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| France / North / Normandy |  |
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| THE AREA |
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 Normandy is the land of cream and apples and poignant Second World War cemeteries. The landscape is one of manoirs and châteaux, perfect orchards, thatched cottages, tall hedgerows and beech woods carpeted with bluebells in the spring. White cliffs surround the beaches, most spectacularly at Etretat - and Mont St. Michel. The steep valley of the Orne is known as Swiss Normandy, where hills roll away to the west.Normandy owes its name to the northmen or Vikings, who seized the region in the 9th century. The Normans also ruled southern Italy and Sicily and the profits from their conquests went into new cities, brick and wood manoirs and churches. A good half of medieval Normandy belonged to the Benedictines, who originated a unique style of Romanesque architecture. The Normans later built elegant Renaissance châteaux and mansions. The area around the seaside town of Dieppe, with its lawns and promenades, narrow streets and fish restaurants, is particularly unspoilt. Within this tapestry of cider orchards and dairy farms interrupted with tiny country lanes, you will find idyllic gingerbread houses with criss-cross timbering, wattle and daub, capped with steep pitched roofs. Honfleur, near Le Harve, with its 17th century dock basin trimmed with tall, thin houses is extremely seductive. Impressionists were inspired here, Joan of Arc made history here and Monet painted here and monks still sing out their Greforian chants. The Cherbourg peninsular is popular and pretty, with long sandy beaches, rocky clifftops and picturesque French ports. |
| ACTIVITIES |
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The seaside resorts offer extensive leisure and sporting activities, especially windsurfing. Whilst inland there are facilities for golfing, riding and fishing. The Orne Valley and Parc Naturel de Brotonne make especially good walking terrain. One can also visit the Normandy beaches and war museums, Monet's gardens at Giverny; medieval Bayeaux and its tapestry. Mont St. Michel, the former monastery and prison, marks the boundary with Brittany and is very popular with tourists. |
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