If you don't like flying - or are lucky enough to live within easy reach of one of the channel ports, then Normandy is the ideal place to start your exploration of France. Ferries to Le Havre, Cherbourg, Ouistreham (Caen) and Dieppe will take you and your car across the channel in comfort. (click here to find ferry routes)
Normandy has a long and noble history. Roman occupation saw the establishment of the cities of Evreux, Lisieux and Rouen.
The Middle Ages saw the establishment of many monasteries and abbeys which can still be seen and 1066 saw the famous invasion of Britain by William of Normandy (William the Conqueror). During the Hundred Years War, the city of Rouen was the scene of the incarceration and torture of Joan of Arc - and in more recent history, Normandy was the scene of the D-Day landings of June 1944.
Pont Normandie - connecting Le Havre and Honfleur
To the French, Normandy is perhaps even better known for its cuisine. The lowest producer of wine in the whole of France it produces instead cider apples from which, apart from very drinkable cider, is produced Calvados liqueur (often indadequately referred to in the UK as "apple brandy" but possessing its own unique character). Normandy is also a big producer of dairy produce, and famed for cheeses such as Camembert and Boursin. It's also pig rearing country, so you will find pork in many dishes. Try Rillettes, a wonderful pork terrine famed throughout Normandy, but especially in Le Mans.
With so many seaports, seafood, too is a Norman speciality with mussells, oysters and more in plentiful supply.
Aministratively, Normandy is divided into two regions, Lower Normandy (Basse Normandie) and Upper Normandy (Haute Normandie).
Basse Normandie (Calvados, Manche, Orne)
Haute Normandie (Eure, Seine-Maritime)
