Normandy Experience

The undiscovered Normandy

Advantages: Relatively unknown to English tourists
Disadvantages: I can't think of any

...Bray evokes the essence of Normandy - peaceful hamlets of colombage houses, Normandy cows and of course the apple trees which produce the region's excellent cider. Our personal favourite is the Vallee de la Varenne. The river Varenne wends its way peacefully through Saint-Saens, a picturesque market town with a very good restaurant (Le Relais Normand), past the beautiful Saint-Saens golf club which is reputed to be one of the most scenic courses ...
...sea near Dieppe on the Cote d'Albatre. The beautiful Foret d'Eawy (the second largest beech forest in France after that of Lyons-la-Foret) rises up from the valley and many varied routes are clearly signposted to enable both the walker and cyclist to take advantage of the scenery and possibly spot a deer or wild boar roaming freely. The coast itself was a favourite of many artists and Monet painted a series of his favourite coastal views reflecting ...

onverra 24.01.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Normandy (France)

A Family outing to Mont St Michel

Advantages: Free to get in (to main part)
Disadvantages: Difficult / No access for wheelchair/pushchair

Mont St Michel in the Gulf of St-Malo off the coast of Normandy, France. The Benedictine monastery (founded 708 AD) was used as a prison from the time of the French Revolution (1789-1799) until 1863. I visited Mont St Michel on a day trip during a fmily holiday in June. I was with my husband and 2 children (age 2 and 4 months at the time). The day we went was overcast to the first view of the Monastry was not as spectaular as I'm sure it is on a ...
...then walked about 100yards to the entrance and then paid another 1 Euro to use the loo! It was heaving with people when we got there which was a bit scary with a toddler who wanted to run and explore and a pushchair to manouvre. The path were very narrow and cobblestone which was great to see as I love all things historical but it was very difficult with the buggy and in hindisght I should have used a baby carrier (we had one back at the hotel!!). ...

connie1910 22.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Mt St Michel (France)

CAEN - Capital of Lower Normandy

Advantages: Near to UK, Peaceful, nice people, tasty gastronomy, a prefect reason to learn french
Disadvantages: Small, not many people speak french

Caen is capital of Lower Normandy (Basse-Normandie in french). Located in north-west of France in the département of Calvados. This small city is full of tranquility, mostly people are nice, this region is aslo famous for its dairy products such as tasty cheese & camembert and turing the disadvantage into advantage and learn french. You may make this as your main point and visit all of the normandy attractions from this place. This city of William ...
...Abbaye aux Hommes (Men's Abbey), Abbaye aux Dames (Women's Abbey), Town Hall". All these attractions could be done as a guided tour, the good thing is that there is no admission fees for any of the tourist attraction (with exceptions of some days / Time). The Sunday market which is held every Sunday morning from 9am - 1pm in the town centre is a very big one. One may find fresh bakery, dairy and meat products. This market also offers variety of ...

nomi_a 06.08.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Normandy (France)

Following The Road To Liberty.

Advantages: Lots to do and see connected with WWII, pleasant countryside and friendly people.
Disadvantages: Another week needed to fit it all in.

...My motive for visiting Normandy was specific in visiting places connected to WWII. Obviously such recent history cannot be avoided (or should be) when visiting Normandy so there are lots of places to visit, see and learn about. Our gite (cottage) was in lower Normandy (Basse-Normandie) about 100 kms from the landing beaches of Omaha and Utah but that didn't stop us travelling up there on two separate days within the week to see them. Juno (Canadian) ...
...in the south west of Normandy Avranches is a pleasant, busy small town, Avranches itself saw fierce fighting in World War II when Patton's Third Army outflanked the Germans to take the town, there is a Patton Place in the centre of town to remember this event. The town is situated on high ground so in places can command amazing views, especially from the Jardin des Plantes, the views looking west towards the Baie du Mont-St-Michel are fantastic and ...

marylou2u 15.09.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Normandy (France)

A sip of Calvados

Advantages: Green and pleasant, interesting, accessible
Disadvantages: Overdeveloped coast, not particularly welcoming

...Norseman, for the duchy of Normandy was originally carved out from France by Viking marauders in the 9th and 10th centuries. Early Dukes with such blood-curdling names as Richard the Fearless and Robert the Devil were at daggers drawn with their French neighbours for generations before William the Bastard became William the Conqueror as he staged his coup and added England to his domains. Regrettably, some of the traces of the region's origins have ...
...Curiously, given its turbulent history, Normandy is less well supplied with castles. Apart from the Chateau at Caen, which was obviously much reduced in WW2, only the fortress that towers above the town of Falaise in the south of the département is truly significant. Countryside Falaise is also a good centre from which to explore the most scenic part of the area, the so-called Suisse Normande that surrounds the upper Orne Valley and extends ...

torr 04.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Normandy (France)