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Racehorses pounding the beach at sunrise, a glamorous wooden boardwalk, the glittering casino, the sumptuous Hôtel Normandy, the Bar du Soleil, the Pompeian Baths, designer shops, marinas, racecourses, extravagant mock-Tudor villas – a glossy picture.

In contrast to its neighbour Deauville, Trouville exudes a terrific, happy-go-lucky air – due in part to its south-facing waterfront boulevard, trawlers and fish market, aquarium, children’s amusements, and wonderfully florid 1912 casino and town hall.

The vestiges of William the Conqueror’s castle can be visited at Bonneville, above his port of Touques. In the neat town centre stands the 11th-century church of St-Pierre.

Dip your toes into the beautiful Pays d’Auge with a visit to the half-timbered Manoir des Evêques, one of its loveliest buildings.

This friendly little seaside town, surrounded by woods and meadows, has become a village des livres , specializing in books.

Mont Canisy rises above Deauville, with views from Le Havre to the Orne; underground is a warren of German bunkers and tunnels.

A walk at low tide between Villers and Houlgate takes you past the “cliff of the black cows”, rich in fossils.

Like Villers-sur-Mer, Houlgate is a family resort notable for its Neo-Norman architecture, all half-timbering, gables, turrets and towers.

The former port from which William set sail to conquer England boasts a magnificent oak-framed market hall and the church of Notre-Dame, founded in 1067.

Take tea at the Grand Hôtel, so vividly described by Proust in A la recherche du temps perdu and, like Cabourg itself, still redolent of those genteel 19th-century days.