allied parachute troops dropped into flooded marshland right here to silence German weapons targeted on strategic Pegasus Bridge and the Orne Canal, thus kickstarting Operation Overlord – the D-Day landings, or Jour-J to the French.

Drive over the fashionable model of Pegasus Bridge and also you move the wonderful museum to the launch occasions of that June evening, full with a bit of the outdated bridge and a duplicate glider – none survived the assault. An hour spent right here will set the scene admirably for the remembrance websites to return.

While Caen isn’t technically a coastal city, town is barely 20 minutes by automotive from Pegasus and a must-see metropolis on any tour of Normandy. Residence city of William the Conqueror, who’s buried right here within the Males’s Abbey, it’s also the location of the wonderful Caen Memorial, a museum to peace instructed via conflicts since World Conflict I.

Again on the coast, Ouistreham Riva-Bella on the mouth of the Orne was a low-key vacation resort on the Côte de Nacre till 1944 when it turned a part of Sword Seaside, one of many 5 D-Day Touchdown seashores. Past it, Juno, Gold and Omaha stretch west alongside the Calvados coast, with Utah at proper angles on the east coast of Manche.

Right this moment, the superb clear sands of the D-Day seashores echo as soon as extra to the sounds of completely satisfied holidaymakers, however the occasions of 1944 are by no means distant. Museums and memorials observe thick and quick, the most recent being the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, behind Gold Seaside. Formally opened on June 6, 2021, it carries the names of twenty-two,442 British troopers who gave their lives within the Battle of Normandy.

The Calvados coast morphs seamlessly into Manche because the shoreline veers sharply north in the direction of Cherboug simply past the hamlet of Isigny-sur-Mer. Walt Disney’s ancestors departed Normandy in 1066, settling first in post-invasion England, the place D’Isigny morphed into Disney. One technology later, the household moved to Eire, earlier than heading to the US the place the remainder, of us, is cartoon historical past.

Seaside limitless

Replenish on sweets for the automotive journey at Les Caramels d’Isigny earlier than transferring from Calvados into Manche as you head north up the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula in the direction of Cherbourg. After Utah seaside, the straight, flat shoreline continues via a succession of coastal hamlets earlier than arriving at fairly Saint-Vaast- la-Hougue, which is known for its oyster beds, fishing fleet, and for Tatihou Island with its maritime museum and botanical gardens.

Then stick with it to Barfleur, an vital port within the Center Ages and now one of many Plus Beaux Villages de France. It was right here that William of Normandy’s spouse, Mathilde, commissioned the ship Mora to hold her husband to England. Later, in 1120, the inheritor to Henry I of England died right here when his ship ran aground at Barfleur Level.

Due west from Barfleur, the fashionable port of Cherbourg has its personal army story to inform on the Musée de la Libération in Fort du Roule. Uncover the artwork assortment of the Thomas Henry Artwork Museum; take a ship journey spherical La Grande Rade, the world’s second largest synthetic harbour; and spend a number of hours on the wonderful Cité de la Mer, which is devoted to underwater exploration.

The far north-west of Manche may very well be one other nation, dubbed ‘La Petite Irlande’ for its rugged coastal surroundings. For those who’ve loved the Impressionist hyperlinks with the chalk cliffs of Seine-Maritime and Boudin’s seashores of the Côte Fleurie, cease off on the village of Gréville-Hague to go to the birthplace of artist Jean-François Millet. One of many founders of the Barbizon faculty and famous for his work of peasant farmers, he additionally painted the craggy cliffs and sleepy villages of his native shoreline.

Huge bays and sand dunes line the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, the biggest resorts being Barneville-Carteret and Agon-Coutainville. I’ve at all times had a comfortable spot for the historic port of Granville with its atmospheric Haute Ville perched on a strategic promontory. Take a pleasure cruise past the headland for distant views of Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy’s most well-known historic monument.

To achieve the Mount by street, you move via the hilltop city of Avranches, house to an enchanting exhibition of illuminated manuscripts created by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Michel. In 1172, Henry II obtained absolution in St Andrew’s Cathedral at Granville for the homicide of Thomas Becket. The church is lengthy gone, however you possibly can sit right here in Thomas Becket Sq., a quiet park with distant views of the Mount, on the very spot the place it occurred. No coastal tour of Normandy is full with out a nearer have a look at the Mount, which lies simply inside Norman waters.

Discover the winding uphill avenue to the abbey church, take pleasure in a guided bay stroll, or just admire it from a viewpoint alongside the coast. There could be few extra dramatic conclusions to any seaside street journey.

From France Right this moment Journal