Discover Normandy
Normandy condenses much of the French imagination into 30,000 km². Its Alabaster Coast, from Dieppe to Le Havre, rises 130 km of white chalk cliffs whose Étretat arches have become iconic, immortalised by paintings of Monet, Boudin and Courbet. The Côte Fleurie, from Honfleur to Cabourg, retains a Belle-Époque seaside gentleness embodied by Trouville-Deauville and their Victorian villas. At the western tip, Mont-Saint-Michel, a Benedictine abbey clinging to a rocky islet in the bay with Europe's largest tides, is one of France's most visited sites (UNESCO). Further south-east, Suisse Normande unfolds its meanders on the Orne between Clécy and Pont-d'Ouilly, a paradise for outdoor activities. In the north, the D-Day beaches (Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, Sword) and their cemeteries keep the memory of 6 June 1944; the Caen memorial offers Western Europe's most complete reading of the Second World War. Normandy is also a great cheese land: AOP Camembert, AOP Pont-l'Évêque, AOP Livarot, AOP Neufchâtel — all from raw milk of Norman cows. Cider, Calvados (apple eau-de-vie), pommeau, seafood (Normandy oysters, Port-en-Bessin scallops), tripes à la mode de Caen and teurgoule complete the gastronomic heritage. Recommended season: May to September for the weather, though the autumn fog over Étretat is itself unforgettable.
