Normandie Places to See

St Lo is our nearest big town and where we have to go to do official stuff.  I must confess when we first bought our house some 20 years ago, I thought that St Lo was the most dreary, miserable place in Normandie.  To be fair, much of it was completely obliterated during the Second World War as it was a German stronghold and following D-Day in this region the Allies bombed the hell out of it.  The photographs from that time are truly appalling.  So much of the architecture here is rebuilt or fairly modern and very 1960s. In the past few years however there has been something of a renaissance in St Lo.  The castle (long gone) ramparts are being maintained; the land at the side of the river Vire in the town centre has been regenerated with a fancy footbridge and green areas to sit and take in the view.  Each summer, the bridges are festooned with beautiful flowers and numerous colourful flags.  Some of the drab buildings have been given a new lease of l...

Today, I am going to comment on the abundance of fabulous lighthouses on the Cherbourg peninsula coast line - I often drive from Carteret on the west coast and follow the 'routes des caps' signs (this can be somewhat challenging as they often move).  You can drive along the coast (some inland bits, lots of beautiful villages) and see some fantastic sights.  I love this route in rain or sunshine. The first is above Carteret: Then Dielette (you can sail from here to Guernsey): Next is Cap de La Hague: Then Cherbourg: Next is Cap Levi (had a nice picnic here with my parents once!) Then on the east coast the very tall Gatteville phare: You can visit this phare in the summer season and if you are very brave you can climb the internal stairs to the top - magnificent views and over 300 steps.  I was absolutely terrified at the top - you can walk around (there is a safety rail) - views to Barfleur, St Vaast la Hougue and beyond. The comes the petit Reville...

A very good friend of mine is always telling me that I have lots of knowledge on the area in France where we live, and suggested that I ought to do a blog on the subject.  For what it is worth, I thought I would blog about the places that I know well and give you some ideas for days out, visits, eating out etc. I live in Basse-Normandie, though these days the whole of the Normandie region is just referred to as Normandie!  I've lived here for three years but have owned my house since 2000, and have spent many hours traversing the area with various visitors in tow. People from the UK often say to me that 'Normandy' isn't really France and that it cannot possibly give a real experience.  I am not sure why they say this - because of course it is France!  The French seem to think so and indeed, in this area many, many houses are 'maison secondaires' for Parisiens and you don't get more French than someone from the capital city. I love France and chose to l...