From the astonishing sight of mont-st-michel , appearing like some fabulous mirage out of the pancake-flat landscape which surrounds it, to the equine elegance of the national stud at Haras du Pin or the human elegance of romantic Château d’O, this region, which consists of the département of Orne and the southern part of Manche, is crammed with history and variety. The scenery is just as varied: there’s the rugged beauty of the Pays d’Alençon in the Parc Régional de Normandie-Maine, where bands of thick forest cover the high ridges; the wooded Mortainais, with its steep valleys and exhilarating waterfalls; the gently rolling pastureland of the Perche, interrupted by cool, deep, green forests; the narrow lanes and pretty, flower-filled villages of the Pays du Bocage Ornais; and those flat salt marshes of the Baie de Mont-St-Michel.
More on Lacemaking-
This handsome market town was a famous lacemaking centre in the 17th and 18th centuries. The only examples you will see today are displayed in the Musée de la Dentelle “au Point d’Alençon”, housed in General Leclerc’s wartime headquarters, and in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle. The latter presents an exhaustive history of the lace industry, along with collections of French paintings and Cambodian artifacts. Even the intricate stonework on the façade of the Église de Notre-Dame resembles lace. Inside, a chapel is dedicated to Ste Thérèse, born in the town and baptized here.
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In the Parc Naturel Régional de Normandie-Maine on the southern border of Normandy is this landscape of plunging hills, steep valleys and forests. Not quite comparable with the Alps, it is more rugged (particularly around the Sarthe Valley) than the rest of the region. At 417 m (1,368 ft), Mont des Avaloirs, to the west of Alençon, is joint highest point in western France. Among its charming villages, St-Céneri-le-Gérei is the jewel.
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Apart from its role at the end of the Battle of Normandy (1944), commemorated by the nearby Mémorial de Montormel, the town is known for lace and horse racing.
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Contemporary art and craft festival at a château near Argentan.
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Proprietor Yannick Baron keeps his standards of food and decoration comfortably above his prices in this former industrial mill.
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A friendly, first-class restaurant-with-rooms in a small village close to Mont-St-Michel.
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This fine château makes a marvellous venue for recitals by famous soloists and chamber ensembles.
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Avranches has a long and historic association with Mont-St-Michel, which it overlooks across the bay (one of the best views is from the Jardin des Plantes). St Aubert, who founded the abbey there, was Bishop of Avranches; his skull, complete with the hole made by St Michael’s finger, is on display in the Basilique de St-Gervais et St-Protais. In an annexe of the former episcopal palace, the Musée d’Avranches contains wonderful collections of medieval sculpture and religious art, and in the town hall library you can see the superb Mont-St-Michel manuscripts, dating back to the 8th century.
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Clamber to the top of the Roc au Chien for a panorama of this refined spa town steeped in legend, its lake, casino, park and avenues of gracious houses built for the wealthy who came to take the waters in the late 19th century. Sufferers from problems ranging from arthritis to stress still flock to the Établissement Thermal in its striking belle époque building.
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On a rocky spur overlooking forest, vestigial fortifications nestle among well-preserved 17th- and 18th-century houses. There’s a wonderful mushroom fair here in late September.
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Restaurant price categories
For a three course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
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