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The long tradition of fishing in Normandy is perfectly embodied in the charming port of Barfleur. Stubby, brightly painted fishing boats jostle in the harbour, overlooked by stern granite houses braced for all weathers. Beaches for shell gathering and a lighthouse you can climb make it a perfect place to visit.

Saint-Fraimbault is a true village fleurie . Each spring, 100,000 flowers swamp the village in colour as villagers try to outdo each other’s displays. It all culminates in a mid-August festival.

This ravishing village has a memorable setting. Crowned by a fine Romanesque church, its stone houses overlook the gentle River Sarthe as it flows around a rocky promontory on the edge of the Alpes Mancelles.

All the charms of the Pays d’Auge are summed up in Beuvron. Its flower-decked houses are prettily striped and patterned with timber. On the south side of the central square, the delightful 15th-century Vieux Manoir is elaborately decorated with wood carvings.

This sleepy Pays d’Auge village has little more than a church (with a fine Romanesque portal, and a cemetery for Allied soldiers), manor house and little brick-built mairie (town hall), but it somehow encapsulates the rural delights of the Auge region. Nearby Criqueville-en-Auge is also worth a visit for its enchanting manor house.

A captivating medley of 16th- to 18th-century half-timbered buildings, Lyons-la-Forêt stands in a sylvan setting deep in the lovely Forêt de Lyons. It starred in both the 1934 Jean Renoir and the 1991 Claude Chabrol versions of Madame Bovary , whose intangible influence still permeates the area (see Gustave Flaubert).

At the confluence of two rivers – Clérette and Cailly – Montville is distinctive for flowers and fire engines. A village fleurie , it has an attractive lake, a park with a superb 300-year-old purple beech, and the Musée des Sapeurs-Pompiers (museum of the fire brigade), full of old hand pumps and gleaming red fire engines. It traces the history of the French fire brigade from the early 18th century onwards.

An extraordinary oak tree, thought to be at least 1,300 years old, has put this little village on the map. Inside the huge trunk are a sanctuary and a hermit’s cell fashioned by a local priest in 1696. Nearby, in an old farmhouse deep in the countryside, is the Musée de la Nature, dedicated to the local landscape, flora and fauna.

A quintessential Norman village set in the middle of gently rolling countryside, Autretot is beautifully kept by its inhabitants. In May of each year, they join forces to adorn the houses and streets with flowering plants. Half-timbered farmhouses and the 18th-century brick-and-stone church add to the appeal.

Encircled by high cliffs, this fishing village as well as child-friendly seaside resort occupies a charming spot on the Côte d’Albâtre, where tranquil Pays de Caux countryside meets beach, boats and bikinis. It is graced by the Maison Henri IV, a fine, timber-framed Renaissance house on the quay.