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few kilometers down the road—and yet a million miles away—from the nearby World War II sites like Omaha Beach. Found inland from Port-en-Bessin, the hotel allures with super-stylish guest rooms, which comprise a fetching mix of Louis Seize chairs, gilded ormolu objects, modern photographs, and very chic fabrics. Overlooking the grand pool is La Chenevière’s showpiece: a stunning, glassed-in modern conservatory set with wicker furniture and abstract art. The restaurant serves cuisine appropriate to its surroundings: Dover sole with artichokes, lobster with wild-mushroom risotto, or roast veal with truffles. Pros: magnificent architecture; luxurious rooms. Cons: three different buildings; no a/c in the château. | Les Escures, | 14520 | Commes | 02–31–51–25–25 | www.lacheneviere.com | 26 rooms, 3 suites | In-room: a/c (some), safe, refrigerator, Internet, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, bar, pool, some pets allowed | AE, DC, MC, V | Closed Dec.– Feb. | MAP.

ST-LÔ

78 km (49 mi) southeast of Cherbourg, 36 km (22 mi) southwest of Bayeux.

St-Lô, perched dramatically on a rocky spur above the Vire Valley, was a key communications center that suffered so badly in World War II that it became known as the “capital of ruins.” The medieval Église Notre-Dame bears mournful witness to those dark days: its imposing, spire-top west front was never rebuilt, merely shored up with a wall of greenish stone. Reconstruction elsewhere, though, was wholesale. Some of it was spectacular, like the slender, spiral-staircase tower outside Town Hall; the circular theater; or the openwork belfry of the church of Ste-Croix. The town was freed by American troops, and its rebuilding was financed with U.S. support, notably from the city of Baltimore. The Hôpital Mémorial France–États-Unis (France–United States Memorial Hospital), designed by Paul Nelson and featuring a giant mosaic by Fernand Léger, was named to honor those links.

Visitor Information

St-Lô Tourist Office.

| Place General de Gaulle | 50000 | 02–33–77–60–35 | www.tourisme.fr/office-de-tourisme/saint-lo.xhtml.

EXPLORING ST-LÔ

St-Lô is capital of the Manche département (province) and, less prosaically, likes to consider itself France’s horse capital. Hundreds of breeders are based in its environs, and the Haras National (National Stud) was established here in 1886. | Av. du Maréchal-Juin | 50000 | 02–33–77–60–35 | www.haras-nationaux.fr | €5 | Guided tours only, June and Sept. at 3:30, July and Aug. at 11, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30.

St-Lô’s art museum, the Musée des Beaux-Arts, is the perfect French provincial museum. Its halls are airy, seldom busy, not too big, yet full of varied exhibits—including an unexpected masterpiece: Gombault et Macée, a set of nine silk-and-wool tapestries woven in Bruges around 1600 relating a tale about a shepherd couple, exquisitely showcased in a special circular room. Other highlights include brash modern tapestries by Jean Lurçat; paintings by Corot, Boudin, and Géricault; court miniatures by Daniel Saint (1778–1847); and the Art Deco pictures of Slovenian-born Jaro Hilbert (1897–1995), inspired by ancient Egypt. Photographs, models, and documents evoke St-Lô’s wartime devastation. | Centre Culturel, Pl. du Champ-de-Mars | 50000 | 02–33–72–52–55 | €2.80 | Wed.–Sun. 2–6.

GRANVILLE

30 km (19 mi) south of Coutances via D971, 107 km (67 mi) southwest of Caen.

Proud locals like to call Granville the “Monaco of the North.” It perches on a rocky outcrop and does have a seawater therapy center, but…the similarities end there. Free of casinos and sequins, Granville instead has a down-to-earth feel. Granite houses cluster around the church in the Vieille Ville, and the harbor below is full of working boats. From the ramparts there are fine views of the English Channel; catamarans breeze over to Jersey and the Iles Chausey daily in summer. Drive a few miles down the coast to find sandy beaches and a view of distant Mont-St-Michel. The Grand Pardon des Corporations de la Mer, a pardon, or religious festival, devoted to the sea, is celebrated in Granville on the last