Normandy

Destination Normandy

The Normandy has 600 km (375 miles) of some of the most impressive coastline in France, interrupted by a number of significant ports such as Rouen, Le Havre and Cherbourg. Stunning chalk cliffs drop into the sea and at low tide you can walk the pebbles stone beaches. The Normandy is an unspoiled paradise for the rest seeking tourist. Lush rolling pastures, cows grazing among the orchards and authentic villages: Normandy offers a picture book landscape.

This beautiful, peaceful landscape attracted the famous impressionist painter Claude Monet. Monet traveled to Normandy to immortalize the quaint villages and breathtaking scenery. The water lily garden at Giverny is one of the most popular and well-known paintings of Monet. Other paintings of the region and series of views of Rouen Cathedral are major works of Impressionism.

Normandy's main activities have an agricultural character. The production of milk, butter and cheese, play an important role in the local economy. The famous Camembert cheese is one of the many cheeses produced in this region. Normandy is not a winegrowing area but produces excellent cider and calvados. The Normans are notoriously heavy eaters. Local cuisine involves creamy dishes accompanied by a glass of apple cider. Local specialties differ from place to place. Fish and seafood are of superior quality in Normandy. Normandy is the chief oyster-cultivating, scallop-exporting, and mussel-raising region in France. The region boasts a number of excellent restaurants and has a total of 28 Michelin Stars.

The Normandy region is also famous for the beaches where the largest seaborne military invasion in history took place. 156,000 troops from the allied countries from mainly Canada, United States and England crossed the English Channel from England to the North of France to free Europe from the oppressor. In June 1944 the Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments. This day, known as D-day became a turning point in the Second World War in Europe. Along the coast you can find an abundant number of war memorials, museums and cemeteries, especially around the Bayeux area and the beaches just north of there.