The
Normandy area, the former dukedom of Normandy
is nowadays divided into two regions; Upper Normandy (Haute Normandie)
in the east, and Lower Normandy (Basse Normandie) in the west. This
guide covers both regions.
Normandy
is.....
Monet's
garden, Giverny
and
Le Mont
Saint Michel .... and a lot more.
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The cliffs at Etretat -
The
harbour at Honfleur -
Johan Barthold Jongkind : Honfleur 1866.
André Malraux
museum - le Havre
Memorial on Omaha Beach
Photo Credits:
Monet's garden: - Photo Jordan Klein
The cliffs at Etretat: Frenn Lareo
Honfleur harbour - Deylaud
Omaha Beach memorial Anoneditor
These photos licenced under Creative Commons
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An introduction to Normandy
Normandy
is one of the great historic regions of France; in the Middle
Ages, Normandy was a great dukedom which, like Burgundy, rivalled in
power and prestige with the kingdom of France. Indeed, the dukes of
Normandy managed to achieve the same status as the kings of France, to
whom they owed alliegance - but that was by extending their
domains beyond the Channel, when William of Normandy managed
to acquire the title and status of King ...... of England,
where
he was of course hailed as William the Conqueror.
With their historic links and their
proximity, it is
hardly surprising that the Normandy area has much in common with the
south of England; the rolling countryside is not too different - fields
and meadows bordered by hedges, even bluebell woods. Furthermore, the
historic and vernacular styles of architecture are not too different
either.
Today, the area that was once the
dukedom of Normandy is divided into two administrative regions
- Upper
Normandy (Haute Normandie), capital Rouen, with its two
departments, Eure
(27) and Seine Maritime
(76), and Lower
Normandy, (Basse Normandie) capital Caen, comprising the
departments of Calvados
(14), Manche
(50), and Orne(61).
There are plenty of people who would like to see the two
regions
reunited - which would make historic sense, and leave a reunited
Normandy region still within the norms of French regions, both in size
and in population. This is liable to occur in the not too distant
future when the number of regions in metropolitan France is reduced fro
the current 22 to perhaps 15.
To the south
east, the Normandy area borders on the Ile de France, the Paris region,
and towns and villages in this area have developed due to their
proximity to the capital. Both Caen and Rouen are sufficiently close to
Paris to benefit from the economic vigour of the Paris region, which is
the most propserous in France, and from their position between two
major hubs of international communications - Paris for air travel
(parts of south east Normandy are less than 100 km from Charles de
Gaulle airport), and the Normandy port of Le Havre, France's
most important international shipping port.
Le Havre, Caen and Rouen are the three
main cities
in this region. There are four smaller cities - or large towns, these
being Evreux, in the Eure, Cherbourg - still an active
seaport,
though less than in its heyday when it was France's gateway to America
- Dieppe, a minor seaport, and Alençon, capital of
the Orne.
Outside the towns and cities, Normandy
is a
prosperous agricultural area, specialising in dairy products, fruit
(notably apples) and mixed farming. The most famous regional products
are the cheese Camembert, and two drinks, Cider and the spirit
distilled from it, Calvados. Normandy is also famous for its
racehorses, and the region has many top breeding stables.
Getting to Normandy
:
By train from Paris Gare Saint Lazare,
Direct access by ferry from the UK, to Cherbourg, Caen (Ouistreham), Le
Havre or Dieppe.
By air:
access by plane to Paris or (for western Normandy) to Rennes.
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Accommodation in Normandy :
many with
English-speaking owners
► Hotels
in the Orne
(61)
► Hotels
in the Eure
(27)
Choose from hundreds of Normandy hotels available at best
rates |
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A small
hand-picked selection of
hotels in Normandy.
All these
Normandy hotels have been selected on account of their good
user reviews:
Click hotel name for booking options and best rates.
