Normandy - Europe for travel

Mont Saint Michel Abbey

17/01/202418/11/2022 by Travelalone

According to legend, the St. Archangel Michael appeared to bishop Ober in a dream and ordered to build a church here. And that was done: in the 8th century a chapel appeared on the rock. However, the Archangel Michael is unlikely to have anything to do with the transformation of the chapel into a fortress, which we see today. The place was strategically and economically profitable, and the abbots were smart enough to use it. But the main merit, of course, belongs to those architects from the 11-16 centuries who managed to unit the man-made and nature so poetically.

Writers and not only they admired Mont-Saint-Michel, called it the eighth wonder of the world. At number one, it entered the UNESCO list.

Lower Normandy Map. Manche attractions

04/02/202405/11/2022 by Travelalone

We were in Brittany and Upper Normandy, but Lower Normandy remained unexplored for us. Let’s look, what interesting is there and begin with Manche attractions.
The beaches are beautiful and sandy almost everywhere, but Manche has also rocks.

There are two maps in this post.

Lower Normandy. Calvados and Orne. What to visit
Upper Normandy tourist attractions. 1. Seine-Maritime
Rouen old town
Brittany. 1. Ille et Villaine. Saint Malo

Lower Normandy. Attractions Calvados and Orne on the map

28/06/202402/11/2022 by Travelalone

Attractions Calvados deserves a closer look: cider, cheese, calvados, picturesque old towns and trendy resorts nearby. And the beaches are wonderful everywhere. The whole line of beaches is also connected with the history of D Day. For the D Day I give a separate map.

Perhaps few will get to Orne, it is too far from the sea, but it makes sense to study the map of Orne too – maybe you will want to stop there for a couple of days on the way.

Fecamp attractions

02/04/202301/11/2022 by Travelalone

Fecamp is one of the largest cities on the coast. The next to the south is Le Havre, to the north is Dieppe.

All cities, towns and villages are arranged according to the same principle: high gypsum banks (Alabaster Coast) are cut by a river of greater or lesser strength, a large or small gorge is formed and also an exit to the water, houses grow around this exit.

Upper Normandy tourist attractions. 1. Seine Maritime

19/04/202429/10/2022 by Travelalone

Etretat view to Fecamp Alabaster coast / Etretat Fecamp Blick Alabaster Küste

Main Upper Normandy tourist attractions are a picturesque Alabaster coast with chalk cliffs. The castles here and there are in most cases not the most outstanding and more like the estates of not too rich nobles. Nice villages with old houses. Calvados and Camembert. Gardens planted by talented gardeners. The beaches are pebbly, in some places at low tide you can find sand, which becomes more in the north.

“Hanging” Valley in Senneville sur Fecamp

03/04/202321/10/2022 by Travelalone

Nearby hamlet, north of Fecamp, Senneville sur Fecamp. I knew that there was access to the sea, but where exactly was not clear. There are no signposts. I pointed my finger at a promising dead end on the navigator.

List of villages with “hanging” valleys can be found on the map of attractions.

Upper Normandy tourist attractions. Rouen region to Dieppe

19/04/202408/10/2022 by Travelalone

Seine Maritime from Fecamp to Dieppe Normandy / Haute Normandie Seine-Maritime Rouen Region

In this part there are Upper Normandy tourist attractions – everything interesting east and north from Rouen region to Dieppe and Treport.

Rouen old town

04/04/202310/09/2022 by Travelalone

Rouen old town is full of half-timbered houses and in general a nice, green city. I cannot remember cities of this size with so many unkilled half-timbered houses. It is all the more surprising that the city had a rather turbulent life (they could have burned or destroyed everything) and a good income (they could have rebuilt everything in stone).

What to see in Etretat

02/04/202310/07/2022 by Travelalone

Etretat the essence of the Alabaster coast of France, the best of the best. Let’s see what you can see here and how to get to Etretat

There are many such cozy small resort towns on the Normandy coast. It is to this one that people go to look at the amazingly beautiful white cliffs that form large arches in this place. Famous writers and artists have been here, including Delacroix, Monet, Manet, Offenbach, Dumas, Hugo, Maupassant. There are several paintings by Monet dedicated to Etretat.