DK Travel : Normandy : Places of interest

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Conches-en-Ouche

Approached on the D830 from Evreux, the town’s fine setting above a bend in the River Rouloir is revealed.
Côte d’Albâtre

On first sight of the Alabaster Coast, you might be fooled into thinking that you were across the Channel: it bears a striking resemblance to the White Cliffs of Dover. Stretching southwest from Le Tréport to Le Havre, the coastline is pitted by valleuses – dry hanging valleys in the clifftops, revealed as the cliffs retreat before the combined forces of sea and weather. The harbours shelter in natural shingle inlets, while the larger towns cluster on the estuaries. This coast offers some of the region’s most spectacular scenery.
Courseulles-sur-Mer

A little further west along the Côte de Nacre at Juno Beach, where memories of the Normandy Invasion (see D-Day Beaches) mingle with modern-day seaside amusements, Courseulles has a large marina (somewhat overshadowed by modern apartment blocks), and a terrific shellfish aquarium. Just inland is Reviers, where an arts and crafts festival takes place each July.
Coutances

One somehow doesn’t expect to find a great cathedral in this isolated corner of France, but here it is: a soaring stone rocket crowning the hill around which the town is gathered. In the 13th century, with the aid of the de Hauteville family, who had prospered in Sicily and southern Italy, a new Norman Gothic building was surmounted on the remains of the previous, fire-damaged Romanesque one. Its remarkable octagonal lantern above the altar rises to 41 m (135 ft), and its many towers, spires and pointed arches sweep the eye skyward. In town, the flower-filled Jardin des Plantes makes a perfect setting for some of the concerts that take place in Coutances during the annual Jazz sous les Pommiers festival in May (see Jazz sous les Pommiers, Coutances).
D-Day Beaches

Sixty years after D-Day, the momentous events of 6 June 1944, when the Allies landed on the beaches of the huge Seine Bay, are commemorated in memorials, museums and cemeteries.
Deauville and La Côte Fleurie

The magnificent coastline from Honfleur to Cabourg, with its series of wide, sandy beaches, means that all of its resorts – Villerville, Trouville, Deauville, Villers-sur-Mer, Houlgate and Cabourg – have much to offer the sun-worshipper, with swimming and watersports all the way along. If you tire of the sun, and your money is burning a hole in your pocket, you will find no shortage of casinos to lose it in. Each place has its own character, none more so than exclusive Deauville.
Deauville and La Côte Fleurie

Normandy’s most alluring stretch of coast, fringed by marvellous sandy beaches, is enlivened by a string of resorts that offer something for everyone: gambling or, if you can’t afford to gamble, people-watching in opulent Deauville; shrimping and sand-yachting in Houlgate and Cabourg; and the many amusements of happy-go-lucky Trouville. The D513 follows the coast, dipping inland around the impressive corniche, Falaises des Vaches Noires, that rises up between Houlgate and Villerssur-Mer.
Dieppe

The first beach resort in France, Dieppe occupies a striking position between limestone cliffs. As a Channel port, it was coveted for centuries by foreign invaders, and has long been a favourite with British holiday-makers, drawn by its sweeping beach and lively old town centred on the Grande Rue. Nearby, medieval Église St-Jacques has a memorial to the thousands of Canadians killed in Operation Jubilee in 1942. Above the town, the 15th-century flint-and-sandstone castle is now a museum, with a fine collection of Impressionists and some remarkable 16th-century carved ivory pieces.
Domfront

Perched above the Varenne Gorge, with open views over the pear orchards of the Passais bocage , the ramparts and towers are evidence of the town’s turbulent history.
Ecomusée du Moulin de la Sée, Brouains

Admire the giant waterwheel that drove the machinery of this former paper mill on the River Sée.