Paris in July, 2017 - A trip to Normandie, part 3

After having spent a couple of days in Guernsey and Jersey it was time to head back home. We
choose the inland route and drove through a beautiful, sometimes hilly, scenery, stopped for a coffee or cider in small villages along the way. This is the cider area, and it is really good.

We did take off slightly to visit the village of Camembert. One would think that this is a big place full of tourists trying out this wonderful cheese. Not at all. It is a tiny village with about 8 houses of which one is the hotel de ville and the other is the tourist information. Which was on lunch break when we arrived! Luckily, they opened ten minutes later and we had a degustation de Camembert with the local cider to it. Very good, so we could not refrain from buying a few cheeses, some cider and Calvados which is also famous in this area.

Degustation de Camemberts

Continuing our trip, we ended up in Falaise, the birthplace of William the Conquerer. The castle is still standing and it is impressing. We took a tour with tablettes as guide. It was a fantastic way to see what it looked like in the old days. The walls and rooms are empty, but with the tablett you can point at certain places and up comes an animation of what it looked like and the story around it. One was quite surprised to look around the room and not see all the colourful tapestry and furniture that once stood there. Quite an amazing way to highlight past times.

The impressive castle of William the Conquerer

The castle from the entrance. Difficult to go through
if the gates are not open!

We continued to Chateau Harcourt. It was partly renovated with an interesting exhibition inside. It is more of a place where you can imagine that people have lived. It is surrounded by a big park, arboretum, and really lovely. At the end we came to Le Bec-Hellouin. It has been voted "the most beautiful village in France" and it is really beautiful, with a lot of medieval houses which are covered in colourful flowers. It also hosts the Bec Abbey. Lots of tourists, walking around the cloister gardens. The monks had a small shop where you could buy a lot of beautiful things.

Chateau de Harcourt

The picturesque village of Le Bec-Hellouin

Bec Abbey

From here on we went directly home. It was ten days of varying things to see and do and we really enjoyed it. We stayed at cosy hotels, some of them with fantastic views, some not. We ate very well, a lot of seafood. Next time we will cover another area of France.