Cherbourg
area (50) :
Normandy
beaches area (14) :
Deauville
& Côte Fleurie (14) :
Pays
de
Caux (76- N-E Normandy) :
Rouen
area :
About-France.com
How we choose which hotels to list:
About-France.com
takes the strain out of finding a good hotel. Before listing any hotel,
we read customer reviews to make sure that it meets our standards or
selection criteria. For our regional lists, the main criterion used is
visitor satisfaction. We only list hotels which are generally
recommended by people who have stayed in them. As a result, our hotel
lists are short and very selective.
Naturally, the type and quality of service
provided will vary
according to the hotel; visitors cannot expect the same service or room
quality in a two-star hotel as in a four-star chateau hotel. Our choice
lists hotels that are generally judged to be above average or well
above average for their category.
Visiting
Paris?
See our selection of Paris
hotels
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Main tourist attractions in
Normandy
- Giverny:
(near Vernon, 27) Visit the home of the greatest Impressionist, Claude
Monet, and the Giverny Museum of Impressionism - formerly the Museum of
American art.
There are more works by the major Impressionists in the museums at
Rouen and Le Havre (see below).
- Caen
(14), a large part of which was destroyed in the Second World War, has
a Memorial
museum of the Normandy Landings and the Liberation
- The
Normandy Beaches
(14) - the site of the D-Day Landings in World War 2 - Omaha Beach,
Juno Beach, Utah Beach and the others. The landings are
commemorated in monuments, museums and the war graves of the thousands
who gave their lives. Normandy beach Coach tours depart from
Bayeux.
- Bayeux
(14),
attractive old Norman town where the historic Bayeux tapestry was made,
and is still preserved, 900 years after it was made. The museum is open
7/7. Departure point of coach tours of the Normandy beaches.
- Falaise
(14) - impressive Mediaeval
fortress, birthplace of William the Conqueror.
- The
seaside resorts
(14) of lower Normandy, Honfleur, Deauville,
Cabourg, etc. -
genteel resorts that flourished in the ninetenth century, as the
closest to Paris.
- Honfleur
St Catherines church, from the 15th century, is the
largest historic wooden church in France.
- Rouen
(76), with its quays on the river Seine, its picturesque historic
centre, with half-timbered houses, an ancient clock, and a magnificent
gothic cathedral, one of the finest in France. The Rouen Fine Arts museum -
musée des beaux arts - has a good but small collection of
Impressionists, plus a broad collection of old masters from 15th
century to the 20th century, including Rubens, Velasquez, Poussin and
many more. There is also the Joan
of Arc museum .
- Le
Havre (76) -In
the 1950's, the old town, destroyed in the war, was rebuilt in concrete
by architect Auguste Perret, to the wishes of the Communist city
council. This example of postwar urban planning is classed as a UNESCO
world heritage site.
- Le
Havre: (76) Musée Malraux :
one of the best museums outside Paris for impressionism &
fauvism.
Large collection of 19th & 20th century masters including
Monet,
Renoir, Boudin, Marquet, Pissaro and many others
- The
White Cliffs of Etretat (76) - the most famous cliffs in
France.
- Pays
d'Auge (14, 61) - the archetypal Norman countryside, with
its small villages and traditional half-timbered cottages.
- La
Suisse Normande
(14, 61) - the highest hills in Normandy, around 1000 ft., loved by
hikers and ramblers - though they are a long way from being mountains.
- Le Mont Saint Michel,
(50) the world famous mediaeval abbey built on a rock in the
bay
- a UNESCO world heritage site. One of France's most visited
historic monuments.
- Le
Cotentin: (50) countryside, cliffs and sandy beaches, on
this granite promontory jutting out into the English
Channel.
- Le
Cité de la Mer, Cherbourg:
(50) Devoted to underwater exploration, the museum includes a visit of
the Redoutable, the biggest visitable sub in the world, plus the
deepest aquarium in Europe.
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Further information :
Official Normandy tourism site
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2011
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