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A relaxed and convivial place, run by chef Gérard Bonnefoy and his wife Anne-Marie. M Bonnefoy is a master of classic cooking with a contemporary twist: seductive and beautifully presented.

Founded in 1140, La Trappe was one of the Cistercian monasteries which adopted the Strict Observance – silence, prayer, abstinence, manual labour – introduced by Abbé de Rancé in the 1660s. Thereafter, they were known as Trappist monasteries; there is another at Bricquebec.

This vast and austerely beautiful church owes its scale to a casket containing the Holy Blood of Christ, said to have been washed ashore in the trunk of a fig tree in the 1st century. The abbey built on the spot in the early 13th century attracted streams of pilgrims. Le Précieux Sang is still venerated today.

This very large and well-equipped site is just a short walk from Houlgate beach, where you can take sailing lessons and go sea fishing.

This farmhouse is also a charming restaurant-with-rooms. The menu du terroir offers a good introduction to Norman cuisine.

The layout of this enormous maize maze is changed every year. You could happily spend all day here: there are animals to see and a picnic area.

From the 17th to 19th centuries, lace was all the rage across Europe. In Normandy, Alençon, Argentan and Bayeux were the three main centres of production, each with their own technique. Exquisite examples can be seen in all three towns, while Bayeux’s bobbin lace with its intricate floral motif is still made by a dedicated group of craftswomen (see Conservatoire de la Dentelle).

Influential Italian lawyer-monk (1005–1089). Became William the Conqueror’s Archbishop at Canterbury.

In 1034, a knight called Herluin exchanged his charger for a donkey and founded a religious community on the banks of the River Risle. When he was joined some eight years later by the influential Italian theologians Lanfranc and Anselm, the monastery grew to become the intellectual heart of Normandy. Disbanded in the Revolution and later demolished, it again became a Benedictine monastery in 1948 (see A Drive Along the Risle, Abbaye Notre-Dame, Le Bec-Hellouin).