Normandy

Le Nord : Normandy : Brittany

Car Hire (main collection points only) : Lille Airport : Lille Eurostar Railway Station

Normandy is one of France’s most fertile areas dominated by farming, with mile upon mile of unbroken farmland, which eventually gives way in the west to the waters of the English Channel.

It is renowned for such products as Camembert cheese, Normandy Cider and Calvados from the regions apples.

History has also trampled through Normandy. Some 200,000 buildings were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people killed in the battles of World War II.

Along the coast, scene of the D-Day landings of 1944, are concrete bunkers and rusting scraps of tanks. Fortunately the old town centres have been fully restored.

Normandy’s southern border is the River Couesnon, which meanders to the sea south of Mont-Saint-Michel, one of Europe’s best know architectural curiosities.The tides are phenomenal with a difference of about 50ft (15m) between the ebb and the flow, that’s the height of a five storey building!

Bayeux is also worth a visit for the fantastic tapestry depicting the story of Duke William’s invasion of England in 1066, the defeat and death of the Anglo-Saxon Harold, and the subjugation of England by Normandy.

The cross Channel terminus and port of Dieppe has attractive winding streets and a 15th century Chateaux, housing the Musee de Dieppe.

There are some beautiful chateaux in Normandy, particularly along the route between Paris and Rouen. They include the Boury-en-Vexin, Bizy at Vernon, Gaillon, Gaillard-les-Andelys, Vascoevil and Martinville.

Along the same route there are a number of other places of historical interest which all merit a detour, such as, the Claude Monet House and garden in Giverny, the Abbey de Marterner and the village of Lyon-la-Foret.

In this area you can obtain your hire car from Caen Airport, Caen Railway Station, Cherbourg Airport, Cherbourg Downtown, Cherbourg Ferry Port, Dieppe Downtown, Rouen City Downtown and Le Harve Airport.