Le Havre
This colossal building, built in 1958 to replace one flattened by allied bombing in 1944, was designed by architects Auguste Perret – that great…
Must-see attractions in Normandy
Rouen
Decorated with lurid woodcarvings of skulls, crossbones, gravediggers’ tools and hourglasses (a reminder that your time, my friend, is running out), this…
Honfleur
This museum displays model sailing ships, nautically themed engravings and watercolours, and a case that examines Honfleur’s role in the 17th- and 18th…
Caen
Doubling as a very useful tourist information centre, this medieval church within the Château de Caen has gorgeous stained-glass works as well as several…
Bayeux
This landscaped promenade, a joint project of the City of Bayeux and Reporters Without Borders (www.en.rsf.org), lists the names of over 2000 journalists…
Mont St-Michel
Stop by the dam’s observation platform before you cross the bridge to the islet, from where you can see the workings of the dam over the River Couësnon…
Caen
The castle's vast 12th-century donjon (keep) was pretty much destroyed after the French Revolution in the late 18th century, so little remains today…
Caen
An earlier 12th-century church stood at this site where this 15th-century church stands today, with its beautiful stained-glass windows. The church was…
Rouen
The old city's main thoroughfare, rue du Gros Horloge, runs from the cathedral west to place du Vieux Marché, where 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at…
Caen
The 15th-century Maison des Quatrans is one of only two prewar buildings left in the city centre near Château de Guillaume le Conquérant, though it lost a…
Caen
Inside the Château de Caen, the Échiquier (more fully the Salle de l’Échiquier) – or the Exchequer – is a venerable building dating from the 12th century.
Normandy
Inside a gorgeous medieval building that once belonged to a knight, this house in Neufchâtel-en-Bray contains a small but interesting museum of local…
Caen
Across from the Château de Caen, the soaring Église St-Pierre was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and was being renovated at the time of writing.
Caen
The Jardin des Simples is a garden of medicinal and aromatic herbs cultivated during the Middle Ages, some of them poisonous.
Honfleur
The magnificent Lieutenance, standing at the mouth of the old harbour, was once the residence of the town’s royal governor.
Normandy
Two blocks west of the port, this Norman Gothic church has been reconstructed several times since the early 13th century.
Giverny
Fans of the artist may want to visit this bust of Monet, sculpted by Daniel Goupil and gazing out over the fields.
Normandy
Still used by fishing vessels but dominated by pleasure craft, the port is lined with evocative old buildings.
