Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North_ With Paris (Fodor's) - Fodor's [9]
There followed nearly 400 years of Norman sovereignty in England. For generations England and Normandie (as the French spell it) blurred, merged, and diverged. Today you can still feel the strong flow of English culture over the Channel, from the Deauville horse races frequented by high-born ladies in gloves, to silver spoons mounded high with teatime cream; from the bowfront, slope-roof shops along the harbor at Honfleur to the black-and-white row houses of Rouen, which would seem just as much at home in the setting of David Copperfield as they are in Madame Bovary.
The French divide Normandy into two: Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie. Upper (Haute) Normandy is delineated by the Seine as it meanders northwest from Ile-de-France between chalky cliffs and verdant hills to Rouen—the region’s cultural and commercial capital—and on to the port of Le Havre. Pebbly beaches and even more impressive chalk cliffs line the Côte d’Alabâtre (Alabaster Coast) from Le Havre to Dieppe. Lower (Basse) Normandy encompasses the sandy Côte Fleurie (Flower Coast), stretching from the resort towns of Trouville and Deauville to the D-Day landing beaches and the Cotentin Peninsula, jutting out into the English Channel. After the World War II D-Day landings, some of the fiercest fighting took place around Caen and Bayeux, as many monuments and memorials testify. Rising to the west is the fabled Mont-St-Michel. Our tour starts in Rouen, then heads north to the Channel Coast, which we follow all the way from Honfleur to Mont-St-Michel.
TOP REASONS TO GO
Mont-St-Michel: The spire-top silhouette of this mighty offshore mound, dubbed the Marvel of the Occident, is one of the greatest sights in Europe. Get there at high tide, when the water races across the endless sands.
Bayeux: Come not just for the splendor of the tapestry telling how William conquered England, but for untouched medieval buildings and the beefy, bonnet-top cathedral.
Honfleur: From France’s prettiest harbor, lined with beam-fronted houses, you can head to the ravishing wooden church of Ste-Catherine.
Rouen: Sanctified by the memory of Jeanne d’Arc, hallowed by its towering Gothic cathedral (immortalized by Monet), and lined with medieval half-timber houses, Rouen makes a great gateway city to Normandy.
D-Day Beaches: From rocky Omaha to pancake-flat Utah, muse on the stirring deeds of World War II.
GETTING ORIENTED
The Seine Valley divides Normandy in two as it flows northwest from Paris through Rouen and into the English Channel at Le Havre. To the north lies Upper Normandy and a spectacular coastline lined with towering chalk cliffs called the Côte d’Alabâtre, or Alabaster Coast. West of the Seine lies Lower Normandy, full of lush meadows and lined with the sandy beaches of the Côte Fleurie, or Flower Coast. (These are the same beaches where the Allies landed on D-Day.) Far to the west, at the foot of the sparsely populated Cotentin Peninsula, the offshore Mont-St-Michel patrols one of the continent’s biggest bays.
Upper Normandy. Fascinating portal city to Normandy, Rouen still contains—despite World War II’s battering—such an overwhelming number of lovely churches, chapels, towers, fountains, and old cross-beam houses that many take two full days to enjoy this commercial and cultural hub. Heading some 60 km (35 mi) northwest to the Channel shore, the Côte d’Alabâtre beckons, named for the white cliffs that stretch north, including the spectacular rock formations often painted by Monet at Étretat. Nearby seaside Fécamp regales with its noted Benedictine palace and distillery.+
Honfleur to Mont-St-Michel. Basse (or Lower) Normandie begins with the sandy Côte Fleurie (Flower Coast), announced by seaside Honfleur, an artist’s paradise