Normandy: A Seaside Vacation
29-31 May 2004
Location:
I went to Normandy over the bank holiday. It was wonderful.
I took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. That was a good choice because it meant I didn't have to cope with the boring drive from Calais. My hotel was in Le Havre. This is where I went:
Saturday 29 May: Quiberville, Le Havre
Sunday 30 May: Honfleur, Trouville
Monday 31 May: Etretat
Weather:
The weather was very variable. There was some rain but it seemed to mostly happen while I was driving. On Sunday it was sunny enough that I needed sunscreen. The rest of the time it was mostly cloudy.
Instructions:
Click the thumbnails for a larger version. Some images also have a much larger version at 1024 by 768 pixels. You can download them one by one, by clicking on the wallpaper link next to the image. Alternatively you can download a zipped archive of all of them. The zipped archive includes instructions for making a screensaver of the images.
The weather during the crossing from Newhaven was pretty cloudy. This picture was taken on the aft of the ferry.
The texture of the blue rope cover interested me. I couldn't get close enough to touch it but I bet it would have felt rough.
One of my guidebooks was going on about the candleworks in Varengeville-sur-Mer, a village on the coast to the west of Dieppe. I thought I'd see if it was open but I couldn't find any sign of it at all. But this meant that I committed to the coastal road, D75 instead of the faster motorway. As you can see from this picture, this was not something I regretted. I knew I'd get to my hotel in Le Havre soon enough. This is the view of Quiberville.
And here we are in my hotel room in Le Havre. Le Havre is an industrial town. It's not really a place people go on holiday too but it's an ideal base from which to explore the coast of Normandy.
The water is Basin du Commerce. As far as I know, the pedestrian bridge across it doesn't have a name. The white building that looks like an upside-down yoghurt pot is the Volcano cultural centre, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The scaffolding-clad tower in the background is part of the town hall.
This is the Catherine Park in Honfleur. I parked near it. I love this walkway under the roses.
This bust of the Honfleur painter Eugène Boudin (1824-1898) stood as a focal point at the end of the rose path. I'm not sure why my guide books make such a fuss about him. His museum in Honfleur was strictly second rate.
I loved the feeling of exuberance and abundance conveyed by all the rose petals on the ground.
The park was obviously the show case of Honfleur. Just look at this lovely wisteria-clad gazebo in the pond.
Honfleur is on a hill so there were many narrow alleyways with stairs like this one. Very picturesque. I thought the rough walls and the yellow flowers growing on the wall on the left really added to this picture.
I'm not sure what makes this scene feel so very French to me. Perhaps it's just the early morning light in Normandy.
Blue shutters certainly add to the feeling of being in France.
When not in use, shutters need to be kept in place against the wall. That's the job of this little fellow.
This is one of the most-photographed scenes in Honfleur, the old harbour. Like in so many other harbour towns, the houses along the harbour are tall and narrow. Some only have one window on each floor.
More tall and narrow houses facing the harbour. This was the last picture I took in Honfleur. There was a festival in town and by this time it was starting to get unpleasantly crowded. I drove on to Trouville.
Trouville is a lot posher than Honfleur. It also has a long, sandy beach. From the beach you can see all the palaces built by wealthy Parisiens for their families to enjoy the summers in. This is the back side of one of them. It is slightly crumbling in that stylish way that only French buildings crumble in.
Returning back to the town centre along one of the docks, there was a fish market. If you're into sea food, this is paradise.
I sat down at one of the many creperies along the beach promenade to have some crepes and watch the stylish and not so stylish people passing by. This was the desert crepe, with a filling of apples and vanilla ice cream on top. It was even better than it looked.
Having had a very satisfying day, I stopped on my way back to Le Havre, to take a picture of the famous Pont Normandie, the recently built bridge across the Seine. There's a motorway rest stop right on the north side of the bridge. That's where this was taken.
The next day was also the last day. I was making my way back toward Dieppe via Etretat. Etretat is a typical little seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. But it has one thing that those don't have -- the Arsene Lupin museum. Arsene Lupin is a fictional gentleman thief created by Maurice Le Blanc. The museum is supposed to be his house, his hideaway. I had never heard of either Lupin or Le Blanc but it was a very enjoyable experience nonetheless. The picture shows a pergola in his garden.
And this is the museum.
A closer look at the steeply roofed porch. Wouldn't you want to live here? It's just incredibly charming.
After the visit to the museum, I ventured to the beach. The rest of the pictures on this page are all of the beach in Etretat. As you can see, it's a pebble beach.
The beach in Etretat is flanked by limestone arches on either side. This is the southernmost arch with the needle next to it. Dramatic, isn't it? The little specks you see at the top of the cliff are people.
I chose to go in the other direction, north. On the cliff face I found some thrift, Armeria martima, growing. It's a common garden plant in the UK but this is its native habitat.
The cliff consisted of limestone with embedded flint. From this picture you can easily imagine how sharp flint can be. In fact our neolithic ancestors used flint for many things, including cutting wood and preparing animal skins.
There were a number of sail boats out on the water. I don't know if there was some sort of competition but to the eyes of this lay person, it looked that way because they were all heading in the same direction.
As I was walking, I got a new appreciation for just how tall the cliffs were towering above me. Here some gulls are circling an outcropping in the rock face.
The waves crashed noisily into the little bay next between the arch and the beach.
OK, a final look at that intriguing arch. It was all the more frustrating because I couldn't get there.
Walking back I was treated to this panorama of the arch and the needle of Etretat. And thus ended my bank holiday weekend in Normandy. I'll be sure to come back.
